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(DRAFT) Minute of the Scottish Churches Industrial Mission (SCIM) Council held on Wednesday 3 December 2008 at Scottish Churches House, Dunblane.
PRESENT:
Mr Ted Wallace (Methodist Church), Convener, Mrs Cate Adams (Team of Chaplains), Rev Jan Adamson (United Reformed Church), Mr George Banks (United Free Church of Scotland), Mr Donald Black (Rock Foundation, Stirling), Rev Andrew Jolly (Aberdeen Oil Industry Chaplaincy Trust), Mr George McSorley (Co-opted), Mr Lewis Rose (Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland Co-ordinator), Rev Bruce Thomson (Church of Scotland), Mr John Thomson (Secretary).
APOLOGIES:
Mr Pat Foley (Roman Catholic Church) and Mr Matt Smith (Co-opted).
In giving his apology for today’s meeting Matt Smith had also indicated that it was proving very difficult for him to attend meetings as work commitments had prevented this. He has therefore offered to stand down and it was agreed that Lewis Rose would seek guidance from the STUC about a nomination to replace Matt.
102 OPENING DEVOTIONS
The meeting was opened with prayer.
103 WELCOME
The Convener welcomed Mr George Banks and the Rev Bruce Thomson to their first meeting of the Council.
104 MINUTE
The minute of the meeting held on 20 August 2008 was approved subject to an amendment in item 100 Church in The Centre of the City. The word “his” being replaced by the word “this”.
105 MATTERS ARISING
Arrangements for today’s meeting. In view of the anticipated discussion about the Church of Scotland Review, the Convener, Secretary and the National Co-ordinator had taken the decision not to send the invitations detailed in item 101 of the previous meeting.
106 CHURCH OF SCOTLAND REVIEW
The Convener referred to the meeting held on 16 September 2008 with representatives of the Church of Scotland Ministries Council at which he had attended with the Rev Andrew Jolly, Mr George McSorley, Mrs Cate Adams and Mr Lewis Rose.
At that meeting a paper prepared by the Ministries Council had been presented with the heading “Chaplaincy Task Group – The Future of Industrial Mission”. (see appendix 1).
The Ministries Council representatives had invited participation in their review group by members of SCIM Council in order to progress the review and prepare further reports by 30 November 2008.
It was noted that although Jan Adamson and Lewis Rose had offered to take part in the review this had not been acknowledged by the Ministries Council.
Lewis Rose then tabled a paper which he had written entitled “Workplace Chaplaincy is part of the total mission of the church” (see appendix 2).
It was further noted that the Church of Scotland Ministries Council had issued a letter to individual denominations inviting representatives to attend a meeting at the Church of Scotland Offices on 16 December 2008 to discuss constitutional issues concerning Scottish Churches Industrial Mission.
The Rev Bruce Thomson gave some back ground information on the developments in the Ministries Council and referred to the under noted Extract Minute from its meeting of 29 October 2008:
Scottish Churches Industrial Mission (SCIM) - a recent meeting with SCIM Council had taken place. There had been concern from members of the Support and Development Committee with regard to the lack of support that had been given. This request has recently been passed to the last meeting of the Strategic Planning Group and there had been agreement on 2 issues;
- A high level meeting would be arranged involving denominational partners to elevate some of the constitutional difficulties.
- The appointment to the Glasgow post would be put on hold.
Council members gave their agreement in relation to the above.
In response members of SCIM Council expressed disquiet at this development and felt strongly that Council was being marginalised and undermined and its whole future questioned.
Members expressed the view that there was an urgent need for the Church of Scotland to clarify its long terms plans for workplace chaplaincy.
Further concerns were expressed that the decision by the Ministries Council not to progress the Glasgow job had been made without reference to SCIM Council despite the earlier assurance given by Ministries Council representatives at the September meeting referred to above.
It was also noted that the new Edinburgh post to be funded by Corstorphine Old Parish Church and Industrial Mission Trust has also been put on hold.
The Secretary advised that at the recent meeting of the Ministries Council, Chaplaincy Task Group held on 19 November 2008 the Convener of that Task Group had affirmed that the Ministries Council remained fully committed to the development of funding for appointments in workplace chaplaincy. She added, however, that the Council does not wish to make new appointments until the new structure was in place.
It was agreed that
- The Convener will write to the General Secretary of ACTS to express the unhappiness of Council with the action of the Church of Scotland which is undermining the position of SCIM Council by a process of diktat and not discussion.
- It was also agreed to write to the Convener and Council Secretary of the Ministries Council in similar terms.
- If it had not already done so to urge the Church of Scotland Ministries Council to invite the General Secretary of ACTS to the proposed meeting of denominational representatives on 16 December 2008.
