Presbytery Planning

Guidance, templates and sharing documents for presbyteries developing Mission Plans in line with the Presbytery Mission Plan Act.

As part of the Radical Action Plan accepted by the 2019 General Assembly, the Church agreed to reduce the number of Presbyteries across the country, support local congregations in their ministry and mission and encourage new expressions of church.

This is part of the Church's commitment to maintaining worshipping, witnessing and serving Christian congregations throughout Scotland. These congregations must be outward looking and engage with their communities and the wider church.

Following on from the Radical Action Plan, the 2021 General Assembly approved the Presbytery Mission Plan Act. The Act aims to enable Presbyteries to effectively deliver Christ's mission in practice by developing a Mission Plan. Presbyteries, working with the Faith Nurture Forum and the General Trustees, were required to have an Approved Mission Plan in place no later than 31 December 2022. Once approved, the Mission Plan must be implemented. It will then be evaluated on an annual basis and further developed as needed so it remains an accurate, comprehensive plan for the shape of church life.

The Presbytery Mission Plan Act was amended by the 2022 General Assembly, to clarify how members of Mission Plan Review Panels were to be appointed and for how long, and establishing that the Basis of Union must specify the number of elders from each existing Kirk Session who will transfer to the new Kirk Session. More information is available on our Church Reform Timeline and Mission Planning pages.

The Presbytery Mission Plan Implementation Group (PMPIG) of the Faith Nurture Forum meets monthly on the third Thursday of every month. Its purpose is to review proposed bases of adjustment and also to assist Presbyteries with implementing the new Mission Plan Act. Information about the Group's members is available on our PMPIG Facilitators page.

Below are resources for congregations to use as they move forward with their planning. These resources include a guidance that explains how the Presbytery Mission Plan Act will work and what is expected of congregations. There is also a Permission to Call Protocol, template documents for bases of adjustment, and sharing documents to enable the sharing of ideas between Presbyteries and congregations.

The guidance will be updated as the Presbytery Mission Planning process moves forward. The pages and documents in this section will be updated with the most recent information available.

Guidances

Template documents

Sharing documents