INTRODUCTIONFootnote 1
General Assemblies normally address a wide range of issues and the Assembly of 2012 was no exception. On 23 May the Archbishop of Canterbury addressed the General Assembly on the challenges facing both the Church of Scotland and his own Church – and on how they might respond.
CHURCH AND SOCIETY COUNCIL
The report of the Church and Society Council covered its usual broad spectrum – from human trafficking to Sunday sporting events – but two items may be of particular interest to readers of this Journal. On constitutional issues the Assembly agreed that local congregations should consider hosting community meetings on the intended independence referendum to allow free debate in a neutral space about all the issues – but confirmed that ‘the Church would remain impartial with regard to the question in the forthcoming referendum’. The report also explored the many moral questions raised by recent advances in neuroscience that appear to some scientists to cast doubt on the bounds of what we understand as ‘free will’. The report expressed concern that, increasingly, brain scans were being used in areas other than for the medical purposes for which they were first developed.
ECONOMICS COMMISSION
Charles Munn, Convener, presented the report of the Special Commission on the Purposes of Economic Activity, A Right Relationship with Money. He reminded the Assembly that good economic practice was embedded in social relationships and highlighted the fact that for too long the economy had been promoted as existing for the markets. The report warns of the danger of simply following the markets and argues that unless Adam Smith's ‘invisible hand’ of market forces is controlled in some way the vulnerable and poor will always suffer. It outlines four priorities for government, society and the Church: reducing inequality, ensuring sustainability, promoting mutuality and ending global poverty.
LEGAL QUESTIONS
The General Assembly approved in principle the recommendations of the Committee on Legal Questions in relation to the role, function and size of the Commission of Assembly and Judicial Commission and the Church's judicial and appeals procedures, instructed the Committee to bring a further report and the necessary amending legislation to the General Assembly of 2013 and invited presbyteries to submit comments to the Committee for consideration by 30 November 2012. The Assembly also passed various amending Acts anent Intimation of Appeals, Discipline of Ministers, Licentiates, Graduate Candidates and Deacons, Bullying and Discrimination.Footnote 2 Finally, the Assembly amended Act II 1994 anent the Model Deed of Constitution and authorised the Solicitor of the Church to amend the Unitary Constitution.
The Assembly noted the Committee's proposal for support and training ‘for those who take responsibility for the good ordering of our presbyteries and their business’ and encouraged its expansion into a course leading to a Certificate of Good Practice.
MINISTERIAL TENURE
In a Deliverance the General Assembly reaffirmed ‘the Church's long held belief and practice that inducted Ministers are office holders and not employees and instruct the Special Commission to continue to develop its thinking on tenure based on this premise’. That is, of course, the Assembly's right. Whether or not the courts will take the same view of ministers as office-holders is at least arguable, given the apparently conflicting decisions on that point in Macdonald v Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Footnote 3 and President of the Methodist Conference v Preston.Footnote 4
SAFEGUARDING
The Assembly instructed presbyteries and kirk sessions to comply with all guidance issued by the Safeguarding Service in relation to the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, to ensure that all formally recruited Congregational Pastoral Care Visiting Group members supporting ‘protected adults’ as defined in the Act have the opportunity to attend safeguarding training in their congregations and to ensure that ministers within the bounds co-operate fully with the Safeguarding Service and Ministries Council in complying with the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme as introduced by the Act.
The Assembly also decided that all volunteers and paid staff should have a copy of the new pocket guide, Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk: key information for volunteers and staff, and that congregations should be encouraged to make full use of the new safeguarding handbooks.
