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A Church Without Walls > Deliverance This is the final Deliverance as agreed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May, 2001. This, together with other Deliverances of the General Assembly, is available at http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND MAY 2001 SPECIAL COMMISSION ANENT REVIEW AND REFORM IN THE CHURCH At Edinburgh, and within the Usher Hall, the 21st day of May 2001 years. The General Assembly: A. Receive the Report. B. Reaffirm as primary purposes of the Church the calls to the Church: 1. to follow Jesus Christ as Lord. 2. to worship God and to share in Christ's mission in the world. 3. to turn back to God and neighbour. C. As a process of continuing reform towards reshaping the Church locally, regionally and centrally: The Shape of the Local Church 1. Urge congregations to choose to study, reflect on and live by one Gospel for one year in the first instance, and let Jesus shape the life and structure of the congregation. 2. Urge congregations to reflect on the cycle of grace and what it means to live out that grace in our life together. 3. Urge congregations to undertake a community review at least once every 5 years to reflect on the issues, changes and missionary opportunities in the community in collaboration with others wherever appropriate and for this to be monitored as part of the Presbytery visit. 4. Urge Ministers and Kirk Sessions to undertake a review of the worship of the existing congregation and assess potential for developments within and beyond the congregation. 5. Urge congregations to consider how the cell, congregation and celebration dimensions of being the church might be applied locally. 6. Urge congregations to determine to integrate children and young people into the life of the congregation; or to offer the resources to plant a church for a new generation alongside the current congregation. 7. Instruct Presbyteries and the Committee on Parish Re-appraisal to consider the encouragement of imaginative new forms of congregational ministry as an alternative to readjustment. 8. Urge congregations to form paths for the spiritual journey to help people become Christian disciples in today's world. 9. Instruct Kirk Sessions to review the leadership structure, consider what ministry team is needed for current needs and determine how it might be developed in the next five years. 10. Urge congregations to form groupings according to their natural communities to explore shared mission and mutual ministry, with other churches in the area. 11. Urge congregations to establish links with other congregations in a different social context as a partnership of mutual ministry. 12. Urge congregations to research an area of the world church and establish a personal partnership with a congregation or project. 13. Urge congregations to explore ways of being more environmentally aware and responsible as a witness to the Christian care of God's creation. 14. Urge Kirk Sessions to identify the spiritual gifts of the people and grow the church around the people we have rather than deploy people to support existing church structures. 15. Instruct Presbyteries to develop a coordinated strategy to equip congregations to sustain worship, pastoral care and mission with the appropriate staffing, and monitor progress through the Quinquennial/Presbytery visits. 16. Instruct Kirk Sessions to urge all elders who have not undertaken training in the past three years to accept training to share the current vision of the role and expectations of an elder in the Church of Scotland and encourage Kirk Sessions to be flexible in recognising and deploying the individual gifts and callings of elders. 17. Urge Kirk Sessions to develop appropriate open styles of meeting and processes of communication. 18. Instruct the Board of Practice and Procedure to examine whether the present "model constitution" represents the best and most flexible way of managing a local congregation. 19. Instruct the Board of Ministry, in consultation with the Board of National Mission and the Board of Parish Education, to develop a coordinated process of recruiting and training people with missionary gifts which are vital for service within and beyond the constraints of a parish context. 20. Instruct the Board of Ministry, in consultation with the Board of National Mission and the Board of Parish Education, to consider the possibility of developing a database with the current Curricula Vitae of all ministers, auxiliary ministers, Deacons, Readers and paid youth workers to assist in the strategic deployment of personnel. 21. Instruct the Board of Ministry and the Board of Parish Education to develop working patterns of active collaboration to equip the whole people of God for Christian service. 22. Encourage the Panel on Worship in the review of services of ordination, induction and commissioning, in order to celebrate imaginatively the ministry of all God's people within them. The Shape of the Church: Regional and Central 23. Remit sections on "The Shape of the Regional Church" and "The Shape of the Central Church" to the Board of Practice and Procedure and the Assembly Council. 24. Instruct the Board of Practice and Procedure to review the culture and timing of the General Assembly in order to increase the quality of reporting, participation and decision-making. Proposals for Continuing Reform 25. Note the Deliverance of the National Youth Assembly to extend Youth representation throughout the Courts of the Church and to promote youth work in general and the National Youth Assembly in particular. 26. Urge Kirk Sessions to identify ways of deepening the prayer life of their congregations individually and together. 27. Urge the leadership in every area of church life to institute the discipline of a period of retreat, rest and reflection to allow space for God to change us. 28. Urge congregations to take risks, to try new ways so that faith may grow and encourage the wider church to support them as they do. 29. Instruct Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries to study the report as a stimulus to identifying the levers for change and the limits to growth in the local situation; Kirk Sessions to establish a "local needs" plan and Presbytery to establish a "regional needs" plan of support, with special reference to deliverance sections C1-17 and C26-30; and to apply, where appropriate, to the Community and Parish Development Fund. 30. Urge congregational leadership teams to form networks focused on a shared context or a shared concern in order to build trusting relationships as the basis of future cooperation. 31. Urge the Coordinating Forum to develop its role of capturing the larger vision within which people are operating. 32. Resolve to appoint a planning group of seven persons including a Convener and Vice-Convener to prepare a "Stakeholders' Conference" in 2005 as a point of National Celebration and a milestone of progress and instruct the Selection Committee to bring names to a future sederunt. 33. Affirm the need to resource local initiatives, and instruct the Board of Stewardship and Finance, in consultation with the Co-ordinating Forum to consider the Community and Parish Development Fund set out in terms of Appendix VIII and to bring proposals for appropriate implementation to the General Assembly of 2002. 34. Urge the Assembly Council, through the Coordinating Forum, to establish overall priorities for the work of the Church in the light of the emerging shape of the Church and to convey these to the Board of Stewardship and Finance, so that these priorities can be incorporated into the Co-ordinated Budget proposals which the Board will be bringing to the General Assembly in 2003 and subsequent years. 35 Instruct the General Trustees, in consultation with the Boards of Ministry, National Mission and Stewardship and Finance and in the light of what is said in Appendix 9 to the Report, to consider how best the properties and funds vested in them or under their control can be applied and invested to further the aims of the developing Church and report to the General Assembly of 2003. 36. Instruct the Panel on Doctrine to undertake a study on the theology of power and a study on the implications for the theology of the Church of the Report's proposals, in the context of the social and cultural circumstances of contemporary Scotland, and report to a future General Assembly. 37 Instruct the Panel on Doctrine to undertake a study on the theology of leadership and report to a future General Assembly. 38. Instruct all Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, Boards and agencies of the Church to study the Report, take appropriate action and establish the necessary accountability for progress by 2005; instruct the Assembly Council to monitor developments through its ongoing consultations and assessments in 2002-3 and 2004-5 and report to the General Assemblies of 2003 and 2005. 39. Instruct the Board of World Mission to involve Partner Churches in the study of the Report, to invite their comments, and to share insights and experiences thus gained with the Church through the Board of Practice and Procedure and the Assembly Council, and in other appropriate ways. 40. Remit to the Central Co-ordinating Committee, in consultation with other employing agencies to give consideration to making certain appointments in the central organisation of the Church time limited but on renewable contract and report to a future General Assembly. 41. Instruct the Board of Practice and Procedure and the Board of Parish Education to facilitate the study of the Report throughout the Church. D. Thank, congratulate and discharge the Special Commission anent Review and Reform. FINLAY A J MACDONALD Cl Eccl Scot |
