The 2009 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was largely dominated by the issue of homosexuality and ordination/induction; and that debate has already been described elsewhere.Footnote 1 Since the end of the Assembly, some ministers, Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries have sought clarification of the moratorium on public comment declared on the issue, to ensure that they are able to continue to preach and teach on broader issues of theology and ethics.
In other significant debates, the General Assembly addressed several issues with implications in civil law or within the Church's own legal system.Footnote 2
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
Charity law
The Council of Assembly, the committee that has a co-ordinating role in respect of the agencies of the General Assembly, proposed that its own Assembly-appointed members should constitute the Church's central charity trustees for the purposes of civil charity law. This would have removed the anomaly that a member of any one of the Church's Councils or Committees has – in theory – accountability as a charity trustee for all of the unincorporated bodies of the Church, including all the ones on which that individual does not serve. However, on the counter-motion of a former Moderator, the Assembly resolved instead to establish a special Committee to examine further the general area of charity trusteeship in the central agencies of the Church, and it will report back to the General Assembly of 2010.
Trustee indemnity insurance
On the initiative of the Legal Questions Committee, the Assembly adopted a scheme of trustee indemnity insurance, to be obligatory for all congregations, so that individual elders and members of financial bodies (who together constitute the charity trustees of the congregation) have adequate protection. An interesting difficulty had to be overcome in this respect, as Scots charity law had been so framed that such insurance was unlawful because it was deemed to be a benefit to the individual trustee. The Scottish Parliament has undertaken to clarify the law so that this unintended consequence is removed; and on this basis the Assembly were able to proceed to require congregations to join the new scheme.
Assembly review
Turning to the questions of Church polity, the Assembly received the results of an extensive review of its own processes conducted by its Assembly Arrangements Committee. Over recent years the General Assembly has expanded and flourished through a fast-growing ‘fringe’ of informal events at lunchtimes, during evenings and on the Sunday. Rather than alter the character of the Assembly as a court of law by incorporating into it such different but desirable events (celebrations, teaching sessions, group discussions, presentations of work, and even theatrical revues), the ‘fringe’ makes room for all of these whilst preserving the Assembly itself as the formal legislative and judicial body the Church's constitution requires it to be.
The Committee's review consulted Presbyteries, Kirk Sessions and individuals and asked open questions about length, timing, style, content and processes. Suggestions for substantial change were received, but one suggestion tended to be balanced by another that was its exact converse. For example, on the question of moving the Assembly to a different time of year, or moving it back to a Saturday start from the recently-introduced Thursday start, responses were so divided that no very clear steer emerged. As the Assembly did not ask for any radical changes when it received the Report, it is likely that the very welcome maturing of the Assembly as the Church's major annual event will continue, but without any startling change of direction or function.
OVERTURE ANENT THE DISCIPLINE OF ELDERS AND OTHERS
Elders and other congregational office-bearers are subject, for disciplinary purposes, to the local Kirk Session; and it can prove extremely awkward for that body to respond when ‘one of their own’ is embroiled in a scandal. On a proposal from the Legal Questions Committee, the Assembly agreed in principle that such discipline should instead be exercised at first instance by the relevant Presbytery. Since under current law the Presbytery is the court of appeal against decisions of the Kirk Sessions, this proposal would effectively move the whole process one rung up the ladder of the hierarchy of church courts. Since this involves changes both to the governance of the Church and to the discipline of those subject to its jurisdiction, the Barrier Act of 1697 applied to the measure and required it to be sent to Presbyteries for their approval and if approved by a majority of them then to return to the 2010 Assembly for possible final enactment.
Legal Systems of Scottish Churches
The same Committee published during the Assembly week a volume entitled The Legal Systems of Scottish Churches which is written for lawyers who may find themselves representing parties in the courts, commissions and tribunals of the main Scottish denominations. The book contains four chapters on the Church of Scotland, three on the Scottish Episcopal Church and one on the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.
CONGREGATIONAL LIFE
Immigration rules
The Ministries Council responded to the requirements of the UK Borders Agency relating to permission for non–EU/Swiss citizens to take up jobs in Britain. The Church's method of fulfilling these requirements has been to amend its legislation relating to the filling of vacancies by removing the eligibility of such a foreign national to apply for any charge which has not been vacant for six months. There is already provision (the ius devolutum) for the local Presbytery to take additional steps to fill a charge where the local Nomination Committee has failed to come up with a Nominee within one year; and the idea is that these transferring ministers should be seen as a positive solution to recruitment difficulties in some parts of the country (often including remote areas), an arrangement that should help the Church while satisfying civil law. The new arrangement does not alter the requirement for such ministers to undergo processes of assessment, selection, additional training (if necessary) and familiarisation before they are deemed eligible to transfer status to the Church of Scotland's ministry upon induction or introduction to a charge or appointment.
Forgiveness and proportionality
Had it not been for the Aitken case mentioned earlier, the most controversial topic at this year's General Assembly would have been the Report, jointly produced by the Church's Safeguarding Committee and its doctrinal experts, on the concepts of ‘forgiveness and proportionality’ in the hugely difficult area of the rehabilitation of sex offenders into the life of the Church and its congregations. The Report is weighty and impressive, grounded in Scriptural and theological reflection and informed by the expertise of leaders in the field. It addresses the conflict between an absolute standard of safety and security, and the desire to extend the Christian promise of forgiveness and renewal of life to everyone. It makes proposals for practical steps, and builds on the work of ‘circles of support and accountability’ which is a movement which the Church of Scotland has supported for several years already. No denomination considering work in this area should fail to read this Report, which is certain to become an authoritative text for British Churches.
