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Minute of the Scottish Churches’ Industrial Mission (SCIM) Council held on Wednesday 29 August 2007 at Scottish Churches House, Dunblane.
PRESENT:
Mr Ted Wallace, Convener (Methodist Church), Mrs Cate Adams (Team of Chaplains), Mr Pat Foley (Roman Catholic Church), Rev Andrew Jolly (Aberdeen Oil Industry Chaplaincy Trust), Mr Lewis Rose (SCIM Co-ordinator), Mr Matt Smith (Co-opted), Mr Ian Tasker (STUC) and Mr John Thomson (Secretary).
APOLOGIES:
Rev Jan Adamson (United Reformed Church), Mr Donald Black (Rock Foundation, Stirling), Rev Gordon Currie (United Free Church of Scotland), Rev Gordon MacRae (Church of Scotland), Mr George McSorley (Co-opted), Mr Robert Matthew (Angus Industrial Mission) and Rev John Walker (Scottish Episcopal Church).
57 OPENING DEVOTIONS
The Convener conducted the Opening Devotions.
58 MINUTE
The minute of the meeting held on 8 May 2007 was approved.
59 MATTERS ARISING
59.1 Edinburgh City Mission
The withdrawal of Edinburgh City Mission from Council was noted with sorrow.
59.2 ACTS Annual Working Agreement
Council acknowledged the support of ACTS which had agreed to award a grant of £150 towards the costs of the Wallace Debate.
ACTS had also agreed the Annual Working Agreement for 2007/2008 which included the above grant.
60 CORPORATE CAPABLE HOMICIDE
Mr Ian Tasker, Assistant General Secretary, STUC was welcomed to the meeting and gave a presentation on Corporate Capable Homicide.
There then followed a questions and answers session.
With particular reference to the Corporate Capable Homicide Bill currently in the consultation period, it was acknowledged that before Council could decide on whether or not to support the Bill, members required to read it to obtain knowledge and understanding of its contents.
Ian also spoke of the links between Corporate Capable Homicide and the International Workers’ Memorial Day in April each year.
Following Ian’s departure from the meeting it was agreed to send a formal letter of thanks to him for his presentation.
61 PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE OF NAME OF SCIM
Lewis Rose gave a report detailing the background to discussion in previous years about a change of name for SCIM. He indicated that there was a wish within the team of chaplains to reopen this discussion. Initially Lewis had circulated to team members some of the options being put forward.
In response, the following comments were received from Council members:
- Concern about the consultation process thus far with little emphasis on the existing position that SCIM is a known brand name.
- The importance of retaining the words “Scottish Churches” and “Mission” in any new name.
- The necessity to obtain the approval of the participating churches and groups for any change of name.
It was agreed therefore to continue discussion at the next meeting.
62 SCIM CO-ORDINATOR’S REPORT
Copies of the Co-ordinator’s report had been circulated prior to the meeting and were in the hands of members (see Appendix).
Lewis highlighted the recent intensive spell of pastoral work undertaken by Andrew Jolly and Alister Goss in their respective areas.
The Convener stressed the importance of including developmental work in the SCIM Annual Report.
Noting that Dorothy Robertson would be retiring from the chaplaincy at the Gyle Shopping Centre at the end of September 2007, it was agreed that Council send her a letter of thanks in recognition of her outstanding service.
There then followed a period of discussion about development of chaplaincy within Edinburgh Park, during which it was recognised that attracting additional financial resources would be a major challenge.
It was agreed that approaches be made to the main denominations involved in industrial mission in pursuit of new funding, eg, the Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland, the Roman Catholic Church.
63. ANNUAL REPORT
Copies of the 2006 Annual Report were tabled.
The various sections of the report were discussed briefly and noted. Mention was made specifically of the work of chaplains in publicising and promoting industrial mission.
64. MEETING WITH TEAM OF CHAPLAINS
Cate Adams raised issues for the team about their relationships with Council and enquired about the arrangements for the proposed meeting between the team and Council.
It was agreed she should take to the team the proposal that they meet with Council on 20 February 2008.
65 ATTENDANCE AT COUNCIL MEETINGS
Concern was expressed about the low attendance at recent meetings and how members not attending could be encouraged to do so.
It was agreed to write to them and bring to their attention the concerns recorded in the minute of tonight’s meeting.
66 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Wednesday 20 February 2008
It was agreed to report to the next meeting proposed dates for the remainder of 2008 and the first meeting in 2009.
The meeting was closed with the saying of the Grace together.