INTRODUCTION

We are indeed fortunate that we serve such a great God. A God who in the words of the Psalmist "looks from heaven; who sees all the sons of men; who looks on all the inhabitants of the earth and fashions their hearts individually; and considers all their works." (Psalm 33) He is an inclusive God and we have the privilege of serving Him. A task set out for us by our Lord Jesus both by His actions and in words "As the Father has sent me, I also send you." (John 20 Vs 21) We have a duty to look at the world with love and concern, a duty both to reach out to those who are in need and to speak out when we see things that we know to be wrong in the eyes of God. The Committee seeks to examine the issues and to give guidance to the Church and indeed to take such action as it can. But of course the Committee is only a very small group and so it is important all Commissioners and indeed all members should be prepared to act when the opportunity arises.

It is intended to continue the practice of recent years by which an outline only of the work of the Committee is given in this report. More substantial consideration to certain of the issues will then be published later in the form of occasional digests. It is hoped that this procedure will encourage discussion and increased understanding amongst as wide a constituency as possible of our members. It is of course implicit in this that all Commissioners do their best to circulate the digests when they appear.

As ever the Committee has again come up against the physical limitations of size and resources. It is just not possible to deal with or even glance at the whole multitude of problems that exist in the world. We have been selective in what we have chosen to examine and are grateful to the work of individual members who have taken away various items for close study. However it is inevitable that among the issues which have been ignored there will be those that are dear to the hearts of individual commissioners. All we can say is perhaps we may be able to look at them in the future.

Early in the session the Committee lost its Convener, the Rev Andrew McMillan, who found that the burden of convener-ship on top of his other commitments was becoming over heavy. The Committee is grateful for the work of Mr McMillan in the past and for his distinctive contribution. The Committee on Business and Administration appointed Mr J. Fergus Henderson convener pro tem till General Assembly.

HOPE FOR CAMBODIA

This appeal was launched in 1995 as part of search for "a new vision for the United Free Church". Although no formal target was set, we were aware of a request for £30,000 and it was hoped we would be able to come near to this over the three years the appeal was to run. It is therefore very gratifying to report that the sum raised has exceeded £61,000. There can be little doubt this has made a significant contribution to reducing the problems of land mines and the re-habilitation of victims in Cambodia and is a credit to the four small denominations involved. That said it has to be admitted that in one way the appeal was less successful. It had been hoped that regular contacts between the work in Cambodia and the Churches in Scotland would be built up so that people would feel a personal involvement. This proved difficult to organise and information flowed slowly and erratically although we were thrilled with the visit of a Cambodian Partner, Kong Socheat last year.

The Appeal Liaison Group has continued to meet. It was felt that despite the generosity of our members we should adhere to the concept of an appeal for a limited time and close the Hope for Cambodia campaign. Another factor influencing the decision was that thanks to the publicity given to the problems of mines world-wide over the past two or three years funds were now coming from other sources and there was increasing hope that governments would become involved.

NEW APPEAL

Accordingly the group decided to seek a new project in a different part of the world with a view to a launch this Summer. After reviewing various options the group decided to recommend a project centred on the Western part of Kenya (adjacent to Lake Victoria) and focusing successively of topics such as:-

i. Young people and the future.

ii. Management of water.

iii. The environment and the development of tourism.

The title for the new appeal will be "Jambo Kenya".

THE NEW SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

As this report is written campaigning for the new parliament is getting under way. By General Assembly the elections will be over but the new Parliament will not yet have been formally opened. This is very much a current issue.

The opening of the first Parliament in Scotland since 1707 is obviously an event of great significance to the nation. No sector of society will be unaffected and so it is also of great importance to the Churches. It is often said nowadays that we live in a secular society and that the Christian community is a minority. This may well be so but the minority is a substantial one and it does have a concern for the way in which society as a whole behaves. So although we must always respect the views of others we do have a duty to make our, that is God's, aims and plan, known; and the opportunities before us are considerable. The stated intention for the new Parliament is that it should be open and accessible to all sectors of the public and that there should always be the fullest practical consultation before new legislation. This will become a reality if we take advantage of what is offered but will surely wither away if we fail to do so.

The United Free Church has, along with other Churches in Scotland, played a part in the design of the new structure through its participation in the Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) Commission on Justice, Peace, Social and Moral Issues (JPSMI) and in the Scottish Churches Constitutional Group. The position has now changed with the imminent opening of the Parliament.

