Sharing the Pain – Holding the Hope
																					
1. Introduction

1.1. “The whole Church must recognise that to be committed to the poorest and most vulnerable is the gospel imperative facing us all, not just the churches in urban priority areas (UPAs).” This was the central statement of the 2001 National UPA Consultation and is the primary challenge of this report.

1.2. ‘He grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground’.  (Isaiah 53:2)  With these words the prophet Isaiah introduces a man whose sufferings are a horror and an embarrassment to the beholder, yet whose struggle had great significance in the eyes of God.   This report challenges the whole Church to consider that the same might be said of the church in UPAs. As she seeks to worship and serve God in the poorest housing schemes and inner city parishes in Scotland, these deeply vulnerable communities of faith are of great importance to God.

1.3. The UPA congregations of Scotland’s towns and cities draw deeply from the Church of Scotland’s resources.  Many of the 330 UPA congregations require assistance towards the stipend of their minister; central funds provide an additional parish worker; and in recent years a great many have applied for assistance, receiving grants towards the repair and refurbishment of their buildings.

1.4. In many parishes that have exhibited these features, there has also been a decline in church membership, a rise in the average age of the congregation, and serious erosion of the energies of those in positions of responsibility.

1.5. A group of people striving to be the Church in one of Scotland’s poorest communities described their task as “Sharing the Pain and Holding the Hope.” It is in this spirit that this report is written. The Church in the UPA calls upon the wider Church to share our pain and to hold our hope. 

1.6. Without action and a critical realignment of resources over the next five years many of the churches in Scotland’s poorest communities will die. If these congregations are allowed to perish through a lack of resources, the whole Church of Scotland will be critically, and perhaps irredeemably damaged. If we cannot announce “good news to the poor,” who can we announce good news to?

2. Urban Priority Areas

2.1. Urban Priority Areas (UPAs) is the Church of Scotland’s term for describing poor urban communities, following the pattern laid down by the Church of England in its 1985 Faith in the City Report. It describes parishes where at least 10% of the parish population (under the 1991 Census) is in the poorest 20% of Scotland’s population. There are currently 330 UPA parishes, 118 of which have over 50% of their parish designated as UPA. These communities are characterised by high levels of unemployment, poor housing and few public facilities, along with the related problems of poor health, and high levels of addiction and crime. They were largely by-passed by the growing prosperity experienced by many in Scotland during the 80s and 90s. During those years the gap between the richest and poorest in Scotland grew for the first time in over 500 years! In real terms many people in UPAs have become poorer over the last 20 years, and according to the 1999 Scottish Affairs Committee 25% of Scotland’s population are living in poverty, and some of its communities are the most deprived in Europe. 

2.2. Although there are pockets and areas of deprivation throughout Scotland, the greatest levels of poverty are in the former industrial communities of west central Scotland, from Inverclyde to Lanarkshire. Three-quarters of the poorest 1% of people in Scotland live in Glasgow. Considerable past public investment has often failed to improve things. In part, this is because investment has been short-term and insufficient (given the scale of deprivation) and partly because a great deal of the investment has leaked out of poor communities in the salaries of professionals, contractors and consultants who have worked in UPAs but lived somewhere else.

2.3. UPAs are changing, and in some cases, changing very rapidly. Although there has been considerable investment in many Social Inclusion Partnership Areas (SIPs), poverty remains deep-rooted. Despite limited improvements in recent years, over 30% of Scotland’s children are still growing up in poverty. In the midst of the majority’s prosperity, the poor minority are becoming almost invisible and ever more marginalized.

2.4. Churches are changing in UPAs also. The days of full churches on a Sunday morning have become, largely, a distant memory. Often as a result of spiralling repair bills or structural faults, some congregations have found it necessary to demolish church accommodation and to relocate all of their activities back in the original hall church. Many UPA congregations now have less than 100 members, with often less than half that number attending worship regularly. 

2.5. The picture, of course, is not universally bleak. In the midst of real adversity and human suffering, many UPA congregations are reaching their communities in powerful and innovative ways. The church remains an important part of community life in many poor communities. Worship is often fresh and relevant. Christians in UPAs are often successfully being the Church as opposed to simply going to the Church. Faith is very much alive, both among those who are committed to their local church in a plethora of different ways and also among many who sense that God walks with them, even if the institutional church has become largely irrelevant.

3. Why a Report on UPAs?

3.1. In recent years the wider church has often looked to the church in the UPA, admiring her perseverance in the face of adversity, her commitment to the local community and her ability to be innovative and creative in worship and mission. Some have even suggested that the models of church that have been emerging in the UPAs will, in some way, pre-figure the future patterns of the Church of Scotland more generally. Certainly, as a number of recent reports to the General Assembly have highlighted, some of the most innovative work going on in the Church today is happening in UPA parishes.

