INTRODUCTION

The remit of the Committee on Ministry and Home Affairs is a very wide ranging one, which makes the work of the Committee varied and interesting, but also demanding and time consuming. A great deal of the work is routine but nonetheless important, matters such as conferences, Bible Exams, student attachments and dealing with applications for grants and bursaries are the 'bread and butter' issues the Committee deals with on a regular basis. Some matters, however, may be referred to the Committee by the General Assembly and others arise because of particular problems or circumstances. These can involve changes in the way we do things and result in specific proposals being brought to the General Assembly. The Committee welcomes ideas and suggestions and specific problems may force us to review areas of the Church's life and witness which we might otherwise neglect, but there is always a danger in being reactive rather than proactive.

Too easily we find ourselves dealing with the urgent rather than the important and the result can be too many matters receiving a little attention rather than in depth consideration. It seems better, therefore, to concentrate our thoughts and efforts into one area at a time and to bring forward proposals as a package rather than 'piecemeal'.

In accordance with that principle, this past year the Committee has given particular thought to forms of ministry exercised in the United Free Church. The introduction to the Committee's report to the General Assembly of 1997 addressed the question of what is meant by 'ministry' and changing attitudes to the traditional 'one-man ministry'. Part of the task of our Committee is the equipping of Pastors and teachers for their ministry which ought in turn to help them equip the members for their ministries thus creating, as the report states, a 'ministry of the whole congregation, Minister and members together'. The idea that each congregation should be served by a full time ordained Minister has been a central feature of our church life and witness for centuries and remains for most the 'ideal'.

Yet for many of our congregations that is not a viable option so we have alternative forms of service. Congregations, often in remote areas, have been served by both ordained and unordained 'Home Area Agents' who in recent years have been known as Pastors, other congregations have shared a Minister or Pastor in some form of linkage arrangement. Some congregations have entered into so called Private Arrangements, which until recently, usually involved retired Ministers but which are now made with a variety of people some ordained, some lay, some from within our denomination and some coming to us from other churches.

The Committee has spent some time considering which forms of ministry would be best suited to the needs of the United Free Church at the present time and, so far as it is possible to say, in the foreseeable future. This is a very large undertaking and one which is far from completion, however there are proposals in this report which come as the result of our deliberations on the matter. Allied to this is the selection, preparation and equipping of those who have a sense of calling to the ministry, and the continuing education and development of those already engaged in the service of the church. There are a number of possible areas not covered in the report such as 'auxiliary' or 'non-stipendiary' ministers, the possibility of a practically based probationary period and the promised review of the length, frequency, and purpose of Sabbatical Leave to which the Committee plan to give fuller attention in the coming months.

STUDENTS

It is a great encouragement to the Committee that so many men and women feel a sense of calling to the ministry. It is worthwhile noting that since the General Assembly agreed that a person must have been a member of the United Free Church for two years before their application can be considered, there has not been any noticeable reduction in the number of people seeking recognition as candidates for the ministry. This must be seen as an encouragement, as those now applying must come from within our own membership more of our members must be responding to God's call. The list of those currently recognised by the committee and the dates on which they are to due to complete their studies are as follows:-

1999

Mr Ian A Boa ( Lochwinnoch: Calder)

Mr Ralph A Dunn (Edinburgh West)

Mr Craig M Wilson ( Glasgow: Cathcart)

2000

Mrs Margery Collin (Edinburgh :West)

Mr Derry J Meredith (Tayport)

2002

Mrs Beverly Friend (Glasgow: Millerston)

ATTACHMENTS

Once again the Committee is grateful to Ministers and Congregations who have been willing to assist the Committee's work through student attachments. During the past year Mr. C. Wilson has been attached to our Cathcart congregation, Mr I. Boa to Milngavie, Mrs M. Collin to Broxburn and Mr D. Meredith to Perth. In addition, in an arrangement partly funded by the Committee and partly by the local Congregation, Mr Meredith was able to conduct worship and help with pastoral work in the Auchterarder Congregation during the summer months. This arrangement was helpful to the Minister, who has three charges and beneficial to both the congregation and to Mr Meredith. Mr R. Dunn has a private arrangement with the Edinburgh West congregation which serves as his attachment.

PROBATIONERS

The Committee was delighted to see both probationers settled into their first charges as full status Ministers. In last year's report the concern of the Committee that Rev. Gordon B. Armstrong had not received a call was expressed. Happily in August 1998 Mr Armstrong was Ordained and Inducted to Dumbarton: Dalreoch and Rev. Graham G. Brown was Ordained and Inducted to Aberdeen: Northfield in September 1998.

STUDENT CONFERENCES

The 1998 Autumn Course had to be condensed into a Friday evening /Saturday event to cope with the various start times of the University Semesters. The Committee is as always grateful to those who gave of their time to speak at that conference. The Spring Retreat was held at St. Ninians Crieff and we are grateful to Rev Mike Marsden and Rev Jan Cross for leading enjoyable and challenging sessions on "Effective Communication".

GUIDELINES FOR VACANCY COMMITTEES

Last General Assembly the Committee brought guidelines to assist both Interim Moderators and Vacancy Committees on how to proceed in the process of calling a new Minister. The intention was to give a step by step account of established practice and to clarify any matter open to doubt. These guidelines were withdrawn in order to allow the Assembly Clerks time to assess the correct status of appendices to Assembly Reports. This has now been done and the Committee is happy to present slightly amended Guidelines to this Assembly. It should be noted that these are guidelines and are in keeping with the practices laid down in the Manual of Practice and Procedure. The one area of uncertainty is the question of Vacancy Committees interviewing Students and Ministers being considered for vacant congregations. At present there is nothing in the Manual to allow or prohibit interviews taking place and therefore no means of regulating any which may take place. As stated in last year's report, it is our desire to regularise the situation and accordingly there is a paragraph of deliverance which, if approved by the General Assembly, would allow interviews to take place under specific circumstances, should there be a desire to do so by the Vacancy Committee. Those circumstances are that the Interim Moderator must be present, that the person's spouse should not be present and that questions asked should only cover areas of ministerial duties within the congregation and not those which are the responsibility of higher Courts or which question a person's suitability for the ministry.

