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General Assembly 2008: Church continues emphasis on
good governance and communication
In the introduction to its report to the General Assembly,
the Council of Assembly will remind Commissioners that
its role is, on behalf of the General Assembly, to enable,
resource, co-ordinate, monitor, evaluate and review
the work of the central agencies of the Church.
A major part of this year's report relates to taking
forward the Co-ordinated Communication Strategy adopted
by last year's General Assembly. The Assembly will hear
that copies of the strategy were sent to every presbytery
and congregation and that the feedback received has
been encouraging but, ultimately, success will be measured
by the quality of communication from and within the
Church. The Committee will reiterate its strong commendation
of the Strategy and tell Commissioners that the appointment
of a Communications Adviser has enabled fresh energy
to be dedicated to improving internal communication.
In response to the regret expressed by the 2005 General
Assembly in relation to the substantial decrease in
the use of Gaelic in the Church, the Council of Assembly
will report the setting up of a group to explore ways
in which Gaelic can resume its distinctive place within
religious life in Scotland. The Group's membership comprises
active Gaelic speakers and includes ministers, elders
and a deacon along with an academic, a representative
of Bord na Gaidhlig and an MSP. As part of its work,
the Group has been in discussion with other parts of
the Church and established that there is already support
for the use of Gaelic in education and broadcasting
and that investigations are underway to establish how
many of the Social Care Council's vulnerable Care Home
residents might have ready access to native Gaelic speakers
when required. In relation to resourcing, the Gaelic
Group understands that the political agencies recognise
the role that the Church of Scotland can play in fostering
the Gaelic language and encouraging its ongoing development.
The Assembly will hear of the Council's intention to
continue supporting the Gaelic group in its ongoing
work, including discussions with appropriate funding
bodies.
The Council will tell the Assembly that the Office
of the Scottish Charity regulator (OSCR) undertook a
review to check whether the Church meets the criteria
for holding Designated religious Charity (DRC) status
as contained in the Charities and Trustee Investment
(Scotland) Act 2005. DRC status reflects the Church's
right to autonomy in regard to matters spiritual. The
Council is happy to report that OSCR decided to designate
the Church from 1 October 2007 and, having combined
the assessment of DRC status with a review of the continued
eligibility to hold charitable status, reported a satisfactory
outcome in relation to 'passing' the charity test.
Ends
Note to Editors:
A full copy of the report is available on our General
Assembly pages online
here.
GANR/16/03/08
Monday 12, May 2008
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