3.2.	The overall picture, however, is far from optimistic. The Board of National Mission reported to the General Assembly in 1999 that –
 
Perhaps 60 of the 330 UPA parishes live on the brink of a financial abyss. Without central funding for ministry costs and building repairs they will lose their buildings and the Church of Scotland may withdraw from the area completely.

Even among many of those congregations that have summoned up the necessary energy to embrace change, these changes have not necessarily brought an increase in membership or financial security. Christians in UPAs are learning that faithfulness to Jesus may well not lead to a numerical growth in the institutional church.

3.3.	It was in the context of the crisis facing churches in UPAs that the 1999 General Assembly instructed –

… the Board of National Mission, working with other relevant Boards and Committees of the Church, in partnership with local congregations, to investigate the building and wider needs of congregations in UPAs, to consider possible solutions to the problems found, and to report to a future General Assembly.

3.4. From the outset, the Board of National Mission recognised the importance of this task and committed itself to listening. It was aware that local congregations are likely to be the real experts in this process, not only in identifying the key problems but also in presenting workable solutions. It recognised that its own practice, and that of other Boards and Committees, would be challenged by what it heard. This has indeed been the case and there are aspects of this report that make uncomfortable reading for the Board of National Mission. The Board also acknowledges that listening is not enough. People in poor communities are tired of apparently constant consultations, which seem to change nothing. The effectiveness of this process will be determined by whether things improve for churches in Scotland’s poorest communities. 

3.5. The Board has sought to listen to the voices from UPAs in three main ways –

1.	A Postal Survey of all 330 UPA congregations, asking them to identify key needs and problems they are facing and, where appropriate, to share how they have met these needs or overcome their problems.
2.	A series of four Regional Hearings (held in Glasgow [x2], Edinburgh and Dundee) where 18 UPA congregations shared their stories with representatives of many of the National Boards and Committees of the Church.
3.	A National UPA Consultation (held at Carberry Towers in November 2001) attended by over 110 people, representing 39 congregations, at which a draft report was presented, amended and added to over the 48-hour meeting.

This Final Report has, as such, been subject to very close scrutiny by a large number of church members from UPA congregations, who have shaped and informed its core messages. Perhaps unusually for such reports, significant numbers of local people have been involved at all stages of its development.

3.6. In both the Regional Hearings and the National Consultation, attention was focused on churches within Scotland’s poorest 118 UPA parishes (i.e. those with over 50% of their parish designated as urban priority area under the 1991 Census data). It is largely in these parishes that the struggles facing congregations and communities are most severe. 

3.7. The problems facing the Church in Scotland’s poorest urban communities are not just the concern of the Board of National Mission, but of the whole church. The Boards of Ministry, Stewardship & Finance, Social Responsibility, Parish Education and Practice & Procedure, the Committees on Church & Nation, Ecumenical Relations and Artistic Matters, the General Trustees, the Special Commission anent Review & Reform, and the Presbyteries of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hamilton and Dundee were all represented at the Regional Hearings. The Board of National Mission not only thanks these Boards and Committees for their involvement in this process, but also acknowledges their existing major commitment to many of the poorest communities in Scotland. It also acknowledges the generous contributions of many congregations, and of individual Christians, to the witness of the Church in poor urban communities. UPA congregations are also very grateful for this current support, without which many would already have ceased to exist.

4.	‘Sharing the Pain – Holding the Hope’: Regional Hearings and National Consultation

4.1. The Regional Hearings gave a number of people with little or no knowledge of UPAs the chance to get a flavour of life there. The local churches laid on visits to local people’s homes, the schools, community projects, a credit union and the local shopping centre as well as simply walking the streets and the opportunity to meet local residents. 

4.2. The diversity of UPAs struck many of those who were able to attend all four Hearings. Others noticed the bleakness and open spaces caused by demolition, young people hanging about on the streets and the lack of community facilities. While some saw little or no obvious signs of deprivation, others expressed a sense of embarrassment between where they themselves lived and what they saw in their visit. People were impressed by the projects they visited and by the commitment of the staff in the local schools. The voices of local people were challenging: their passionate commitment to the local area and yet a sense of having been constantly let down by outside authorities; their sense of the irrelevance of barriers between different churches and between church and the wider community; and the way that people supported each other. 

4.3. People could not fail to be impressed with the range of innovative ways in which church buildings were being used – credit unions, cafes, food co-operatives, lunch clubs, day care, childcare, daily worship centres – nor by the extraordinary drive and energy of small numbers of people, seeking to live out their lives in faithful commitment to Jesus. The focus upon discipleship as opposed to membership is already a characteristic of a great many Christians in UPA congregations. 

4.4. There was a recognition that UPA congregations have required to be very resourceful; that their size has enabled people to feel more genuinely part of a Christian fellowship; that they relate more naturally and fully with the wider community; and that they are all round more ‘people-centred church communities.’ One person attending the Hearing in Edinburgh, where one of the visits was to a café run in a local church, shared her sense that “that café is the church.” Certainly many commented on the fact that the Church in the UPA often seems to be a seven-day a week experience rather than being limited to an hour on a Sunday morning, with one other weeknight activity for the most committed. 