107 AREA ORGANISER VACANCIES
The Council noted the following situations:
- The continuing vacancy in Glasgow.
- The imminent retiral of the National Co-ordinator on 11 February 2009.
- The lack of action in pursuing recruitment for the new Edinburgh post with funding now being in place to take the matter forward. Although Corstorphine Old Parish Church had requested the Ministries Council to be the employer there did not seem to be any requirement for this responsibility to lie solely with the Church of Scotland. Lewis Rose agreed to investigate whether an alternative arrangement could be arranged.
- Douglas Wright has recently resigned from the post at the Stirling Rock Community Project and it was noted that discussions are progressing regarding funding and recruitment of a successor. Donald Black confirmed that commitment to this post from the Rock Project and the Stirling Baptist Church remained absolute.
108 REPORT FROM NATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR
The report from the National Co-ordinator had been previously circulated and was in the hands of members. (see appendix 3)
It was agreed to send good wishes to Alistair Goss as he remained on sick leave and looked like being so for the foreseeable future.
The Convener also asked members to consider Linda Bandelier and her husband in their prayers. The local Methodist Church and Lewis Rose are offering regular support.
109 TEAM OF CHAPLAINS REPRESENTATION ON COUNCIL
Mrs Cate Adams intimated that her period as team representative was due to expire but due to shortage of numbers in the team it was unlikely that a successor could be appointed in the near future.
Council indicated that it would be content for Cate to continue in her position until the team were able to appoint a successor.
110 DATES OF MEETINGS IN 2009
It was agreed to meet on the following dates:
Wednesday 4 February 2009 at 2pm (lunch at 1pm)
Tuesday 5 May 2009 at 2.30pm
(lunch at 1.30pm subject to agreement with Scottish Churches House)
The team of chaplains would be invited to this meeting
Wednesday 2 September 2009 at 2pm (lunch at 1pm)
Rev Alistair Goss would be invited to this meeting.
Tuesday 1 December 2.30pm
(lunch at 1.30pm subject to agreement with Scottish Churches House)
All meetings to be held at Scottish Churches House, Dunblane.
The meeting was closed with the saying of the Grace together.
APPENDIX 1
Chaplaincy Task Group
The Future of Industrial Mission
This document does not attempt to analyse the history or evolution of Industrial Mission in Scotland nor does it seek to interpret the way in which the Church of Scotland has participated in SCIM. Instead, acknowledging the ways in which society has changed, this document seeks to provide a framework for understanding how Chaplaincy in Industry, Commerce and Public Life might appropriately be developed as an integral part of the Church’s ministry and mission in Scotland.
Theological Context
It is self-evident that the Church’s commitment to ministry within this sector must be underpinned by principles which are consistent with its ministry in other parts of its life. The Council’s most recent reports to the General Assembly have helpfully reiterated some of these principles and have articulated others which are important in this context.
The 2007 report Vision for Ministries in the 21st Century reiterates some broad principles which are vital in ministry today; these are also vital for ministry within the industrial and commercial setting. Among these, perhaps the most pertinent are:
- Ministry is the business of everyone in the Church
- Ministry is the work of Jesus to show the love of God
- Ministry provides pastoral care of the highest quality
- Ministry is relevant to contemporary Scottish society
- Ministry contributes to the ethical foundations of our national life
- Ministry is ecumenical and collaborative within Scottish society
- Ministry needs high quality people with passion for the Christian Faith
While Chaplaincy in the industrial and commercial setting must display all of these qualities nowadays, it can only achieve this by finding ways of establishing a presence in a variety of environments where the value of this kind of ministry chimes with the responsibility for management in meeting its commitment to corporate social responsibility. This fact alone highlights the importance of one of the central contentions of the 2000 report Ministers of the Gospel that ministry of this (or any other kind) has to be conducted within a collaborative framework. In this context the Church becomes a partner with external bodies and institutions. Given the changing place that the Church now has in society, it becomes a major challenge for the Church to understand the fullness of this concept of collaboration. The Ministers of the Gospel report makes this point forcibly:
[to understand the full nature of collaboration] we should like to return to its roots in the Latin, collaborare, meaning ‘to work together’ and further to extend the concept of collaborative ministry to include not only ‘doing’ together, but also ‘being together’, such that collaboration implies a true partnership and sharing a common task. (Malcolm Grundy, Understanding Congregations, p.61)
The point, therefore, in promoting and developing this kind of ministry is that the Church no longer has any kind of “right” to be involved in the various workplaces of Scottish society, but that it has to find a platform on which to base a legitimate case for working as a partner in the workplace; in other words tapping into existing goodwill, but offering to work alongside other functions such as Occupational Health and Human Resources meeting specific needs in relation to both the organisation and its individual employees and to society at large.
