General Assembly

The General Assembly has the authority to make laws determining how the Church of Scotland operates. It is also the highest court of the Church in which cases can be heard in matters of litigation. The other courts in the Church are the kirk session and the presbytery.

The 2011 General Assembly closed on Friday 27 May.  The 2012 General Assembly will open on Saturday 19 May 2012.

Background

The Assembly comprises around 850 commissioners who are ministers, elders and members of the diaconate. It meets at the same time in May each year for a week, usually in the Assembly Hall on the Mound in central Edinburgh.

The first General Assembly was held in December 1560, which was the year of the Scottish Reformation and which marks the beginning of the Church of Scotland as we now know it. You can read more about our history here.

During the Assembly

Commissioners' boxes

Chairing the daily business of the Assembly is the Moderator of the General Assembly. At times when the Moderator has to be absent from the debating chamber, a former Moderator will take the chair.

The commissioners who attend are sent from the Church's parishes and presbyteries. Different commissioners are usually sent each year. Debates on matters contained in reports presented by the Assembly's various councils and committee can be lengthy and complex, sometimes resulting in many votes having to be taken in respect of a particular motion or amendment.

The Lord High Commissioner, or Queen's Commissioner, is appointed by the Queen as her representative at the General Assembly and attends daily business as an observer.

Also attending the Assembly are delegates invited from other Christian denominations in Great Britain, Ireland and overseas, together with guests of the Lord High Commissioner and civic dignitaries and politicians, who are seated in the throne gallery. Sometimes a distinguished visitor will be invited to address the Assembly.

In 1988, the then Prime Minister, now Baroness Thatcher, delivered what has since been referred to as 'the sermon on the Mound'. In 1999 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown MP, used a General Assembly speech to outline his philosophy of international debt reduction, and he addressed the Assembly again in 2008, this time as Prime Minister. In 2009, Most Rev Desmond Tutu addressed the Assembly.

Some of the highlights from the last General Assembly are on our webcast site.

Each year, we provide a live webcast of the Assembly, thanks to St Andrew's Church, Bo'ness, and regular updates online on each day's business, as well as reports and other information.

Business and decisions

Debates at the Assembly

The councils, committees and departments in the Church present reports on their activities during the year, which are published in April in a volume referred to as the Blue Book. With each report is a series of resolutions (known as deliverances) for commissioners to accept, reject, add to or amend. During the Assembly, council and committee conveners present the report to commissioners for debate. Decisions agreed become law determining how the Church of Scotland operates. You can read more about Church law and find a full list of Acts and Regulations of the Church dating back to 1929.

The General Assembly may also decide to set up a special commission to investigate particular issues.