During the past year the Church of Scotland appointed Rev Graham Blount as Parliamentary Officer. From the outset the appointment was intended to be an ecumenical one and Rev Blount has already addressed our Committee who would wish to be associated with him. His function would be principally as a facilitator of relations between the various Churches and the Parliament. This will be two way. He will represent the views of the Churches to Parliament on specific issues and feed information on proposed legislation back to the Churches. This appointment in no way removes the power and indeed duty of each denomination to come to its own decision on matters of concern and make its own representations directly. The Committee has also been informed that the Evangelical Alliance intends to appoint an Officer with a somewhat different remit it would be our hope that we could also benefit from this appointment.

Separately we have also been concerned with the procedures to be followed by the new Parliament and made a submission last Autumn concerning the place of prayer in the business of parliament. This has been left as a decision to be taken by the new body when it meets and so it is desirable that any individual who feels strongly that regular prayer should take place in parliament should make their Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) aware of this.

It was also the Committee's view that there would be a need for pastoral support for MSPs, Civil Servants and Visitors and so backing to a submission by ACTS that a Chaplaincy Team be formed to carry out this work.

EUROPE

The continuing development and enlargement of the European Union will result over a period of time in a strengthening of links between institutions in Britain and the rest of Europe. It is unlikely or desirable that the Churches will be able to stand aside from this. The Committee keeps itself informed about events in Europe by means of its membership of the Scottish Churches Europe Network.

During the past year we have seen the coming together of two European Ecumenical Bodies; the European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society(EECCS) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC). EECCS has become the Church and Society Commission of CEC. The amalgamation has resulted in a certain amount of stress. EECCS has till now been concerned only with the EU and has addressed itself to specific religious and social issues as are of concern to the EU. CEC has, in contrast, concerned itself with the whole of Europe and especially eastern Europe and has tended to discuss matters of principle without too much interest in the working out of the consequences. It is to be hoped that the enlarged body will be able to work together harmoniously and effectively. Some of the matters to be examined by the new Church and Society Commission are:-

i. European Integration

ii. Comprehensive Security

iii. North South Issues

iv. Economic and Environmental Issues

v. Human Rights

While relations between the old EECCS and the EU have been good there is no guarantee that this will continue and there is evidence that other faiths and beliefs are becoming organised and seeking recognition.

Your Committee will continue to keep itself informed about developments both informally through the network and formally through CCBI who are members of CEC.

THE DEBATE OF THE AGE

By the year 2036 it is estimated that 50% of the population will be over the age 60. This raises a whole series of question which should be faced now while there is still time. In order to further explore the problem the Committee invited Mrs Maureen O'Neill of Age Concern to address them. It is the hope of Age Concern to initiate a public discussion, 'The Debate of the Age', about the issues which should be before society as a result of this ageing population. Five major themes have been identified:-

i. How can society pay for its old people?

ii. What kind of Health provision is required?

iii. The design of the built environment including transport.

iv. Changes in working patterns and lifestyles.

v. How the changed demographic distribution will affect our Values and Attitudes.

Age Concern intended to monitor responses to the various questions and to produce a discussion paper to point the way ahead early in the next century. It is the view of the Committee that this is an area in which we should be involved in order the put forward a Christian view and we shall be continuing to examine these issues.

JUBILEE 2000

The concept of Jubilee is laid out in the Old Testament (Leviticus 25). It was designed to protect the poor in a community. It was recognised that people might borrow money for many reasons, through sickness, through the failure of their crops or just because of their own bad financial management. Whatever the reason, once in debt they were unable to free themselves so the year of Jubilee was designed as a chance given every fifty years for those in debt or who were slaves to start again. All debts were to be cancelled and all slaves set free.

At the end of this second millennium the world still has a problem with debt; but this time it is the poorer nations which have fallen into debt to the rich nations. The reasons for this situation are complex and varied but one thing is clear and that is that the burden of debt weighs heavily upon the people of the poorer nations. In the words of Martin Dent, the founder of the Jubilee 2000 "the debtor nations are like people who have fallen down a well, and have no conceivable way of getting out without a rope lowered to them by someone on the surface". Regardless of where the responsibility for their predicament lies the urgent task is to get them out. It is the lenders who have the power and it is the lenders who can effect the rescue, by the remission of the debt owed.

Jubilee 2000 was set up to work towards the remission of the debts of the poorer nations and to give them a fresh start in the third millennium. To make the year 2000 truly the " acceptable year of the Lord" in which "those who are oppressed are set at liberty" and "those who are held captive gain their freedom" (Luke 4).