4.5. Over 110 people from many of Scotland’s most deprived communities attended the National UPA Consultation. It was an exhilarating, challenging and exhausting 48 hours, which had a profound impact on all who attended. In the context of awe-inspiring worship, participants shared one another’s stories of pain and hope, frustration and delight, hope and anger. 

4.7. If the people attending the National Consultation are representative of the wider leadership of UPA congregations then the Church is indeed fortunate to have such outstanding members in our poorest urban communities. But the energy, creativity and passion of many people are being constantly weakened by having to grapple with problems of resources, which are the responsibility of the whole Church. People grappled with how best to share this with others. Some felt that the time for words and gentle diplomacy is running out. A march on ‘121’ was suggested. Others felt that it might be necessary to picket the General Assembly, or to hold an open-air fiesta to share the struggles and aspirations of many UPA congregations. It was clear that people were passionate that the Church must hear and hear soon. 

4.8. The primary purpose of the National Consultation was to inform this report. This was done primarily through the work of 18 small groups where everyone present was able to participate fully. The main conclusions of these groups were agreed in a plenary session on the final morning. 

4.9. Amid all the information that has been gathered, the stories shared, and the sheer diversity of experience within UPAs make it difficult to draw out general conclusions. Nonetheless, over the last two years and particularly through the Hearings and National Consultation, a number of themes have continually re-emerged.

5.	The Wider Church Does Not Seem to Understand

5.1. Throughout this entire consultation process representatives from congregations have continually expressed their frustration, and, on occasions, anger, that they felt that their needs had often not been heard. There was a sense that there are two churches within the Church of Scotland: a resource rich church, which can afford to make decisions for herself, and a resource poor church, which is dependent upon others and often senses that it is given the scraps left over from the rich person’s table. The call to be one Church, and to put an end to the current two-tier system, was a recurring plea from people at the National Consultation. 

5.2. This has been a constant theme of UPA reports to the General Assembly. As far back as 1990, the Urban Priority Areas Working Group Party stated:
The church in UPAs would like to make two basic pleas to the wider church:
1.	That the church as a whole should try to deepen its understanding of what poverty does to people.
2.	That the church should look at, listen to, and learn from the church in UPAs.

5.3. Last year’s Report of the Special Commission anent Review & Reform also highlighted this issue and called for the development of friendships between rich and poor congregations. A number of such relationships already exist, often initially based on the friendship of ministers or a few influential office-bearers. These friendships are to be celebrated and encouraged. However, friendship cannot exist without justice and many in UPA congregations feel that they and their communities have been unjustly treated by both Church and wider society. A spirit of Christian friendship is desirable and possible. However, for this to flourish, steps need to be taken to ensure that the voices of those who are announcing “good news to the poor” are more adequately heard and understood by the wider Church. 

5.4. There was a feeling that UPA congregations were failing to get their message across to the wider Church and that their stories were simply not being heard. This was either because they were failing to communicate their message of pain and hope effectively or because congregations in other, wealthier communities were not listening. 

5.5. One practical suggestion from the National Consultation was a gathering, which would bring together representatives of the financially poorest and richest 50 congregations in the Church of Scotland. Through this event there would be the opportunity for misconceptions to be broken down, solidarity across the Church to be increased and new friendships formed. 

6.	A Buildings Crisis

6.1. In 1990 the Urban Priority Areas Working Party Report to the General Assembly identified buildings as a major problem facing UPA congregations. At the time they wrote:

The average UPA congregation is fully committed to worship, mission and service and there are many examples of a level of dedication that is a privilege to witness. But all too often, their energy and enthusiasm, so necessary for making any headway in their situation is totally absorbed in keeping up a set of buildings that is way beyond their means to maintain. The problems they face are:
? Buildings which, although built with the best advice of their generation, have not stood the test of time.
? Heavy wear and tear from heavy usage due to the lack of other premises locally.
? The ravages of persistent vandalism and frequent break-ins.
? Inadequate funds locally for timeous repairs resulting in greater long-term costs. 
? Often little professional expertise to detect problems or to deal with them as they arise.
As a result, UPA church buildings all too often reflect the despair and desolation of the surrounding areas instead of being a sign of hope.

It is clear that in the subsequent 12 years these problems have only got worse. Action is now imperative.

6.2. A number of church buildings in UPAs are, on the verge of falling down. It has to be clearly stated that very often this is despite considerable levels of commitment on the part of the General Trustees, the ongoing Quinquennial property reporting system, and the best efforts of local congregations to maintain them, many of which have struggled against the odds to keep their buildings wind and watertight. In some cases the buildings were structurally faulty from the outset. In many others, the building materials that were used in the initial construction were only intended to last for 40-60 years. These have reached, or are close to reaching, the end of their shelf life. The houses round about the Church have been demolished because they were falling down – the same now needs to happen to the church buildings. 

