General Assembly

The General Assembly is coming up next week and the week after. They've changed it so it starts mid week and ends midweek. Yesterday I read through nearly all the deliverances so see what ideas the church had. Now it is a day later I can't remember one of them. There are a few 'instructions' for Session to read through stuff. Better remember to do that.

But in truth, and it really is the truth, while this assembly doesn't have any headline grabbing ideas like the last few years, the Church is settling in to a new reality of what is it to have paid ministers. At the moment when a minister is inducted to a charge, if it is on unrestricted tenure (like I am). nothing can move him or her short of heresy (boy we're close to that sometimes) or scandal but nothing else. So there is quite a bit of looking as ways to structure things so ministers can be moved. There's even the suggestion of putting us all on contracts and come under employment law. There' also the thought of having Presbytery being responsible for the call rather than congregations. And various other permutations.

It's interesting the church is talking like this again. We were having the same conversations when I was planning convenor of the Presbytery under Flexible Tenure. So we weren't so far off the mark 6 years ago. Doesn't take long to come back round to the same ideas.

But the report that has the most life is, the Commission on Structure and Change ie Church Without Walls and after the National Gathering, then that shouldn't be a surprise. Ideas of an alternative Presbytery Structure (we've had that conversation before too) are there, finding creative way to allow new blood into the structures, and even look at the Article Declaratory which is formalises the duty of the church to 'bring the ordinances of religion to the people in every parish of Scotland through a territorial ministry' is we don't have the ministers or finance, or won't have soon, to serve the whole of Scotland. So what happens now.

I can't believe I've just blogged about the General Assembly. Watch this space for the results.