Mission planning
Information about how the Church of Scotland is supporting local congregations to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and serve their communities in these changing times.
In 2021, against a background of falling minister numbers, a decline in membership and a drop in income both nationally and locally, the General Assembly tasked the local church with creating five-year mission plans that would ensure Church of Scotland congregations are properly equipped to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and to serve their communities for the coming decades. The last of these Presbytery Mission Plans was agreed in May 2025.
At the same time, there has been a programme of Presbytery Reform. These wide-ranging reforms, which will involve congregations uniting or linking; a move toward shared ministry; and reducing the Church's buildings footprint, are designed to help local churches work together effectively and efficiently, living out the Five Marks of Mission in a dynamic and sustainable way.
More resources can be found here
Assessing Church buildings
Over the last months, presbyteries across Scotland have been engaging in wide-ranging discussions about the future of mission in their local context.
The Church owns more buildings than it needs, a legacy from a different age, so presbyteries have been evaluating their buildings and planning for the next five years.
In 2019, the Church of Scotland General Trustees, the property-holding arm, carried out a Land and Buildings survey, which led to the presentation to the 2019 General Assembly of plan called ‘Well Equipped Spaces in the Right Places.'
As part of this ongoing work, and as part of the Presbytery Mission Plan Act, buildings are being assessed to determine if:
- They are wind and watertight
- They have adequate facilities
- They are safe to use
- They offer flexibility of use
- They are secure
- They are accessible
- Their maintenance and repair costs are realistic and sustainable by the congregation
The assessments aim to help presbyteries decide whether each building remains relevant to a congregation's missional role and whether local and/or central resources should be used to bring it up to standard.
In the case of Historic Properties, such as A-listed buildings and where a congregation has been dissolved, the Church of Scotland General Trustees will work with interested parties.
Filling ministry posts
Presbyteries have been looking at how to deploy ministers and Ministries Development Staff (MDS). Following a period when there was a pause on filling most ministry posts, vacancies for parish ministries, are now available across the whole of Scotland, and beyond.
The Faith Action Programme Leadership Team rejoices in the variety of ministries present in the church, and would encourage those reading these pages to also look at the ministries profiles on the Ascend pages of the Church of Scotland website, to get a flavour of the breadth of what's happening across Scotland.
