The Guild |
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The following are frequently asked questions about
the Guild. If there is a question you would like answered,
but you don’t see it here, please email
Fiona Punton, Guild information officer.
When did the Guild start?
The Guild was started in 1887 by Rev Dr Archibald Charteris.
Click here for a link to
our history pages for more details.
When and why was the name changed from Woman’s
Guild to Church of Scotland Guild?
Our name was changed in 1997, as the result of a research
and development project which encouraged a change of name
to mark the re-launch. This opened up our membership to
men. The change in our constitution at that time also
made our structure more flexible and brought in better
ways of communicating throughout the organisation; things
like a newsletter for every member and conferences for
specific office bearers
How many men are in the Guild?
There is an easy answer to that one – we don’t
know! Membership of the Guild is open to anyone, as long
as they accept our aim – we don’t keep note!
We do know though, that more and more men are playing
a key part in the day to day life of their Guild, often
as office bearers at local and presbyterial council level.
How can I join the Guild?
The Guild is open to anyone, women or men, who accept
our aim: The Church of Scotland
Guild is a movement within the Church of Scotland which
invites and encourages both women and men to commit their
lives to Jesus Christ and enables them to express their
faith in worship, prayer and action.
To find details of a local group near you, or about
how to become an individual member, please contact the
information officer here.
How many office bearers do we need in our Guild Group?
Contrary to popular belief, Guild groups only need to
have a treasurer (under charities law, a named person
has to be responsible for money!) and someone who is willing
to receive mailings from Guild Office (mailings that are
full of news and interesting information!) Other than
that, you can organise your group however you choose!
Lots of groups now try to include more people in the day-to-day
running of things and have a little group, or groups of
people to organise meetings or blocks of meetings –
spread and share the load!
Our minister can’t attend our first meeting – does this mean we
can’t start our Guild till s/he can come?
Lots of Guild ask their minister to ‘open’
their first meeting – and that’s really good.
But you certainly don’t need the minister to open
your first, or any other meeting! Why not try it yourselves
– plan a simple opening worship (with help from
the Guild worship pages if needs be! Click
here), and, of course, ask your minister along to
one or more of your other meetings!
Someone has been proposed to sit on our Guild Business
Committee, but they are not a member of our church (or
of the Church of Scotland) – is that okay?
Our constitution clearly says, (in para 4.1 –
click here for a link to our constitution) that it
only matters that there is a majority
of Church of Scotland members on your committee –
the others don’t have to be members of your church
and can be of another denomination; just as long as they
accept our aim!
We have a good Guild in our church - how can I get more involved?
If you are not yet a member, why not find out who the
office bearers are – and just pop along to the next
meeting. If you are already a member but would like to
get more involved, why not get in touch with your Presbyterial
Council? Presbyterial Councils are groupings of Guilds,
roughly in presbytery-areas. By participating at council
level, Guild members can be nominated to various posts
including representing their council on national committees
(a great way to be really involved with national decision
making!)
How long have we been supporting projects?
Guilds began supporting annual projects in 1969 –
the first was in partnership with National Mission and
raised funding for playgroups in local congregations.
Among the most newsworthy was the so-called Centenary
Project, in 1987, which raised money for work with drug-addicted
prostitutes. In 1997, the Project Partnership Scheme was
started; all the Guild’s work was set out in three-year
strategies, and as part of that, 6 projects were selected
to be supported for each of the three-year periods. Further
information on our current projects is available via this
link. Information on previous projects under the project
partnership scheme are available on our archive pages
here. A comprehensive list
of past Guild projects is available on our history page
here.
What do we do with old minute books?
Old minute books, from any part of church life, are an
important part of church history. Minute books should
be retained locally, as far as possible – within
your church, or Presbytery office. Older records can be
sent to the National Archives of Scotland, H.M. General
Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh.
We have a speaker coming to our next meeting – what do we pay them?
Expenses should always be offered to speakers –
after all, they give of their time to come and speak to
your Guild. If a car is used, a mileage rate of 25p allows
you to calculate the amount to offer. If the speaker is
coming by train, it should be straight forward to ascertain
the ticket cost.
If you book a speaker from the Guild leadership team
(national convener, national vice convener, committee
convener, general secretary or the information officer),
then there is a flat rate charge – no matter where
that person is coming from. Currently, this charge is
£35 (please check with Guild Office). Please ensure
cheques are payable to the Church of Scotland Guild,
and not to the person! (Individuals get all their expenses
covered by the Guild Office, so no-one is out of pocket
working for the Guild!)
Some organisations, for example Guild project partners,
may have different arrangements. Do feel free to raise
the whole issue of expenses when booking one of these
speakers, so you can be sure to do the right thing!
What do the office staff do?
The office staff are based in 121 George Street, Edinburgh,
but the executive members of staff, the general secretary
and the information officer, often travel the country
speaking at Guilds and Council rallies.
The general secretary is responsible for matters of policy
, relationships with other bodies and all areas of the
Guild’s work. The information officer is responsible
for the project partnership scheme, Guild Week, newsletter
production, and liaising with, and helping Guild members.
There are three clerical staff – two of which
work part-time. One of the part-time staff is particularly
responsible for financial matters. The clerical staff
undertake the administrative work as directed by the
general secretary and information officer and are also
responsible for collating all the bulk mailings to Guild
groups – a big task!
Why does the national convener only serve one year?
Before the constitution was changed in 1997, the Guild
national presidents served three-year terms. When the
constitution was being amended, it was felt that it was
fairer to ask people to serve a one year period. The national
convener has a busy year liaising with the Guild Office,
attending committee meetings, representing the Guild at
external meetings and events, not forgetting the Annual
Meeting and the General Assembly! It was hoped that by
reducing the term of office to one year, that this would
reduce the workload and be fairer to the other parts of
a person’s life, such as family and work commitments
Are there Guilds outside Scotland?
Indeed! There are five guild groups in the Presbyterial
Council of England. Groups in other parts of the world
- such as Bermuda and Mauritius which maintain links with
the Church of Scotland Guild - have joined in with various
events, such as Guild Week.
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