General Assembly has already given its blessing to the Jubilee 2000 campaign. Many of our members will have signed the Jubilee 2000 petition last year. There are signs that the pressure exerted is bearing some fruit. The politicians no longer claim that remission of debts is impossible. Some debts have been cancelled and some suspended. There is a danger that we may believe the battle is won and sit back in self congratulation. This would be entirely the wrong thing to do. Most of the debt is still there on the books. Men, women and children are suffering and dying because of that debt. Did you know that for every £1 sent in aid to the poorer nations, £8 to £9 comes back as debt repayments? It must not go on and we can all do our bit to stop it by taking every opportunity open to us to make our views known to the politicians, MPs, MSPs & MEPs.

The Jubilee 2000 Scottish Coalition co-ordinates action in Scotland and is organising a major event in Edinburgh at Assembly time. Although it may not be possible for us to be there we can pray for its success. Then later in June there is a meeting of the G8 nations in Cologne, Germany, which will be the focus of lobbyists from all over Europe. Again we should pray that the delegates find a way to recommend the remission of debt by the end of this year.

WORLD DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Last October the Convener was privileged to attend a Development Policy Forum organised by the Department for International Development. The forum was one of a series intended to inform the Department about Public Opinion in order to better formulate policy. How effective it was in achieving this we have no means of judging at this stage but certainly it was informative.

A recurring theme was the conflict in the allocation of fixed resources between the demands for humanitarian aid following some disaster and the less newsworthy but equally important demands for long term development which might be the only way to remove the causes of chronic poverty. It was noted that most disaster situations were the result of conflict so that the development of mediation procedures to resolve conflict and bring about reconciliation would do much to resolve the problems of the world. However such procedures would only work if they were fair to all sides and were seen to be so.

It is noted that when disaster strikes the victims are only too often predominantly women and children and this suggests there is need for social change to redress the balance of power between the sexes.

Factors affecting development include the globalisation of industry and the growth of multi-national companies. The present world structures were developed to benefit the richer countries with little concern shown for the wishes and needs of the rest of the world. For example the concept of 'Free Trade' is clearly beneficial to the big companies which can readily switch money and production about the globe to maximise profits but is less welcome to small local firms who may find it difficult to compete and may have to close down and pay off workers, a phenomenon which is well known in our own country at the present moment. The financial resources of some of the multi-nationals are greater than the total budgets of many third world countries and these same multi-nationals are not accountable to the public! There is a need for more democratisation and control.

It was of interest to see these same themes appearing also in some of the discussion papers issued prior to the recent World Council of Churches Assembly in Harare and to read there of attempts to develop a theological basis for action. The early Christian congregations consisting mainly of poor people and slaves were confronted with the globalised claim to power of the Roman Empire. In response they developed a very democratic and caring community which not only countered the power of the Empire but proved capable of great expansion. It appears to have lost its power when it became tied to the state since the time of the Emperor Constantine. Today we must seek to recover this idea of a church standing in solidarity with the poor along with a passion for justice, peace and the integrity of creation as a counter-balance to the current enforced globalisation. Jesus encouraged people to discern the "signs of the times" and so we must look at our times in the light of His whole message. Then perhaps we may recover that vision of a Church called to speak up for those who have no advocates and to be the voice of the voiceless.

SCOTTISH CHURCHES INDUSTRIAL MISSION

The Committee, being aware of the great need for pastoral support in the workplace especially at this time when workers are experiencing both increased stress at work and loss of security concerning the continuance of their employment, and admitting the paucity of our own resources to do much about it, is glad to be able to associate itself with the Scottish Churches Industrial Mission. It is grateful to Mr R. Campbell who has represented us at various meetings of the Mission.

The Mission has spent considerable time in getting its constitution right so as to properly express its ecumenical nature.

Practical concerns before the Mission have centred on the need to help those who have lost jobs in the recent spate of closures and redundancies. There is also a great need to reach out into the countryside to bring support to those involved in agriculture.

SCOTTISH CHURCHES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FUND

Most of the work of the Committee is concerned with matters of principle and although these are important there is also a need for more practical endeavours. The Committee was therefore pleased to receive an invitation to be involved in the setting up of new body, the Scottish Churches Community Development Fund. The aim of the new body is to seek to relieve poverty by supporting work with people who are most disadvantaged in our society. It would do this by awarding grants to appropriate projects with the hope that such grants though small would act as 'seed' to attract money from other sources.