6.3. It was the impending building crisis facing up to 60 UPA congregations that was the impetus for this consultation exercise, and without doubt, fabric issues have been a dominant theme throughout the entire process. Although many expressed their considerable thanks to the General Trustees, the Committee on New Charge Development, the generosity of individual well-off congregations and local Presbytery Committees, it was clear that this support is now insufficient. 

6.4. Throughout the consultation process there was a constant appeal from UPA congregations that fabric management and costs should not be the burden of the local congregation. In the initial survey of UPA congregations (carried out in autumn 1999) many congregations shared problems caused by a range of problems including: poor structural design, wear and tear over 40 years, inadequate funding to carry out even the most basic repairs, lack of local professional expertise and skills, and vandalism. This picture was subsequently fully reinforced at the Hearings and National Consultation. 

6.5. One congregation shared how its building had had to be re-roofed twice within 2 years, because of bad workmanship, poor advice and the lack of local expertise. The saga of its roof had lasted 7 years and had placed a heavy strain on the minister and congregation during that time. Another congregation shared that it was currently paying back a low interest loan after re-roofing its church building, although such a requirement prevented it from carrying out other important work. It pointed out that the local congregation did not own the building in any case but by the General Trustees (to whom the loan repayments were being paid). A third congregation shared, with a real sense of righteous anger that they had been waiting for over 20 years for a promised new building and were continuing to worship in a condemned hall. 

6.6. The picture is not universally bleak. At one of the Regional Hearings, representatives from a Glasgow congregation in one of the poorest areas in the city, shared how a new building 15 years ago had given a new lease of life to the congregation, enabling it to refocus its energy on mission. The problem is that this is the experience of only a tiny number of UPA congregations. 

6.7. It is clear that many church buildings in UPAs are now in such a poor state of repair that they require either major expenditure to refurbish them, or in a significant number of cases, they should be demolished and new, more appropriate, facilities built. These new buildings must be shaped by the needs of local communities and of other denominations as well as our own. There is considerable potential to work in partnership with others but this requires greater energy, innovation and resources from the wider church. If the Church of Scotland wants to have church buildings in the poorest communities in urban Scotland then she must find the ways to maintain and build them. Responsibility for the maintenance and development of church buildings in the poorest 60-100 UPA parishes (identified initially through the 2001 Census data) should be transferred either to a newly established body with specific responsibility for UPA parishes or to the General Trustees.

6.8. The problems of insurance have been an ongoing theme within many UPA reports to the General Assembly. As early as 1990, the Working Party Report called for action. The ongoing problems of vandalism mean that insurance premiums are often disproportionately high in UPAs and materials most likely to be subject to vandalism (e.g. glass) are often excluded from any policy agreement. The excess clause on virtually all policies means that UPA congregations, which are likely to make a number of small insurance claims to cover vandalism, are particularly disadvantaged. A more effective sharing of this burden across the whole Church would do a great deal to ease the plight of the Church’s poorest urban congregations. It would be possible to replace windows and repair toilets – to do the things which are taken for granted in so many church buildings up and down the land.

6.9. It is clear that church buildings in UPAs are amongst the most used in the country. When many church extension buildings were erected in the 1950s and ‘60s – in what was the most ambitious building project in the history of the Church of Scotland – they were among the first major community buildings in the new peripheral housing schemes. With a pattern of closure of many community facilities in recent years, these buildings are often the last remaining large enough to serve the needs of local communities. Many churches are open 7 days a week, addressing the social, economic and spiritual needs of people in the name of Christ. 

6.10. A number of congregations have succeeded in securing substantial public and voluntary sector funding to enable them to refurbish their facilities to more adequately address the needs of the local congregation and community. It is clear that in the current climate of partnership there are opportunities for others to do the same. Nonetheless, it is clear that without substantial investment of energy and money on the part of the national church, a substantial number of church buildings will become virtually unusable over the next five years. The 1999 report to the General Assembly asked:

Will these 60 UPA parishes, one by one, go to the wall? Is the Church simply going to mirror the gulf between the prospering and the “socially excluded,” which is part of the structure of British society? Or is the Church going to illustrate a new pattern of economic relationships?

To date, the Church has not answered that question. The longer she puts off, the higher the cost will be. 

6.11. If the Church is to address the building needs of UPAs, it will take a programme of vision and commitment on the part of the whole Church akin to the spirit, which ignited the establishment of approximately 200 church extension charges in the 1950s. 

7.	Impossible Financial Demands

7.1. Throughout the entire consultation process it was clear that UPA congregations have succeeded in achieving an enormous amount of work with very limited resources. This achievement should rightly be celebrated as an example to the wider Church of what is possible through faith, prayer, careful budgeting, creativity and hard work.

7.2. It is clear that many congregations, in all parts of the country, are feeling an ever-increasing financial burden. This is particularly true within many UPAs where people are living in poverty, communities are shrinking and congregations are small. Many members of UPA congregations, nonetheless, give sacrificially of their time, talents and money. One congregation shared how it had for a number of years been the highest per-capita giving congregation in Presbytery. It is a fact that many church members in UPAs give proportionately significantly more to the work of the Church than their counterparts in wealthier congregations. This makes the complaints of rich congregations that they are being asked to pay for poor ones all the more galling. 

