"For me Ecumenical Instruments exist to challenge people to take risks, to share resources, to identify common issues, and to collaborate together with God in God's Mission."
Dr David Goodbourn (Incoming General Secretary of CTBI)

"Jesus was walking through some cornfields on the Sabbath. As his disciples walked along with him, they began to pick the ears of corn. So the Pharisees said to Jesus, 'Look, it is against our law for your Disciples to do that on the Sabbath'. (Mk 2, v23). Jesus concluded (v27), 'The Sabbath was made for the good of man; man was not made for the Sabbath'."

INTRODUCTION

In last year's report to the General Assembly, your Committee sought to address the challenges of Mission, to embrace future possibilities and to face risks which could not be avoided. Your Committee has sought to do this, building upon ongoing work and looking to the future for the possibilities we are sure God wishes to provide for His Church.

To this end your Committee has had to face up to issues which are very challenging ones, not least the call implicit in paragraph 22 of the Deliverance of the Committee on Business and Administration requiring all General Assembly Committees to consider as a first priority what they can initiate to halt the decline in Membership of the Church.

Another very real challenge has been our ongoing Membership within ACTS. During last year's General Assembly not only was an information document produced detailing our then current involvement within ACTS, but a consultative meeting was held inviting our delegates in ACTS to respond and give their personal impressions of what membership meant to them in the area of their own Church involvement. Your Committee have to report (and did report at last year's General Assembly) that their impressions were favourable and positive, indicating the way our involvement supplemented the work of our own Church while providing a valuable forum for the Church to input into areas which we could not otherwise hope to be involved in given our own limited resources. (See appendix 1)

Our relationships within the setting of UCCSA and the Botswana Synod have also come to the fore following the General Secretary's visit to Southern Africa en route for the WCC Assembly at Harare, and the Committee is grateful to the Rev John 0 Fulton for his very detailed report.

Wider Missionary activity and involvement in areas outwith the Church's own traditional sphere of interest, namely Botswana, have also raised previously unforeseen and unasked questions. For example the need to define and delineate the ground rules and criteria for involvement in and with other Foreign Missions. A number of specific appeals for financial help have forced the Committee to ask the question "Is the Committee simply to be a post box and an issuer of cheques?" This is hardly the view, we would have thought, of our forefathers in the faith, or the intention of the Mission Statement and Strategy of the 1997 General Assembly Deliverance which stated amongst other things -"The Committee whenever possible will seek to develop a policy of equal partnership in all Missionary work with their brothers and sisters in Christ". (Report to the General Assembly 1997)

Your Committee has been delighted to aid Missionary appeals when it was thought appropriate to do so, but a whole lot of work still needs to be done to clarify a cogent and coherent response to wider Missionary involvement and activity.

All these matters fall into the area of risk taking for Christ and listening to what the Spirit has to say to the Church.

PARA 22 - BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION REPORT TO 1998 GENERAL ASSEMBLY

This Deliverance "required all Assembly Committees to consider as a first priority what they could initiate to halt the decline in overall membership".

Your Committee gave careful consideration to the terms of the above paragraph of Deliverance. While sympathetic to the reasons for the deliverance, they consider questions concerning the wellbeing of the Church to be ones which are continually uppermost in the minds of the Committee and of its members. Further, with regard to the nature of the work undertaken by the Committee, new initiatives have already been undertaken and are ongoing. The very nature of this work makes a large proportion of the outcome unquantifiable. For example, one need only think of the initiative begun in sponsoring students from Botswana or the initiative of sponsoring closer Missionary ties through the introduction of Missionary Profiles. These are innovative initiatives and are to be measured in terms of relationships rather than in terms of numbers. Our membership of Scottish Churches World Exchange also provides a new forum for increased Inter-Church participation and Missionary activity. While your Committee is always open to explore new possibilities and ideas, the members are especially anxious to receive information and feedback from the work already begun.

SCOTTISH CHURCHES WORLD EXCHANGE (SCWE) A Charitable Trust

Your Committee continues to see the potential and possibilities opened up to the Church by our partnership and missionary involvement in this body and continue to commend SCWE to the Denomination at large. However, although repeated information has been made available throughout the Churches generally, there have only been a few tentative enquiries and these have never progressed beyond the exploratory stage. It is the intention of the Committee to visit each Presbytery and to give Presbytery members the opportunity for a further exchange of information. The Committee also plan to host a display during the time of the General Assembly to promote the opportunities available through SCWE.

OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS:-

Operational Developments within the Trust have been ongoing during the past year and we would report as follows:

The SCWE is now housed within St Colm's International House, and is fully operational as a self contained unit for all aspects of SCWE activity. This former Missionary College has now been leased from the Church of Scotland to the SCWE for a ten year period at a nominal annual rental of £1 and the lease has been signed by all Trust members.

Currently moves are well advanced to change the status of SCWE from that of a Trust to being a Company Limited by Guarantee. The best advice of lawyers acting for the Trust has been sought and, it is anticipated the papers relating to this change will be signed with the United Free Church being a signatory as a Member of the Company.

St Colm's International House has been refurbished and now provides accommodation for 20 - 30 long stay residents for home and overseas students. It is hoped also to provide a broadly based Missionary Formation Programme for Missionaries who are preparing to go overseas. In addition, during August/ September of this year a TEFL Course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) will be initiated as a 6 week package, costing around £2,500. This will provide English and Business skills to foreign and overseas students.

For the purposes of this report, volunteers for overseas service with SCWE continue to be selected and those seeking to apply are asked to provide a one off seed fund of around £2,000. Your Committee has agreed to look sympathetically at any requests for help coming from within our own church membership.

PARTNERSHIPS IN MISSION

In last year's report to the General Assembly reference was made to the possibilities of partnership in mission with specific attention being given to the possibilities of the Church's involvement with the Shepherd School (see later under Shepherd School).

Generally speaking it has been easier to theorise about partnerships than to actualise them in reality (referred to in the introduction to this report).

Your Committee has had before it various initiatives and requests, among them the following - An approach by the West Calder Congregation to aid a project in Romania; this the Committee responded to.

The Committee was also able to facilitate a request to the Pollock Memorial Missionary Trust for a Grant towards the study costs of Rev Gabor Bancea. The Committee took an interest in Stephen Neil's project in Burkina Faso, and were pleased to receive his later report. The Committee were also asked to consider a possible involvement with the Ashram Bible College in India, while a letter had been received from the Rev R Hambira (Synod Secretary) requesting help to deal with an influx of refugees to Botswana who were seeking refugee status there.

A meeting with Mr S Moulds (WEC) will take place to discuss aspects of Missionary Involvement and possible Missionary Partnerships which might be developed within our congregations. Closer association with our partners in Mission through the profiles of Missionaries is also an avenue Congregations might wish to pursue.

The variety and scope of these approaches indicate two areas where further thought and reflection is vital. First how do we truly become Missionary Partners, and not just a post box for despatching cheques, and second, what yardstick do we use to support one aspect of missionary activity and not another, bearing in mind our resources are not infinite and our involvement in Christ's Mission is both short, medium and longer term?

MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION UFCS/ UCCSA AND THE SYNOD OF BOTSWANA

The Committee is extremely indebted to the Rev J O Fulton for his observations and report following his recent visit to South Africa en route to the WCC at Harare. His report has provided much welcome background information to the current situation in Botswana, and illuminated again how diverse are the cultural and ecclesiastical differences between UCCSA and the UFCS. These your Committee are becoming increasingly aware of. Your Committee noted the following points:

Rev Desmond van der Water's (UCCSA Executive General Secretary) opinion that more formalised relationships between the two Denominations would be useful. He would welcome a Partnership/ Covenant relationship with UFCS. A similar view expressing the desire for closer links with the UFCS was also promulgated by the Rev M Mutale UCCSA Minister at Molepolole. This Congregation had recently received the Gift of a PA system given by Mr J R Cowe in memory of Mrs M Cowe.

Commissioners will see immediately how much work would need to be done to translate such thoughts into any meaningful policy, given the different structures within our two churches and the perceived difficulties we see lying in actualising any reformalised relationships at the coal face in so vast and varied a territory as that covered by UCCSA. We note that the Revised Memorandum of Association passed by the UFCS General Assembly in 1997 was about to be submitted to the Synod Officials and then to the UCCSA Synod Conference in 1999.

Your Committee also noted the evident shortage of Ministerial Manpower in Botswana which, though having improved over the last 10 years, is still under strength and relies in part on the generous support of shared Ministries. This requires our continued prayerful support.

The UCCSA Synod also has its own long and short term resourcing problems and your Committee is aware of a number of options being considered by the Synod.

