Assembly Trustees Update April 2025

The March and April 2025 Assembly Trustee meetings (as held on 3^rd March, 13th March and 10^th April 2025) had a clear focus on ensuring that the General Assembly would be made fully aware of the challenges facing the Church, the course of action being taken and highlighting any areas for GA approval. This time of year is very busy across all Committees and the staff team as we work towards delivering a coherent Blue Book document that meets the needs of the Church. The financial situation is, as ever, very prominent in all our discussions and we strive to fulfil our duty of working towards a balanced budget in 2027 and long-term sustainability both at national and local level. We are pleased to announce that as part of this the annual report and accounts are ready for signature and presentation to the General Assembly.

The decisions that must be made in the coming months as part of the national work prioritisation process are vital. Our focus remains on the most critical areas of work, with the goal of advancing the mission of the Church, reducing expenditure, and making space to fund emerging needs. The impact of this process will be significant and should not be underestimated. Prioritising national-level work has been under discussion for some time and has now entered a phase that includes both voluntary exits and compulsory redundancies, as we align national resources with a sustainable budget. This has been an extremely challenging and unsettling time for the national management team and staff.

Spreading the Good News of the Gospel and growth of the Church has to be the ultimate goal of all our work – without this the radical reforms we are making will not transform our fortunes. The Trustees received a paper at the April meeting on Church planting which is oneof the ways forward in this regard. The possible pathways to progress Church Plants from inception to full status is a potentially very exciting area as is the development of Resource Churches in student areas which is targeted at younger people, an area long known to be a shortfall.

The Faith Action Programme Leadership Team feature prominently on the Assembly Trustees agenda. Recent reporting included feedback on the ministers' conference. It wasjudged to be a tremendous day with around 240 ministers in attendance which showed the power in coming together and achieved a sense of encouragement and unity for many that were present. The launch of the Vivid Vision was also reported. The vision explores what the future of the Church might look like and received strong support from the Trustees. This vision came out of various meetings with people on the ground as well as the thoughts and aspirations of FAPLT who stressed their desire and goal for congregations to journey with them to achieve a brighter future.

During Phase 2 of the Priorities Project, the question of Seeds for Growth funding has been raised on a number of occasions. A proposal was tabled and approved to reduce Seeds for Growth awards for the remainder of 2025 from budgeted £2.2m to £500k as part of the broader church budget reductions being made. Therefore, the 2025 funding round will be far tighter with £500k to dispense. In light of this, the Committee decided not to open the fund to the proposed Level 4 awards. All grants awarded under previous rounds will be honoured. Moving forward, Seeds for Growth would determine yearly funding proposals based on church finances, moving away from the expectation of a fixed £2.5m annual allocation over the remaining years to a more flexible and dynamic approach.

Following joint work between the General Trustees, Office of the Assembly Trustees and Faith Action, the Trustees received a proposal to create a specialist Net Zero role. It was recognised that the Church lacks internal expertise to coordinate net zero policies and proposals effectively. Whilst recognising the need for strategic leadership in this area, concerns were raised about the timing and financial implications, particularly in the context of the Voluntary Exit Scheme, redundancies and budget constraints. It was agreed not to recruit at this time which is a demonstration of the very difficult decisions that are needing to be made.

Work has concluded on creating a clearer scheme of delegation of authority which is fundamental to good corporate governance. The scheme sets out the reporting structure and decision-making authority delegated from the Assembly Trustees to the Standing Committees, Governance Group, Chief Officer, Senior Leadership Team and senior staff. The scheme recognises that the General Assembly is the sovereign and highest court of the Church. The general work of the Church beyond the local spheres of congregations and presbyteries is directed and controlled by the General Assembly, through Standing Committees appointed for the purpose and holding delegated powers from the General Assembly. The General Assembly has appointed the Assembly Trustees to act as the charity trustees of the Charity and, as such Trustees, to direct, manage and control the Charity to the extent set out in the Constitution. Understanding this responsibility and how the Trustee body interacts with others is of real importance.

Our missional work and owned establishments in Israel and Palestine continue to be a focal point for the Trustees under the oversight of the Israel/Palestine Committee, which is a sub-committee of the Assembly Trustees. The establishments in Israel are the subject of asignificant amount of assessment work as we look to the future viability and sustainability of our commercial presence there as the operators of a hotel, guesthouse and a school.

At the end of February, the Chief Officer announced his intention to retire. In light of this, the significance of this key leadership role within the life of the Church has been carefully reviewed, along with consideration of future options. Recognising the vital contribution the role has made in advancing the work of the General Assembly and supporting the Church's strategic direction, interim arrangements are being put in place to ensure continuity following the current incumbent's departure at the end of May 2025.

Given the importance of having sustainable arrangements for the Assembly Trustees themselves time has been dedicated to Trustee succession planning, the additional roles played by the Trustees particularly in supporting the broader Committee structure, forward planning for 2025-2026 and induction/training arrangements for both new and current Trustees post GA 2025.

Finally, it continues to be a real encouragement that whilst we manage these challenges there are many positives across the Church that are brought to the Trustees attention. We continue to be thankful for all the hard work that occurs at all levels of the Church and upon which we must build. This all emphasises the importance of highly effective communications across the Church which continues to be a focus area for the Trustees.

If you have any questions on this update please contact Rev Barry Hughes, Administrative Trustee via the departmental email address OATadmin@churchofscotland.org.uk