General Trustees
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the General Trustees.
History
All over Scotland our places of worship, manses and many
other types of property must be cared for – but
who can help congregations and individual members with
the caring?
Caring for property:
such as Syre Church,
in Sutherland
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A statutory corporation known as "The
Church of Scotland General Trustees" was set
up in 1921 to hold properties and investments for
the Church as a whole. The members of that body,
appointed by the General Assembly, are known as
the General Trustees. |
Responsibilities and aims
Over the years the administrative responsibilities of
the trustees have been increased and today they act on
behalf of the General Assembly in various areas. These
include authorising sales and lets of property, vetting
alterations at buildings, assisting local congregations
with maintenance and improvement work and giving financial
assistance in a number of ways.
The trustees have a duty to preserve the properties and
funds which they hold in the name of the Church of Scotland
and if they are selling any of the Church’s property
they must ensure that full value is received.
The trustees believe that they should deal with the resources
under their charge for the best advantage of the Church
and in particular to assist with the funding of parish
ministry and the provision and maintenance of buildings.
Our work in action
The burden of maintaining and improving Church of Scotland
properties rests on individual congregations acting under
the supervision of presbyteries. Presbyteries must, in
turn, report to the General Trustees, who seek to give
practical advice and financial aid wherever possible.
Insurance is very important and the General Trustees insure
their properties through the Church of Scotland Insurance
Company which belongs to them and whose profits are applied
for Church purposes. The General Trustees, with the backing
of the General Assembly, encourage those congregations
whose buildings do not belong to the General Trustees
to do likewise.
| The General Trustees have the privilege
of owning some of the finest buildings in the country,
but this privilege carries with it responsibilities.
All alterations made to buildings must be cleared
with the General Trustees who are greatly assisted
in this field by the Church
Art and Architecture Committee of the Mission
and Discipleship Council. Congregations which may
be thinking about altering a church or hall are
very strongly advised to contact that committee
at the earliest possible stage. |
Alterations can impact on historic Church features
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The Church of Scotland, with its history of splits and
reunions, still has too many buildings. The General Trustees
are often faced with the sale of what has been a much
loved church. This can give rise to sensitive issues and
the trustees try, so far as their trusteeship responsibilities
permit, to respect local concerns and interests in carrying
out such sales.
To find out more about our work and the range of assistance
and advice we can offer, follow the links on the right
hand side.
Extranet
Visit our extranet site - provided for staff, office bearers
and those in the ministries - for specific information
on the General Trustees' minutes, meeting dates and specific
information on resources available from the department.
Contact us
If you have any difficulty using this section of our website,
please contact the webteam
using our feedback form.
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