Other matters relating both to the SYNOD/ UCCSA/ UFCS relationship appear elsewhere in this report but we are sure Commissioners will rejoice with UCCSA when in Sept 1999 they celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the work begun by the LMS at Tygerkloof. The UFCS have been invited to share in these celebrations and the committee has asked the Convener to represent us on this occasion.

OVERSEAS STUDENTS

Mr Edward Rantshillo is continuing his studies as planned and continues to be associated with our Millerston Congregation. The Committee is grateful for their pastoral support. The Committee has also issued an evaluation pro forma and all Overseas Students past and present have been offered the opportunity to respond to their Scottish experience. Early indications suggest this project is apposite, and one which will prove beneficial to all concerned.

REV DR A M MERRIWEATHER

Your Committee continue to be thankful for the wellbeing, life and witness of His servant in Molepolole. Since we last met in Assembly Dr Merriweather celebrated his 80th birthday and many greetings were conveyed from the UFCS, not least greetings in the Churches' name by the General Secretary and Principal Clerk.

At the time of writing this report some doubt still exists over the health of Dr Merriweather and his ability to visit Scotland in the summer. The Committee prays this might be possible and understand a final decision depends upon the advice of Dr Merriweather's own Consultant.

Your Committee also understands and has been assured the book by Dr Merriweather entitled "Three Gowns and a Cross" will be ready by June.

TOWARDS A MORE EFFECTIVE CARING FOR OUR MISSIONARIES

Missionary Profiles continue to be a source of inspiration and a resource for many within our Congregations to draw from. It would be the Committee's wish to see this develop with individual Congregations and persons developing closer links with the Missionary activity so identified. This however must be a two way process, as your Committee relies heavily on information being received from Missionaries themselves in order to keep the profiles informed and up to date.

Stedfast has been able to carry articles from the McArthur's and Flying Mission, and there is no reason why other Missionary aspects should not become the interest of the whole denomination. Finally, in response to a question during the Overseas' Report of last year's General Assembly, the Committee is now looking seriously at whether it is possible to have a Missionary Sunday within the denomination .

A further report on Missionary activity is contained in Appendix 2.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS TO MISSIONARIES

The practice of sending a monetary gift to all members of the UF Church serving with other Missionary Societies has been continued. The gift sent at Christmas 1998 was again £200. The Committee are also aware of support being given by the Prayer Union of the UFCS and would record their appreciation.

WOMEN'S HOME AND OVERSEAS COMMITTEE

The Committee once again expresses its gratitude to the Women of the Church for all their prayerful and financial support of the Overseas' work.

SCOTTISH LIVINGSTONE HOSPITAL

Additional Deliverance 13 of last year's General Assembly report expressed the desire for the Hospital Chapel within the Hospital complex to be retained and your Committee has now been assured of this.

However, the Committee has also been made aware of a number of plaques within the Hospital complex. They record numerous gifts which have been donated to the Hospital by the people of Scotland over the Hospital's lifetime. Dr Merriweather has expressed the desire for them to be preserved as, during extensive demolition and modernisation work there is the obvious danger of damage to or loss of this important heritage. Responding to these concerns your Committee will be looking into ways of best preserving these plaques. The Government has accepted responsibility for renovating the Chapel along with the rest of the Hospital complex and your Committee is also considering whether it might be appropriate to contribute to the furnishings of a refurbished Chapel. The Chapel could also be the must appropriate place for the plaques to rest.

THE CHURCH AT LEPHEPE

This small Church serves a community 90 km from Molepolole. It has been supported financially by the Women's Home and Overseas Committee and also in prayer by the whole Church. Because it is so much on the hearts and minds of the UFCS, the Committee would encourage prayerful support for its Ministry and hope for spiritual growth and revival in the community it serves.

SCOTTISH CHURCHES CHINA GROUP

The Committee continue to maintain an interest in this Ecumenical group through the ongoing information supplied by the Rev P Johnston and note the development of Scottish projects and joint UK Programmes.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE MEMORIAL CENTRE (DLMC)

The Rev A M Lawless continues to represent the Church on the DLMC and the Committee is grateful to Mr Lawless for his very full reports. As part of the Church's own commitment to actively support the Centre, the Committee intend to visit the DLMC and see at first hand the work going on there.

THE SHEPHERD SCHOOL

The Committee was grateful for the work done by the General Trustees in dealing with the Mission House which has become an integral part of the Shepherd School Complex. Your Committee also understands the Synod Officials have agreed to become involved in the School, although quite what their involvement will be, is at present unspecified.