7.3. The task of trying to “make ends meet” and of fulfilling their commitment “to Edinburgh” is increasingly impossible for many UPA congregations and a number are building up a sizeable debt in their Ministry and Mission & Aid allocations, as well as loan repayments to the General Trustees. For some, it is difficult to see how they will manage to pay off this debt. The Church has been at the forefront of the Jubilee 2000 campaign, calling upon the richest governments of the world to cancel the debt owed by the poorest countries. The Church ought to do what it calls others to do – is it not time for the Church of Scotland to hold its own “jubilee,” a time when when the debt, which cannot be repaid by the poorest congregations, is cancelled?

7.4. Fundraising is a way of life for many UPAs, but this fundraising is not for the extras they would like, but essential simply to remain solvent. Such fundraising, while it may promote closer fellowship, often diverts the energy of congregations away from its primary task of mission. Existing stewardship campaigns seem to have relatively little impact in congregations where many are already giving as much as they possibly can and where family incomes often fall (with unemployment and pensions) rather than increase.

7.5. One self-supporting congregation shared how their contributions had altered over a ten-year period. While their overall expenditure had increased by 43%, including an increase of 163% in their contributions to the wider work of the Church (primarily their Mission & Aid allocation) the amount that they were able to spend on local mission work had increased by only 3%. Over the same period they had required to spend over £143,000 on their building.

7.6. The vast majority of UPA congregations are keen to make as full a financial commitment to the wider work of the Church as they can. Many are also aware of their dependency upon others who help to meet local ministry and mission costs. However, there is a deep sense of anger that while poor churches are often reminded that they need the rich congregations in order to survive, there is little recognition that rich churches also need poor ones.

7.7. While many congregations, from all parts of the country, are finding it increasingly difficult to survive, there are still a significant number of congregations in the Church of Scotland, which have vast reserves as a result of legacies, or the sale of property. The churches in the housing schemes, where the needs are greatest, are unlikely to be recipients of such legacies or to have significant reserves. A Church that takes the challenges of the Jesus seriously must make the redistribution of her own wealth a priority. This is not simply an economic argument. It is a call upon churches to live by the liberating faith of the Gospel.

7.8. Much has been written over the last few years about the level of the reserves of the national Boards and Committees of the Church. There is an obvious need for sound financial management. However, from the perspective of communities living in poverty it is clear to many in UPAs that the Church is rich beyond the imagining of many. She can no longer afford simply to keep her considerable reserves for the future. Unless money is spent in some of our poorest parishes soon, there will be no future. 

7.9. It is clear to many within UPAs that the current budget-setting processes of the Church have in the past failed to recognise priorities and that the money, which is available, has not always been spent as prudently as it could have been. One suggestion that emerged from the National Consultation is that the Church should consider establishing a Priority Areas Department, with its own dedicated budget and staffing with responsibilities for resourcing all aspects of the work and witness of congregations in Scotland’s poorest communities. Such a department might well have responsibility for supporting poor rural as well as poor urban communities, and could also focus on specific vulnerable groups, e.g. the homeless. In this way the Church would seek to ensure that whatever her changing priorities, the needs of the most vulnerable would remain central.

8.	Inappropriate Structures

8.1.The Church, like any institution, needs structures in order to operate effectively. However, it is clear that the central structures of the Church often seem remote and inappropriate to many local congregations, particularly in UPAs. More critically, they appear to serve the needs of the central structures as opposed to the local Church. It is clear that new structures are needed and that these must be determined by the local needs. As a first step, there must be a major rationalisation of the administrative systems of the central Church so that only essential information is requested from local congregations. 

8.2. At the Regional Hearings and the National Consultation a number of Assembly Boards and Committees were sharply criticised for what was seen as inconsistent or poor decision-making. Perhaps this is because relatively few people from UPAs are involved in these committees – but why is that the case? – and therefore are unaware of the complexity of the decisions which have to be made. Or it may indeed be that poor decisions have been made in the past because there have been insufficient people involved who understand the particular circumstances facing the Church in UPAs. Until people from UPA congregations are more adequately represented in the decision-making bodies of the Church, there remains the danger that the priorities set will not reflect the particular issues of churches and communities living in poverty. Changing this places a responsibility on all parts of the Church.

8.3. There is also a strong feeling that decisions need to be more transparent, open to external scrutiny and to fully involve local people wherever possible. Committee structures have to be adapted to ensure that those who are not used to meetings are included and their insights valued.

8.4. Last year’s report of the Special Commission anent Review & Reform highlighted that the Model Constitution on occasions placed an unnecessary management burden upon congregations, leading to a duplication of meetings. This issue is acutely felt within UPAs where the culture of meetings is often inappropriate and where office-bearers have many other commitments within the wider community.