Income would be derived both from grants made centrally by the churches and from appeals made directly to individuals and congregations. Where grants are awarded it is intended that local congregations should be encouraged to be involved and to treat such work as part of their outreach.

Secondary objectives of the fund would be to raise awareness of poverty issues in Scotland and to stimulate theological and social reflection.

The steering group setting up the fund is still engaged in formulating its structure and constitution and so although the Committee is in favour our participation in principle it is too early to say whether this will be possible. We would wish to continue to take part in the work of the Steering Group.

SCOTTISH CHURCHES AGENCY FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

We are all aware of the cancer of discrimination on grounds of race which still exists in places in our country. It is to be hoped that should any of us come into contact with such situations we would do what we could to reach and help the victims. With this in mind the Committee felt it was important to continue our support of the agency SCARJ at least in token form. We are of course aware that SCARJ is a small body and that its work is of necessity largely limited to the two major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Last year saw the end of the decade which was designated by the World Council of Churches as "The Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women". There was supposed to be much debate on the problems of discrimination and actual discrimination against women. In the United Free Church there has been little evidence of such debate. Perhaps we believe that our denomination, with its emphasis on equality before God, is free from such problems! But this could well be a dangerous and false assumption. Certainly in Scottish society there is much evidence of both discrimination and violence against women. There also appears to be almost a conspiracy of silence to keep such things from the public view. It is very difficult for a victim to get her voice heard. Of course the problem is not just a Scottish one, it is world-wide. A UNICEF report (1997) contains the words "Violence against women and girls is the most pervasive violation of human rights in the world today. Its forms are both subtle and blatant and its impact on development profound. But it is so deeply embedded in cultures around the world that it is almost invisible. Yet this brutality is not inevitable. Once recognised for what it is - a construct of power and a means of maintaining the status quo - it can be dismantled."

Your Committee has been as guilty as anyone else of avoiding the issue but now we would wish to make a start in redressing the balance. We do this by bringing before Assembly the words of a challenge presented to the Churches by the Council of Churches of Great Britain and Ireland.

They ask the Churches to :-

· declare that violence against women in all its forms, is morally wrong and totally unacceptable in society and in the Church;

· break the silence over domestic violence;

· work towards making churches safe places where abused women can find sanctuary and informed help;

· develop procedures which enable complaints about abuse and harassment within the Church to be dealt with promptly and fairly;

· urge local churches and community to act in support of women's refuges and in solidarity with victims of violence.

ACTS, CCBI & WCC

The Committee plays its full part in the activities of the Justice, Peace, Social and Moral Issues Commission of ACTS and gains much from this association. It would be true to say that with our limited resources our work would be greatly impoverished without this support. Economic factors prevent attendance at most meetings of CCBI and the WCC however we still benefit by receiving copies of discussion documents and recommendations. The growth of computer links via the internet should enhance the value of membership in the future.

A special mention has to be made of the visit of our General Secretary to the WCC Assembly in Harare. His impressions which were reported to the Committee will add much to our discussions in the future.

SCOTTISH REFUGEE COUNCIL

At the time of writing this report the Government has published a new Bill which will further tighten the regulations dealing with the reception of refugees in the UK. Among its provisions are a proposal to disperse the refugees throughout the UK and one to limit benefits to payments in kind only. The practical outworking of this is that some 2000 to 4000 extra refugees will be arriving in Scotland, mainly to Glasgow. Housing will require to be found for them and this will probably be in the big housing estates. As payments will be in kind the refugees will effectively be trapped where they are put with obvious social consequences.

There will obviously be much debate before the bill becomes law and it is to be hoped that it will be amended somewhat. However in anticipation of it coming into effect in some form the Scottish Refugee Council, on whom the burden of providing pastoral care for the refugees will fall is calling for the support of the Churches in organising a special Refugee Week both to raise awareness of the problem and to raise some funds by a special appeal. The date proposed for this is the week 17th to 24th October.

CONCLUSION

The Convener would like to express his grateful thanks to the vice-conveners and members of the committee for their support in what was a difficult time. Also special acknowledgement must be made to the General Secretary and office for their unstinting help at all times.

In the name of the Committee

J FERGUS HENDERSON, Convener

IAN F R LLOYD, Vice Convener

ANDREW SCOTT, Vice Convener

JOHN O FULTON, Secretary