Your Committee would like to be assured that the Christian ethos of the school will be retained following the anticipated retiral of Mrs Merriweather and/ or any changes affecting the Governorship of the School. We are sure the Synod likewise will be similarly minded. Obviously with the commitment and involvement of the Botswana Synod in the School, interest in its affairs from UFCS is now a two way process. The roll of the School stands at 470 and it continues to have a remarkable Christian witness.

ACTION OF CHURCHES TOGETHER IN SCOTLAND (ACTS)

Reference was made in the introduction to this report of the challenges implicit in our ongoing membership of ACTS. The very real question of our membership within ACTS is a live one as questions from the floor of the Assembly constantly testify and our membership within ACTS varies from being the sometimes passive Pilgrim to the Pilgrim reluctant to 'Journey Together'. While your Committee is constantly aware of the diverse views within the Church and continues to wrestle with the issues involved in what it means to be members of ACTS, it believes we can receive and make a valuable contribution to Church life in Scotland through continued membership of ACTS. The Committee further believe the decision made by the General Assembly of 1989 was a positive one and one which should encourage us all to become active participants in the opportunities offered. The Deliverance of 1989 stated - "The United Free Church agrees to participate in the proposed Ecumenical Bodies". This Deliverance from a General Assembly of the Church is a challenging one. How have we each participated to make ACTS what it is intended to be, A Journey of Churches Together in Pilgrimage?

Following the retirement of the Rev Maxwell Craig in December, the Very Rev Dr Kevin Franz has been appointed General Secretary of ACTS. Rev K Franz was previously Provost of St Mary's Cathedral, Perth.

A brief account of the work of ACTS is best given by referring to reports submitted to the Central Council through the work of its various Commissions and Committees as far as they affect the Inter-Church Committee. Work within the Unity, Faith and Order Commission had produced lst and 2nd drafts of a book entitled "Marriage, Discipline and Pastoral Care", a helpful source of information and one especially useful for Inter Church families.

Further work was being carried out on other vexing theological issues such as Baptism and Communion. A recent Publication from the Catholic Bishops Conferences of the book "One Bread, One Body" was a teaching document the Churches could respond to and theological responses were awaited. A paper produced by Dr John Drane for the Mission, Evangelism and Education Commission entitled "Evangelism and the Scottish Churches" also proved a useful addition to the Mission debate.

ACTS continued to organise an annual Conference for those who have recently been Ordained into the Ministry of the various Churches and this was receiving increasing support from within the Member Churches.

THE MILLENNIUM FOCUS

Celebration of the Millennium is now only months away and has three aims:

1. The renewal of the life of the Churches as a Community of Love and Service.

2. Release from the burden of International Debt for the poorest nations i.e. the Jubilee Initiative.

3. Release of Homelessness in Scotland.

While the material being produced for use at the Millennium is designed to be used Nationally, it is also by now well publicised and documented. Your Committee believe not every Church will wish to use such material in its entirety but, because of the optional nature of what has been produced, the Committee is aware of some interesting variations on the themes developed. Your Committee would encourage Churches to find new ways to develop and make this material relevant and exciting.

SCOTTISH CHURCHES HOUSE

This House serves the Christian Community not only in Scotland but further afield. The financial report to the Central Council showed a modest financial surplus, with progress being made in upgrading and making the House more user friendly, especially in regard to access for the disabled. As reported to last year's General Assembly, your Committee is aware of major structural changes needing to be done in five years time but will report when further information becomes available.

During the course of last year the House was able to offer hospitality to two separate Russian groups coming from Chernobyl and Minsk and offer them the fresh air and food of Scotland, welcoming them in Christ's name - "I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me." Matt 25.40

COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND (CCBI)

The Assembly of the Council of Churches in Britain and Ireland met in February of this year in Swanwick under the chosen theme "Serving the Nations in Partnership". The formal plenaries dealt with the Review recommendations.

The Assembly agreed to its name being changed to Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) and agreed to an amended schedule for meeting in Assembly, i.e., less than 4 years.

The Presidency of the Council will alternate between the Nation states and comprise at least 4 Presidents, with the precise number being determined from Assembly to Assembly. The question of the nature of this Presidency is one which still has to be addressed by the participating bodies.

