The General Assembly, seeking to ensure the greatest possible efficiency and equity in the election by Presbyteries of their Commissioners to the General Assembly, and to ensure that the interests of all the constituted gatherings of the people of God are accounted for in the representations of Presbyteries, with the consent of Presbyteries, enact and ordain as follows:
1.Presbyteries
The following from the complete Roll of the Presbytery will be included in the qualifying total when calculating the representation of Presbyteries at the General Assembly:
1.1. The number of Congregations and Pastoral Charges.
1.2. The number of established Church Plants.
1.3. Ministers who have been granted a seat in the Presbytery based on their appointment as Course Organisers or as Principal at Edinburgh Theological Seminary.
1.4. Ministers who have been granted a seat in the Presbytery based on a General Assembly appointment.
1.5. Ministers who have been granted a seat in the Presbytery based on a Presbytery appointment which is made under the provisions of General Assembly legislation.
2. Definitions
For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions will apply:
2.1. A Congregation. A Congregation is a group of communicant members, adherents, and their children, gathered in a particular area under a Minister and a Kirk Session for worship, instruction, fellowship, mission, and service. There are three categories of Congregation.
2.1.1. Financially Viable. A financially viable congregation has ordinary income which enables them to support a full-time pastoral ministry and also contribute to the mission work of the Church. They are entitled to a full-time Minister without any restriction on the appointment.
2.1.2. Financially Marginal. A financially marginal congregation has ordinary income which is slightly above the threshold at which they are able to support a full-time pastoral ministry. They will have the right to a Minister on a five-year renewable appointment.
2.1.3. Financially Non-viable. A financially non-viable congregation has ordinary income which is below the threshold at which they can support a full-time pastoral ministry. They do not have the right to call a full-time Minister.
2.2. A Pastoral Charge. A pastoral charge is a sphere of pastoral duty (a congregation) to which a Minister may be appointed or inducted.
2.3 Consolidated Charge. A consolidated Charge, where there are two or more Congregations linked together, each with their own Kirk Sessions, will be reckoned by the number of Kirk Sessions in the consolidated Charge.
2.4. Church Plant. The term Church Plant shall mean a Church Plant which has been established for at least three years, and which is a body of communicant members of the Free Church of Scotland under the oversight of a parent congregation whose Kirk Session has appointed at least two of its Ruling Elders with direct responsibility for the Church Plant, and which meets regularly with others for public worship on the Lord’s Day. The period of three years will be calculated from the date of the induction of a Minister or Probationer to the Church Plant.
2.5. Completed Roll. The Complete Roll shall mean the total of the number of qualifying Charges, Congregations, Church Plants, and other ministerial appointments listed in Paragraph 1, irrespective of whether the said Charges, Congregations and Church Plants are filled or vacant.
3. Representation
The Presbyteries of the Church will be represented in the General Assembly as follows:
3.1. Ministers. The number of Ministers to be appointed as Commissioners by each Presbytery will be one third of the total number calculated according to Paragraph 1.
3.1.1. All Ministers who have a seat in the appointing Presbytery are eligible to be appointed as Commissioners.
3.2 Elders. The number of Elders to be appointed as Commissioners by each Presbytery shall be equal to the number of Ministers appointed in Paragraph 3.1 above.
3.3.1. Elders appointed as Commissioners will be bona fide acting Elders of the Free Church of Scotland and who shall have signed the Formula.
3.3.2. Elders may be appointed from the same Presbytery or from another Presbytery.
4. Annual Review
The number of representative Ministers and Elders from each Presbytery shall be reviewed by the Principal Clerk in the January preceding the General Assembly.
4.1. Presbyteries. Each Presbytery shall transmit to the Principal Clerk, the Complete Roll of the Presbytery annually, correct as of 31st December. The Complete Roll shall show all the qualifying seats in the Presbytery as such are listed in Paragraph 1 above.
4.2 Assembly Clerks. The Assembly Clerks’ Office will determine and intimate to each Presbytery the number of Commissioners to the forthcoming General Assembly to be returned by them.
5. Failure to Appoint
Each Presbytery shall normally be expected to appoint its full number of Ministers and Elders each year. In the event of failure to do so, the Presbytery concerned shall submit to the Principal Clerk, along with the Form of Commission, a statement of the reason for such failure. The reasons submitted will be reported to the Assembly Business Committee which shall report in general terms to the General Assembly.
6. Repeals
The General Assembly repeal Act 1, Class 1, 1942.