Hotline

Welcome to the 2004 edition of Assembly Hotline. You'll find here a record of the main events and some of the background to the meeting of General Assembly at the University of Glamorgan from July 3rd - 6th, 2004.

More detail, more pictures, more supporting material will be added to Hotline in the days following Assembly. In the meantime the Hotline team have to dismantle the office, transport it back to London, set it all up and start again....

See you soon

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Tuesday morning

Ministries

John Ellis, Convener of the Ministries Committee introduced what he described as an important procedure but one which relates to a very small number of ministers. It was not a part of the disciplinary process but purely for those who were once on the roll and have applied to be on it again – in effect a form of candidating. The attempt was to create a transparent system which ensures that all views are heard – both those of the applicant and those of people who may feel they have been damaged by the applicant’s actions in the past. It was not intended to be a rigid set of rules but guidelines to be applied with sensitivity and compassion for all the interested parties.

Roberta Rominger, Moderator of the Thames North Synod, introduced a detailed amendment devised by the Chiltern District with help, among others, from the Amicus trade union. The effect of the amendment was to introduce a number of changes to ensure that the guidelines conform to best practice as it is found in other organizations. The amendment was accepted by the committee and the motion subsequently carried.

Assembly Arrangements

Future Assemblies will be smaller after Assembly approved a resolution to reduce representation from one person for every eight churches to one for every 12, plus one representative for every 1200 members rather one for every 800. The fall in the average size of congregations over the last 30 years has meant that Assembly has become far larger in relation to the size of the Church as a whole. The changes, which will take effect for the 2005 Assembly are intended to restore something closer to the original balance.

Finance

The Treasurer, Eric Chilton, treated Assembly to the results of his extensive (and continuing) research into the way the Church is financed at all levels. As he told Assembly, it is always good to carry out research because it means we can take better decisions. The figures are based on an 8% survey of churches and the consistency in the results suggests that they a probably a reliable indicator for the rest of the Church.

The headline figures include:

The total income of local churches comes to £62m, and expenditure to £52m.

Giving, in most cases covers both the Church's contribution to the Ministry and Mission Fund (M&M) and the expenses of ministry.

In many churches the rental income covers the maintenance of buildings.

That means that most local churches are covering their expenses from their income. There is also evidence that when a specific need arises, it is met – that may be a hopeful sign that if the needs of M&M are put before people they will be met.

One concern was that he felt there was a need to look at the way M&M contributions are distributed between churches. In some synods the allocation seems fair in relation to income, in others it is 'strange'.

The total income of the Church at every level, including local churches, would seem to be around £70m – that is new money coming into the Church every year in the form of giving and income on investments. Total spending at every level is around £64m. Of that amount the total used for 'support': the maintenance of buildingsd, administration at all levels, the cost of Assembly, Mission Council etc is around £24m - in other words we spend more on support than on ministry throughout the Church.

The most staggering total is that if we were to total up the value of all the houses owned within the church, including those for retired ministers, it would come to around £180m!

With that broad brush picture in mind, Eric Chilton went on to reassure Assembly that national spending has been kept well under control, with an increase of just over 1% allowed for in the budget for 2005. Unfortunately the current shortfall in M&M giving meant that in order to cover the resulting deficit, M&M contributions would need to rise by 3%.

Assembly overwhelmingly approved the budget for 2005.

Moderator 2005

Moderator-elect David Peel congratulated Assembly on devising a way of making him sit through an entire Assembly. He thanked Assembly for the trust they had placed in him but also as representatives of the whole people of God, who had always been there for him. The community called the Church had been his life - it had nurtured and supported him.

At the same time the Assembly had given him a dilemma. He assured Assembly that there was no truth in the rumour that he was arranging his diary next year to allow him to visit churches near to the grounds where Test Matches would be played.

It was an exciting time to be Moderator for God was doing new things with us and for us – some of us will not like it. Many churches may resist it but however much we go on confusing the dead hand of traditionalism with the living heritage of tradition, God is not going to give up on us. His desire was to keep the discussion going as to what it means to be a reformed church, altering people’s lives in godly ways, becoming congregations that refashion communities in the interest of justice.

End of Assembly

After prayer, the Moderator closed Assembly with a blessing.

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