At a time when vast political changes are taking place Nationally and Internationally, the Assembly saw the role of Public Affairs as being one of crucial importance and agreed to set up a Special Task force to look into the role of Public Affairs within CCBI. Other changes included slight amendments to the remit of the Co-ordinating Secretaries.

WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES (WCC)

The WCC Eighth Assembly met in Harare, Zimbabwe in December 1998 with the Rev J O Fulton representing the Church. The Assembly was attended by a total of 4,300 persons, representing over 130 countries and 330 denominations. The theme of the Assembly was "Turn to God, Rejoice in Hope", a title which highlighted the twin themes of Repentance and Rejoicing.

The staffing level of the WCC had been reduced by 45% since the Canberra Assembly of 1991 and meant previously agreed programmes had been affected. Such drastic reductions implied a need to reappraise the work of the WCC and assess what was appropriate to being done: Locally/ by other Ecumenical Bodies or by Christian World Communions.

Formal statements were made about Debt Relief, Globalisation, Human Rights, Jerusalem and the future of Africa, while a special Commission was set up to look into the concerns voiced by the Orthodox Churches. Harare also saw the end of the Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women, while the Assembly agreed further discussions should take place on a proposal to set up a broader based Ecumenical Forum. (see Appendix 3 Reflections on Harare)

OTHER ECUMENICAL EVENTS:

WORLD ALLIANCE OF REFORMED CHURCHES (WARC)

The 23rd General Council of the WARC meeting in Debrechen, Hungary from the 8th - 20th August 1997 passed a declaration acknowledging that Apartheid was wrong in its effects, operations and in its fundamental nature. The Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, being unable to accept the terms of this Deliverance, had therefore found themselves suspended from membership of the WARC.

Your Committee can now report that a meeting of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa in October 1998 accepted the Declaration of Debrechen as a condition of the lifting of their ban on membership.

ECUMENICAL ASSEMBLY 2001

Details of this proposed Ecumenical Assembly are now beginning to emerge. The overall theme of the Assembly will be "The Churches' Place in Scotland - Social, Political and Cultural" and the Assembly will he held within Glasgow University from 14th -16th September 2001. Although a word of caution, the title may yet be changed .

The Assembly aims to accommodate two hundred delegates, representing the Churches, the Commissions, the Committees of ACTS and also representing other non church bodies with others from outwith the UK.

The year 2000 will provide a lead in, and focus to this event, as during the MiIlennium Year seven dispersed Gatherings are being planned to take place throughout Scotland and these can become vehicles for feeding in information about the Assembly, encouraging group discussion, responses and ideas.

The Rev G B Bruce is our representative on the Planning Group set up by the Central Council of ACTS to take this Assembly forward and your Committee understands a budget will be prepared and submitted for the Churches to consider.

SCOTTISH CHURCH INITIATIVE FOR UNION (SCIFU)

This Initiative followed on from the previous Multilateral Conversations, but unlike UFCS participation then, the UFCS are Observers of the SCIFU process. The Rev G B Bruce has been able to keep the Committee informed through his holding Observer status in the talks.

In 1998 an Interim Report published by SCIFU was accepted by all the participating Churches and the information circulated. Feed back and responses are awaited regarding the content of the Report. Your Committee understands that SCIFU hope to produce an outline Basis and Plan of Union to be presented to the Churches in 2002.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHURCHES COUNCILS

1998 1997 1996

Action of Churches Together In Scotland £1504 £1460 £1404

Council of Churches in Britain and Ireland £ 700 £ 650 £ 650

World Council of Churches £ 500 £ 500 £ 500

WCC (Assembly) £ 165 £ 165 £ 170

World Alliance of Reformed Churches £ 400 £ 400 £ 400

Glasgow Churches Council for Overseas Students £ 400 £ 300 £ 300

These figures represent an increase in 1998 of:

ACTS 3.4%

CCBI 7.7%

WCC No change

WCC Assembly No change

WARC No change

Our annual contribution of £5,000 was paid to Scottish Churches World Exchange.

AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Convener would wish to convey to the Vice Conveners and to all members of the Committee his grateful thanks for the help and support given. Finally to the General Secretary, Office Staff and General Treasurer sincere thanks for their unfailing help, guidance, support and prayers over this past year.

In the name of the committee

STEPHEN J W MATTHEWS (Convener)

JAMES D NEIL (Vice Convener)

ARTHUR M LAWLESS (Vice Convener)