8.5. Representatives at both the Regional Hearings and the National Consultation consistently stated that many of the present structures serve the needs of the central Church rather than the needs of local congregations. For example, over the last number of years, as different Boards and Committees of the Church have sought to improve their communications’ strategies, they have developed link personnel within local congregations. As a central strategy, this makes good sense. However, the result is that there are an increasingly small number of people within congregations seeking to undertake an apparently ever-expanding number of roles. In some congregations, individuals are being required to take on three, four or even five different responsibilities, none of which necessarily enable the Church to be more effective at a local level but all of which help to justify the spending of some of the Assembly’s Boards and Committees.

9.	False Measurement of Effectiveness

9.1. Those who participated in the different Regional Hearings were in no doubt that, amidst the fragility and vulnerability of the UPA congregations that shared their stories, there was real evidence that the Kingdom of God was growing. Some went as far as to say that the churches they had heard about seemed more alive than those in more affluent communities. “How can we think of these churches as failures?” asked one participant. 

9.2. There were examples of innovation and creativity told at every Hearing. Representatives from congregations shared how they had developed new, more participative and contextual models of worship, and an impressive array of new facilities and services to address the needs of local communities. A number of congregations had started to operate community cafés, while one congregation shared how, in response to changing needs, they had closed their café and developed, in its place, a growing Parents & Toddlers Group. Work with young people, older people and across many of the traditional barriers of age, race and sectarianism were also described. 

9.3. A great deal of work occurring in UPAs is happening on an ecumenical basis, as congregations naturally come together to announce a common gospel in the face of enormous social, economic and spiritual need. A number of congregations highlighted the importance of the Priority Areas Fund (now part of the Scottish Churches Community Trust) as an important catalyst for innovation.

9.4. It is also clear that many individuals within UPA congregations are inspired by their faith to play a major positive role in the life of the wider community. Through her members the Church plays an active part in many tenants’ associations, credit unions and voluntary management committees undertaking vital work in their local communities even when the Church is not technically represented. This role is often overlooked by others, who equate commitment to Christ as commitment to the Church. In UPAs Christian discipleship leads to people being involved in a wide range of activities, only one of which is the Church.

9.5. A number of congregations are working not only with other denominations but also with a wide range of other partners from the public and voluntary sector to tackle the results of poverty and to campaign for it eradication. This is clearly not just the Church doing the job of the Social Work Department, but rather her faithful following of Jesus’ example and instruction.

9.6. This picture of creativity and faithfulness was frequently reinforced by the many stories shared at the National Consultation. Many churches in UPAs rightly deserve their reputation as among the most innovative in the Church of Scotland. However, the Church’s traditional measures of success and effectiveness often fail to count much of what Christians in UPAs are doing in the name of Jesus. 

9.7. It is clear, also, that while this work may well be an effective and appropriate way of sharing God’s love in UPAs, it has not necessarily led to a growth in church membership or attendance at Sunday worship. This is a challenge to the Church if she assumes that such work will inevitably lead to the numerical growth of congregations. One minister who shared how much of his ministry in the past ten years had been with drug users most graphically made the point. He stated his conviction that, by God’s grace, he believed that he had helped a number to make a strong commitment to Christ but none of those had ended up in the local church, the membership of which had haemorrhaged over the same period. (A number had in fact become involved in the local pentecostal fellowship.) Nonetheless he was clear that, in terms of kingdom building, these years had been the most productive of his entire ministry.

9.8. Success and failure have never been appropriate terms to describe the effectiveness of churches striving to announce the good news and to participate with God in the building up of the Kingdom. The reality is, however, that if success and failure are still measured in terms of financial security and membership, then the majority of UPA congregations will be seen as “failures”. Although there is increasing agreement that finance and membership are inappropriate measurements of church life, it remains unfortunately the case that these are very often the central criteria when a congregation’s viability is being measured. 

9.9. There is an increasing array of ways of measuring effectiveness against agreed and realistic outcomes using models of qualitative as well as quantitative analysis. Local congregations need to be involved in setting their own targets, because they are most likely to know what can be achieved and what is most necessary. The wider community also has a role to play in the evaluation of churches – how do people who do not attend regularly the Church view it? What message does it convey about the Christian understanding of God?

9.10. We cannot all succeed all of the time. One participant at the National Consultation spoke for many when she pointed out: ‘We all fail at times. We must learn from these failures and support those who have been hurt by them.’ Too often the Church treats those who have failed without the grace and mercy that we all need.

10.	Mission in UPAs

10.1. It would be false to claim that a single missionary model for being the Church in the UPA emerged during the course of the consultation process. Different emphases were evident in different places, depending upon the theological traditions of the congregation and minister, available resources and upon the local context. At the same time, however, there was overwhelming support for an incarnational model of mission, where local congregations have immersed themselves fully in the wider life of the community. On numerous occasions, participants spoke of emerging models of “churches without walls.” 