PASTORS

The Committee greatly appreciates the work done by all three of our Pastors, particularly as they have all had difficult problems to deal with in the past year in both church work and with regard to their own health or that of their families. Their needs and problems have been a matter of pastoral concern to the Committee and we would commend these men, their families and the congregations they serve for the prayerful support of the denomination.

CHURCH RE-EXTENSION

The Committee has given further consideration to the criteria laid down by the Assembly of 1995 with regard to church re-extension. There was a feeling, based on the only application submitted to date, that there may be situations where there were particular opportunities but where the congregation did not meet criterion B that is where the church has become seriously weakened numerically or financially. It is therefore the recommendation of the Committee that the rules be amended to read:

(a) A congregation's numerical or financial strength has become seriously weakened.

and/ or

(b) The congregation is situated in an area where there is reason to believe that a special input from the denomination could lead to substantial growth.

and

(c) The congregation is recommended for such status by the Presbytery of the bounds and the Committee on Ministry and Home Affairs, after consideration of the circumstances of the congregation.

IN-SERVICE TRAINING

The Committee regards ln-Service training as a vital part of its work and wants to stress again the benefit gained by Ministers and Pastors attending these events. This year, once again at Crieff, we were privileged to have Rev. Prof. Alec Cheyne and Rev. Colin Sinclair as our speakers.

SABBATICALS

It is a matter of regret that the Committee is not in a position to bring forward any recommendation with regard to Sabbatical Leave for Ministers. The review which was promised last year, however is under way and any proposed changes to the scheme will be brought to next year's Assembly.

PART-TIME MINISTRIES

As indicated at last year's General Assembly, the Committee has been asked a number of questions with regard to 'Private Arrangements' and the current position of these was stated in last year's report. It was apparent, however, that the way these arrangements operated varied enormously and was, in some instances, the cause of dissatisfaction and the Committee undertook to conduct a review of Private Arrangements. It quickly became clear that those currently involved in Private Arrangements were doing some excellent work, often working far in excess of the amount of time expected of them. One obvious way in which 'Private Arrangements' have changed is that none of those currently in place involve retired Ministers and only one is with a retired Pastor.

It also became apparent that there are a growing number of congregations who see their future ministry as taking this form. Yet in the view of the Committee there are a number of matters connected with Private Arrangements which are far from satisfactory. Those in Private Arrangements go through no formal selection procedure, have no seat on Presbytery or General Assembly and no official recognition of their work; there is no provision for training and little formal supervision.

The Committee appointed a small group under the leadership of Rev. Graeme McKay to consider this matter. The group, the Assembly Clerks, and the whole Committee have worked hard to produce proposals that go far beyond replacing Private Arrangements to introducing a new form of ministry and are part of an ongoing review of forms of ministry in our denomination.

It is proposed that the Committee will open a list of people selected by the Committee to serve in a new position of Assistant Pastor or, in the case of a recognised Minister of the Church, an Assistant Minister. Those seeking such a position will be interviewed and, if accepted, employed by the Committee to work within a congregation on a part time basis. They will be governed by the same regulations as govern full-time Pastors and as such will submit an annual report to the Committee. The arrangements will be for one year which will be renewable subject to the agreement of the individual, Kirk Session and of Presbytery. The payment will be based on a notional number of days in which the Assistant Pastor or Assistant Minister will work thus allowing some individuals in small congregations to work only a couple of days whereas someone else may have a heavier work load and work three or four days.

The final decision on whether a particular congregation would be best suited to this arrangement and the number of notional days to be worked would lie with Presbyteries. A new category of congregation would thus be created. In addition to the three categories presently recognised i.e. Full Status, Home Mission and Church Extension/ Re-extension, a congregation may be designated as a Part-Time Pastorate. All Congregations vacant at the time of the rising of the 1999 General Assembly are being asked to submit Vacancy Schedules so that Presbyteries can determine the category to which each belongs. The only exceptions to this will be those congregations who have submitted and had approved a Vacancy Schedule within the previous twelve months. At present only the General Assembly can change the status of a congregation and clearly this could lead to delays for a congregation which the Presbytery believes ought to become a Part-Time Pastorate.

One further change which will also relate to full-time Pastors is that all Pastors who are Ordained Elders of the United Free Church will be granted a seat in the General Assembly and may apply for a seat in Presbytery. This will be an additional seat and not affect the number of Commissioners or members of Presbytery already appointed by the Congregation.

The Committee believes this new form of ministry will provide a flexibility to Presbyteries as they consider congregational readjustment, give a sense of value to those engaged in part time work and allow for proper supervision of those employed by and working in the name of the United Free Church.

CONCLUSION

The nature of the proposals brought this year mean that much advice and guidance was required from the Principal Clerks and the Committee is grateful for all the assistance they have given.

Our thanks to the General Treasurer and the Office Staff whose workload our Committee adds to on each occasion it meets.

No Committee can solve the problems of the Church but our hope is that we might be able to give support and assistance to congregations and Ministers as they seek to proclaim the message of hope, love and salvation which it is our privilege to proclaim.

In the name of the committee

COLIN C BROWN (Convener)

GRAEME G McKAY (Vice-Convener)

JAMES RICE (Vice-Convener)

JOHN O FULTON (General Secretary)