SPECIAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES OF THE UNITED FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

Statement agreed by General Assembly

Offices. All offices of the Church are open to any member in full communion. Women are therefore eligible for ordination to the ministry and the eldership, and ruling elders may be appointed as Interim Moderators of vacant congregations or as Moderators of Presbyteries or the General Assembly.

Status of Elders. A high ecclesiastical status is given to our ruling elders. The spiritual functions of the eldership are emphasised, and the Kirk Session (Ministers and Elders as one body) is responsible not only for administration but for the spiritual supervision of the congregation and its worship. In the ordination of Ministers the ordination is carried out by the whole Presbytery, ministers and elders of the Presbytery participating not only in the prayer of ordination offered by the Moderator but in the laying on of hands upon the ordinand.

Ordination. The United Free Church of Scotland uses the term "Ordination" for the solemn setting apart of the teaching elder (minister), the ruling elder and, where the office is retained, the deacon. Nevertheless the Church recognises a distinction in function between the office of ministry and that of the eldership, based upon the call, the training and the Church's setting apart of the minister for the special ministry of the Word and Sacraments. The elder is not excluded from participation in the work of teaching, but it is considered advisable in the interests of good order that in all ordinary situations a minister should preside at the administration of the Sacraments.

RELATION TO OTHER CHURCHES

The United Free Church of Scotland seeks to cherish a spirit of brotherhood towards all the faithful followers of Christ. Members of other Churches are welcomed to communion and ministers of other Churches may, on invitation, administer the Sacraments. The Church recognises the ordination of ministers of all denominations provided that the ordination has been carried out by an. authority representing a recognised branch of the Universal Church.

This Church has been a member of the World Council of Churches, the British Council of Churches, and Action Together of Churches in Scotland, since their inception; and it seeks to cooperate with other Churches in the furtherance of the Gospel and the service of mankind.

THE CHURCH'S FAITH

The United Free Church of Scotland, with all the Churches of the Reformation, acknowledges as its Supreme Standard the Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

The Church holds as its Subordinate Standard the Westminster Confession of Faith; by its Declaratory Acts (United Presbyterian Synod, 1879, Free Church Assembly, 1892) it recognises liberty of judgment on points of doctrine which do not enter into the substance of the faith; and it claims the right, as duty may require, to interpret, add to, modify, or change her Subordinate Standards, under the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, and with a sense of direct responsibility to her Lord.

The Church approves the emphasis of the Declaratory Acts on the love of God for all mankind, the free offer of salvation to all, the obligation of the Universal Church to make known the Gospel throughout the world, and the renunciation of coercion, persecution and intolerance in matters of religion.

MISSION AND WITNESS

Accordingly, this Church accepts the obligation to witness to the truth of the Gospel and to serve men in the name of Christ. with regard alike to their spiritual and material welfare, both in the homeland and overseas.