The Guild was started in 1887 by Rev Dr Archibald Charteris. More details are in our timeline on the Resources page.

Our name was changed in 1997, as the result of a research and development project which encouraged a change of name to mark the re-launch. This opened up our membership to men. The change in our constitution at that time also made our structure more flexible and brought in better ways of communicating throughout the organisation: things like a newsletter for every member and conferences for specific office-bearers.

Anyone is welcome to be a member of the Guild if they accept our aim; however, we take note of the gender split in our membership. We now have over 400 men who are members. Many play a big part in their local Guilds and Councils. June 2010 saw the first man representing his Presbyterial Council on National Committee.

The Guild is open to anyone who accepts our aim: that the Church of Scotland Guild is a movement within the Church of Scotland which invites and encourages both women and men to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and enables them to express their faith in worship, prayer, and action. To find details of a local group near you, or about how to become an individual member, please email the Guild office at guild@churchofscotland.org.uk

Contrary to popular belief, Guild groups only need to have a treasurer (under charities law, a named person has to be responsible for money) and someone who is willing to receive mailings full of news and interesting information from Guild Office.

Other than that, you can organise your group however you choose. Lots of groups now try to include more people in the day-to-day running of things and have a little group or groups of people to organise meetings or blocks of meetings – spread and share the load!

Lots of Guild ask their minister to "open" their first meeting – and that's really good. But you certainly don't need the minister to open your first, or any other meeting! Why not try it yourselves? Plan a simple opening worship and, of course, ask your minister along to one or more of your other meetings!

Our constitution says (paragraph 4:1) that it only matters that there is a majority of Church of Scotland members on your committee. The others don't have to be members of your church and can be of another denomination, just as long as they accept our aim!

If you are not yet a member, why not find out who the office-bearers are and arrange with them to pop along to the next meeting? If you are already a member but would like to get more involved, try getting in touch with your Presbyterial Council. Presbyterial Councils are groupings of Guilds, roughly in presbytery areas.

By participating at council level, Guild members can be nominated to various posts, including representing their council on national committees - a great way to be really involved with national decision making!

Guilds began supporting annual projects in 1969. The first was in partnership with National Mission and raised funding for playgroups in local congregations. Among the most newsworthy was the so-called Centenary Project in 1987, which raised money for work with sex workers dealing with addiction.

In 1997, the Project Partnership Scheme was started and all the Guild's work was set out in three-year strategies. As part of that, six projects were selected to be supported for each of the three-year periods.

Old minute books, from any part of church life, are an important part of church history. Minute books should be retained locally as far as possible within your church, or Presbytery office. Older records can be sent to the National Archives of Scotland, H.M. General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh.

Expenses should always be offered to speakers as they give of their time to come and speak to your Guild. If a car is used, a mileage rate of 25p allows you to calculate the amount to offer. If the speaker is coming by train, it should be straightforward to ascertain the ticket cost.

You can also book a speaker from the Guild leadership team (National Convener, National Vice-Conveners, the General Secretary or the Associate Secretary). We no longer charge for this as it is now included in capitation fees so please make use of this opportunity and ask for speakers from the National team.

Some organisations, eg. Guild Project Partners, may have different arrangements. Do feel free to raise the whole issue of expenses when booking a speaker, so you can be sure to do the right thing!

Before the constitution was changed in 1997, the Guild National Presidents served three-year terms. When the constitution was being amended, it was felt that it was fairer to ask people to serve a one-year period.

The National Convener has a busy year liaising with the Guild Office, attending committee meetings, and representing the Guild at external meetings and events, not forgetting the Annual Meeting and the General Assembly! It was hoped that by reducing the term of office to one year, that this would reduce the workload and be fairer to the other parts of a person's life, such as family and work commitments.

There are Guilds all over the world including places such as Bermuda, Mauritius, and Malawi which maintain links with the Church of Scotland Guild and have joined in with various events, such as Guild Week.

The Church of Scotland Guild is providing a Privacy Notice to comply with data protection law and to ensure that you are fully informed and we are transparent in how we collect and use your personal data.