10.2. This consensus is in line with the 1992 National Mission Report to the General Assembly:

It is worth noting that though there is a breadth of theological opinion across the UPAs, there is a remarkable degree of unity over the agenda for UPA churches. Perhaps there is a sign here for the wider Church. The practical response to the reality of multiple deprivation unites us in our commitment to Church and community. In UPAs, we find ourselves questioning theologically and socially “What is Church?”

10.3. It is clear that for many UPA congregations mission is about involvement with the pain and struggle of suffering people and communities in the name of Jesus as well as calling people to become His disciples. Powerful and inspiring stories were told of the Church working with others to improve the local quality of life as well as testimonies of how faith has transformed the lives of individuals.

10.4. There was a regularly repeated sense that, although the problems facing the Church in UPAs are enormous, the context of poverty makes these communities special for the whole Church as she seeks to serve the poor Christ. Without a clear focus on poor and vulnerable communities in her missionary strategy, the Church of Scotland is in constant danger of losing her true calling. This has been a regular theme of the UPA Committee’s reports to the General Assembly over the last 12 years and was again much in evidence during the consultation process. The Church in the UPAs calls the wider Church to join us because we have had the awesome privilege of meeting the poor Jesus in our communities and want others to do the same.

11.	A Staffing Crisis.

11.1. If buildings were one of the constant themes of the Postal Survey, Regional Hearings and National Consultation, then staffing needs was the other. Over many years UPA congregations, serving large parishes, have had the privilege of ministry teams, nearly always paid for by the wider church. In recent years, as a result of changing priorities and the overall financial pressure within the Church of Scotland, there has been a reduction in the numbers of staff the Church has been able to employ in UPAs. In terms of congregational size, UPA churches remain proportionally higher served by staffing than other parts of the Church. However, as a result of the often large, poor and increasingly complex parishes that UPA congregations are serving, as well as the lack of other professional expertise within the congregation, it is clear that many staff and churches are close to breaking point. The experience of one community, where staffing levels have been reduced from 7.5 to 4 in the last five years, is not uncommon. 

11.2. Although the population of many UPAs has fallen in recent years, as a direct result of government housing policies, parish populations remain large and there is likely to be a period of sustained growth in the coming years. It is vital that local churches are more adequately staffed to enable them to meet future challenges and opportunities when this regeneration begins.

11.3. Many UPA congregations are very grateful for all the assistance that they do receive from the wider Church, and recognise that in changing circumstances, such assistance cannot be taken for granted. However, there is a sense among some that they are made to feel “beholden for it” and are viewed as second rate because they cannot meet their own needs. There was a strong sense that this culture, where it still exists within the Church, needs to be challenged.

11.4. It was in the field of decisions over staffing that there was the greatest level of criticism of the employing Boards and Committees of the Assembly. Some called for a more informed assessment of local needs as a basis for decision-making and for the greater involvement of local parties in any revised process. Others complained that there was a lack of clarity about how decisions were reached and no clear system for how decisions were made. 

11.5. At the National Consultation participants became aware of the current funding crisis within the Board of National Mission, which has led to a subsequent freezing on the numbers of National Mission appointments. UPA congregations are likely to suffer most as a result of this. 

11.6. A number of congregations have succeeded in securing funding for development work and new staff posts from the public and charitable sectors, while other non-UPA congregations have generously supported others. A number of congregations shared how they were increasingly involved with other funders and agencies in partnership. For some this was as basic as sharing office and administration facilities, while for others they had become major local employers and were responsible for a range of activities. 

11.7. It is clear that there are there are new opportunities for partnership between the local church and other funding bodies and agencies. Again the Priority Areas Fund has been influential in promoting this culture within rural and urban priority area churches. If the full potential for these partnership opportunities are to be realised, there is need for a growing flexibility in how nationally appointed staff are deployed. In the future an increasing number may be part-funded with the local church (or partnership) rather than National Boards being the employing agent.

11.8. Numerous stories were shared of how churches were working collaboratively with other local Church of Scotland congregations and other denominations to work more effectively together. Such joint working needs to be encouraged. However, there is a sense that it is viewed as a problem by the employing Boards of the Church, particularly when congregations are seeking to work ecumenically or in new partnerships.

11.9. The task of developing often complicated funding packages, upon which an increasingly number of UPA congregations depends for staffing, is a heavy and difficult burden. Many congregations would benefit greatly from a national or regional team of trained staff with skills in community development, community auditing, project development and funding generation to work alongside them in advancing their local plans. 

11.10. At the same time as opportunities for joint working are growing, it is clear that there are some communities where the Church must continue long-term to resource the work, simply because it is a gospel priority to be committed to the poorest and most vulnerable. There are also posts which others are unlikely to be willing to fund. On a number of occasions, UPA congregations have asked not only for greater support of project or development workers, but of those who will be evangelists, living and sharing the Gospel in deeply incarnated ways.

