Assembly Trustees Update – March and April 2026

The early months of each year naturally draw the Assembly Trustees, like all Church agencies, into the substantial task of preparing our Report for the General Assembly. Our March meeting reflected this rhythm, with a strong focus on governance: reviewing our workplan, preparing for Assembly business, and considering succession planning in light of forthcoming changes to Trustee membership.

On the financial front, the first set of management accounts for the year was reviewed, with no significant issues identified at this stage. The Group also approved fund reorganisations for submission to OSCR and agreed an updated Finance Group remit. Given the current closure, due to the ongoing conflicts, of the hotel and guest house in Israel, the Trustees responded to an urgent request from the Directors to expedite further funding to cover costs. The Trustees approved this request.

March was, in many ways, a classic "nuts and bolts" meeting. Managing a charity of the Church of Scotland's scale, while holding fast to a vision of growth, inevitably requires meetings where governance takes centre stage. The Trustees carry a significant responsibility: to safeguard the Church's financial stability while ensuring that our strategic direction remains infused with purpose and hope. Solid, diligent oversight is the foundation on which that work rests.

Our April meeting continued preparations for the General Assembly. It also offered the Trustees the opportunity to don a different hat, meeting in a separate session as the Salvesen Trustees. This fund is a powerful reminder that, although we are a National Church, we belong to a global family. Through the grants distributed from this fund, the Church supports Gospel work in places many of us will never visit and among people we may never meet, yet God's reach extends to every corner of creation, and this fund allows us to participate in that truth in a tangible way.

As we gave final approval to the Church of Scotland's Charity Annual Report, we reflected on how easily such documents can be overlooked. Yet within this year's Report lies a rich narrative of vision, resilience, and mission. It articulates clearly how the Church is responding to the opportunities and challenges of today's landscape. We encourage members across the Church to take time to read the 2025 Annual Report when it becomes available.

We were pleased to welcome the proposed new Trustees, whose endorsement will come before the Assembly in May, to our April meeting. They will join us again in May, ensuring that by June the refreshed Assembly Trustees can begin their work with momentum and confidence.

In his April devotions, the Convener, David Cameron, reflected on the journey the Assembly Trustees and the wider Church have been travelling. 'We are moving away from a model of privileged chaplaincy to a missionary objective.'

The Covenant of Partnership will shape much of the Church's future strategy as we respond to Christ's call to "go and make disciples." We exist within a covenant of grace, where we are bound to one another as ministers and elders and congregations, as presbyteries, as a national Church - supporting the work of God's mission. As Assembly Trustees, our task is to provide the strong, steady foundations that enable mission to flourish within local communities, through vibrant congregations, and across Scotland and beyond.