2018 GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2021General Assembly Documents Scottish Charity No: SC012925 2 REPORTS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 2021 INDEX PAGE PERSONNEL 3 REPORTS Assembly Business Committee ......................................................................... 4 Assembly Clerks’ Office ................................................................................... 10 Mission Board ..................................................................................................... 21 Edinburgh Theological Seminary .................................................................... 61 ETS Quinquennial Review ............................................................................... 73 Psalmody and Praise ......................................................................................... 75 Board of Trustees .............................................................................................. 77 Board of Ministry ............................................................................................... 83 Overture – The Establishment Principle .......................................................... 98 Overture – Public Engagement Group ........................................................... 99 COMMISSION OF ASSEMBLY MINUTES .............................................................. 101 STANDING ORDERS ...................................................................................................... 105 2021 THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 3 PERSONNEL Rev. NEIL MACMILLAN .......................................................................... Moderator Rev. DONALD G. MACDONALD ............................................................. Retiring Moderator Rev. MALCOLM MACLEOD ................................................................... Principal Clerk Rev. NIGEL ANDERSON ............................................................................ Assistant Clerk Rev. STEPHEN ALLISON .......................................................................... Assistant Clerk Mr ANDREW GIFFEN ................................................................................ Chief Executive Officer Messrs BALFOUR + MANSON, LLP, EDINBURGH ............................. Law Agents 4 REPORTS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 2021 REPORT OF THE ASSEMBLY BUSINESS COMMITTEE The Assembly Business Committee met using audio-visual technology on Thursday 15th April 2021. (A) ASSEMBLY ARRANGEMENTS 1. General Assembly. The Committee noted the ongoing COVID-19 Scottish Government restrictions on in-person meetings, and it was agreed that the General Assembly should meet as appointed on Monday 17th May 2021 at 6.00pm, and that this Session and subsequent Sessions should take place virtually using Zoom video-technology hosted in the Assembly Hall, St Columba’s Free Church, Edinburgh, according to the terms of Act 33, Class 2, 2010, and Act 5, Class 2, 2020. 2. Questions and the Formula. The Committee considered the procedure for a successful applicant for the Free Church Ministry answering the Questions and signing the Formula. It was agreed to recommend that, due to the current exceptional circumstances, this process be completed during the General Assembly immediately after the application being accepted and following the procedure outlined in the Act Act 2, Class 2, 2020. 3. Voting Arrangements. The Committee considered the possible complications arising from using the polling function on Zoom when asking Commissioners to vote on motions, amendments and appendices, especially where the result is close. The following arrangements for votes taken at the General Assembly were agreed: (a) that the Zoom polling function be used from all voting procedures as the first option; (b) that Survey Monkey, an online survey software, be used in situations where the result shows a ten percent or less majority, requiring to establish that all votes recorded are valid; (c) that all Commissioners be issued with an identification number for use on Survey Monkey as required; and (d) that the guidelines for voting in the Guidelines for Commissioners document be amended to include information on Survey Monkey. (B) GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROGRAMME 1. Reports to the General Assembly. The Committee noted that reports to the General Assembly were submitted from the Board of Ministry, Board of Ministry Supplementary Report, the Board of Trustees, the ETS Board, the ETS Quinquennial Review Committee, the Mission Board, the Psalmody and Praise Committee, and the Assembly Clerks’ Office Report. 2. Northern Presbytery. The Committee also noted that the Committee appointed by the March 2021 Commission of Assembly Committee to examine the Dissent and Complaint with Reasons, Presbytery Responses, and a Petition from Mr Iain R. Morrison regarding the Presbytery’s decision on Tuesday 16th February 2021 not to take Mr Morrison on trials for licence had submitted its draft Report. 3. Confidential Business. The Committee agreed that the following items should be taken up by the General Assembly in private session due to the personal nature of the substance of the reports: (1) the Supplementary Report of the Board of Ministry; and (2) the Report of the March 2021 Commission of Assembly Committee. 4. Distribution of Documents. The Committee considered how to distribute the documents for the confidential items of business to Commissioners and other parties. The following arrangements were agreed: (1) Supplementary Report of the Board of Ministry – the documents made available securely online to Commissioners when the Report is taken up by the Assembly; and (2) March 2021 Commission of Assembly Report – the documents to be made available to all Commissioners, and to all parties involved in the matters raised in the documents, by the Assembly Clerk, securely online on Friday 14th May 2021 at 9.00am. 5. Programme. The Committee approved the draft Programme showing the General Assembly meeting as appointed on Monday 17th May 2021 at 6.00pm and with a total of five Sessions and with the business expected to be completed by 5.00pm on Wednesday 19th May 2021. The Committee considered the personal health and practical difficulties of attending virtual meetings for prolonged periods and it was, therefore, agreed to avoid evening Sessions in the Programme. 2021 THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 5 (C) OVERTURES AND PETITIONS 1. Overtures. The Committee noted the submission of two Overtures, one from the Presbytery of Inverness, Lochaber and Ross regarding the establishment of a Public Engagement Group to represent the Church in speaking out on public questions and to respond to Government consultations, and the second from Rev. Ian Watson and others requesting that the General Assembly form a Committee to consider how the Church should interpret and apply the Establishment Principle in the 21st century and advise the Church accordingly. The Committee noted that the Overture was correct in form and content and agreed that it should be taken up by the Assembly at a suitable time in the Assembly programme. The Committee noted that the substance of the Overture of the Presbytery of Inverness, Lochaber and Ross was with reference to the same issue as the Board of Trustees’ Proposed Deliverance Section E.10-11. It was agreed to recommend that this Overture be taken up by the Assembly as an amendment against the Board of Trustees’ Proposed Deliverance and that Mr Watson’s Overture be taken up by the Assembly as a separate item. 2. Petitions. The Committee also noted the following Petitions submitted by Presbyteries regarding Probationers and their names being retained on the Roll of Probationers: (1) Presbytery of Edinburgh and Perth regarding Rev. Colin Ross; and (2) Northern Presbytery regarding Rev. William Paterson. It was agreed to classify both Petitions as routine and to include them in the Committee’s report. The Petitions are found in Appendix One and Appendix Two. (D) GENERAL ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS 1. General Assembly Roll. The Roll of the General Assembly was noted by the Committee in its complete form except for one vacancy for an Elder Commissioner each from the Presbytery of Glasgow and Argyll and the Northern Presbytery. The Committee agreed to extend the deadline for submission of Commissioned Elders to fill the vacancies until 30th April 2021. 2. Commissions and Elders’ Certificates. The Assembly Clerk reported on the submission of Elders’ Certificates and informed the Committee that the Assembly Clerks would propose to the General Assembly this year that the requirement for Elders’ Certificates be discontinued and that, instead, appropriate certification would be added to the Form of Commission issued to Presbyteries. 3. Standing Orders. The Committee approved the revised and updated General Assembly Standing Orders with the following noted changes: Section E.1.1 – Assembly meetings; Section E.5.3 – length of speeches; Section E.10.3 – voting; Section E.15 – examination of records; Section E.19 – minutes of the General Assembly. (E) EXAMINATION OF RECORDS 1. Examination of Records. The Committee noted that the examination of Presbytery records, and that of the records of Boards and Committees, had not been possible since the 2020 General Assembly due to the COVID-19 restrictions on in- person gatherings. It was agreed to recommend the following arrangements to the General Assembly: 1.1 Presbytery Records. The Committee agreed to recommend that Presbyteries be instructed to submit the record for the periods 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 to the Assembly Clerks’ Office