12.	A Constantly Changing Picture

12.1. The picture in UPAs is changing constantly and there is a need for the Church to remain constantly aware of these changes. Over 60 years one inner-city area has gone from a population of 90,000 to 10,000, and from 27 churches to 3 (only one of which is a Church of Scotland). However, a major rebuilding process is underway and it is anticipated that the population will have risen to 16,000 by the end of the decade. Other communities have been similarly affected and large open spaces (where tenements once stood) and entire streets of derelict housing with one or two homes still occupied are graphic evidence of some of the changes which are occurring in UPAs at this time. One person described her community as full of derelict ground and boarded up windows, still hoping that better days are coming.

12.2. The 1998 National Mission Report to the General Assembly painted a graphic picture of the changing nature of UPAs. It stated -

Spurred on by central government legislation on housing, the redevelopment of the housing schemes continues. A long and wearying process is undertaken: decanting the current population from its current housing and re-housing them in temporary accommodation; demolition of some existing housing stock and the building of new; the refurbishment of other existing housing. Many housing schemes find that 90% of their population has moved house in the past ten years.

12.3. Since 1998 the pace of change has increased still further and UPA congregations are facing the challenge of being the Church in areas, which have been physically transformed, even if many of the old problems of high unemployment, poor health and high levels of crime and drug misuse remain. They are also having to do so at a time when many of their most active members have been forced to move, and where it is often the old and most vulnerable who currently remain. One minister asked how the local congregation ministered to the new private housing being built in the parish while holding on to the need to care for the poorest who remained. Another asked what happened when the population of the parish was halved in seven years and 4 of the 6 remaining elders were long-term sick.

12.4. The UPA Committee helped to pioneer the use of the 1991 National Census data to build a profile of UPA parishes. It was through the census materials that the list of 330 UPA parishes was identified. The proposal from the Board of National Mission to carry out a similar exercise on behalf of all parishes in Scotland using data from the 2001 Census as data becomes available is very welcome. This information will help the churches in Scotland to plot the changing nature of poverty in this country. However, given the rapid transitional position of many UPAs at this time additional information will be necessary to ensure that an accurate picture of UPAs is maintained over the coming years. Such information is becoming increasingly available through the Scottish Executive’s Central Research Unit and through its annual Social Justice Report.

12.5. The ongoing impact of local government reorganisation, the advent of a Scottish Parliament, and the plethora of new policy initiatives at area, regional, national and European levels all add to the complexity of change which UPA parishes are experiencing at this time.

12.6. The situation in the Church is changing also. This may now be the time to reduce the number of parishes which are designated as UPAs to the poorest 60-100 (using the 2001 Census and updating over the next ten years with other data as available) where the problems of poverty are all pervasive and to challenge the whole Church to place the needs of these communities and congregations at the very heart of her life. This is not to ignore the needs of others, where different strategies will have to be developed to ensure that the poor are not forgotten in the midst of relative affluence, but to recognise the critical needs of a smaller number.

13.	Conclusion

13.1. Listening to the needs and problems being faced by UPA congregations over the last three years – years of change in those local communities and in the wider vision of the Church – has been humbling and challenging. Many who have been involved have both shared the pain but also held the hope. The real test of this process, however, is whether it will make a difference for churches and communities at the point of delivery. For that to happen the major problems, which have been highlighted, will have to be addressed. 

13.2. It is vital for the whole Church that the voices within this report – from people and churches at the margins of our society – are heard and that urgent steps are taken to address their concerns. There are challenges within it to every part of the Church, from the UPA to wealthy suburbia, from the local to the central. As the next step within this process the appropriate Assembly Boards and Committees are invited to consider the report, and with representatives from UPAs, to determine whether, and if so how, they will change their policies and practices in the light of it, and to report to the General Assembly of 2003. Congregations and presbyteries are urged to consider ways in which they can become more aware of each other’s needs and to build new and genuine relationships with congregations struggling to witness faithfully to God’s love in Scotland’s poorest communities.

13.3. As was stated at the outset of this report, the challenge facing the Church in all her parts is that: “The whole Church must recognise that to be committed to the poorest and most vulnerable is the gospel imperative facing us all.”


Deliverance
1.	Affirm that the whole Church must recognise that to be committed to the poorest and most vulnerable is the Gospel imperative facing us all.
2.	Instruct all Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries to consider the report Sharing the Pain – Holding the Hope  and to submit views to the General Secretary of the Board of National Mission not later than 31st December 2002.
3.	Instruct the Boards of Ministry, Stewardship & Finance, Social Responsibility, Parish Education, National Mission, World Mission and Practice & Procedure, the Committees on Church & Nation, Ecumenical Relations and Artistic Matters, the General Trustees and the Assembly Council, in partnership with representatives of the UPA Committee of the Board of National Mission, to consider the implications of the report Sharing the Pain, Holding the Hope for their sphere of work.
4.	Instruct the appropriate Boards and Committees to report to the General Assembly of 2003 on any changes made to their policy and practice as a result of these considerations.