This particular aim would bring the work of Industrial and Commercial Chaplaincy very much into line with the way in which Chaplaincy Services have been integrated into the fabric of the National Health Service, where the Chaplain works alongside other professionals to provide for the holistic care of those who manage, work for or are served by the organisation.
In the best situations Industrial and Commercial Chaplaincy already works in this way. However, most of the evidence indicates that, although such chaplaincy services add significant benefit to the life of institutions and organisations, these (with the exception of the Oil Industry) do not acknowledge this by making any significant contribution to the cost of this provision. Therefore, the next phase of engagement with commercial and industrial bases should include a strategy for inviting these organisations to consider the benefits of chaplaincy services as an integrated part of their approach to employee support and contribute financially towards the development of this kind of supportive ministry in the workplace. This is particularly pertinent in developing work-place chaplaincy within major campus settings, but also relevant in the development of such services to support workforces that may be spread across multiple sites or within centres where a number of different employers have their premises.
Strategic Planning and Future Management
Until now, the pattern has been that the National Co-ordinator for Industrial Mission has also held a variety of positions in commercial and industrial settings. While there is some merit in the idea that the leading individual should be grounded in significant practice, the Council should consider whether this is the best model for the kind of development suggested above.
Another pattern would be the employment of an individual who would have a significant leadership role and responsibility for taking forward high level negotiations with a variety of commercial and industrial interests, introducing the concept of Chaplaincy as part of the continuum of employee assistance and support. In addition, it will be important that the person in this role will be able to market the concept in such a way as to attract funding support for sustaining and developing this work.
Such a strategic appointee would be responsible for budgeting, fundraising and marketing of chaplaincy services, as well as ensuring the co-ordination of work so that this scarce resource was used to greatest impact and efficiency. This person would also be the Line Manager responsible for strategic planning and development of this work and would also act as Line Manager to those working regionally throughout Scotland.
Part of this function would be to ensure that, where part-time chaplaincy was an appropriate model, this was rooted in the local parish or parish grouping and, where full-time chaplaincy was the appropriate model, to ensure that the work of such individuals is properly accounted for and supported both locally and nationally. Such an appointee would be directly responsible for the appraisal and management accountability for the whole chaplaincy team.
With the impending retirement of the present post holder, this would seem to be the appropriate moment to hold a discussion on the nature and content of such a leading role. If agreement is reached on the principles outlined in this paper, a management structure providing for the regional development of chaplaincy would follow.
Rev John Chalmers
Associate Secretary
[Ministries Support and Development]
APPENDIX 2
Work Place Chaplaincy is part of the Total Mission of the Church
Work Place Chaplaincy is part of the total mission of the Church. It is founded on the belief that church must engage with the secular world by taking religion to the workplace in addition to bringing people into church to express their religious beliefs. It is concerned to further the purpose and work of God as made known in Christ, within working
environments and society at large.
Work Place Chaplaincy is a predominantly Christian activity which lay’ and ordained men and women share together. It involves taking part in the conversations which occur in the globalized and local economy, being sensitive to what is happening and seeking to understand the economic process. Through the process of participation, reflection and
evaluation, work place chaplaincy works for the embodiment of faith values in the relationships, methods and goals of our economy and commerce. Work place chaplaincy seeks also to interpret this engagement, and discover its consequences for the Church and society at large.
If change is to take place we must first consider the history of both commerce and church, which is what Chaplains do in their daily routine, they listen, learn, and understand, they are then equipped to confidently discuss the business of the day in the light of faith. In
looking at the history we can build on that which is good and diversify when and only if change is needed. To ignore the experiences of those who have gone before within the team has the potential for us to attempt to reinvent the wheel and discover that in doing so we have created something which has already been tried and been unsuccessful. Instead perhaps we should focus on the strengths of the team and build the organization around these.
As Dr Alison Elliott, former moderator, who was a reporter at National Mission's spring conference 2005 on "Chaplaincy for Tomorrow" writes, "The fact that the demand for chaplaincy is growing probably reflects another trend in society. Increasingly people are willing to express an interest in spirituality, and institutions recognise that, whatever may be happening to the rates of church membership, members of their community do have spiritual needs that should be addressed." She says, "It can take a lot of negotiation and
persuading to set up a new chaplaincy in an institution or company, but once there, chaplains are generally treated as honoured guests. Their role cuts across the hierarchies and fiefdoms of the place and in principle they have access to people at all levels." (In practice, we do have access to people at all levels.)
It is disappointing that the consultation process did not appear to engage with the present chaplaincy team and so appears to show little knowledge of the actual remit of work place chaplains, it fails to notice that chaplains regularly expand new chaplaincies as part of their
ongoing work, they engage with church and business at all levels to highlight their work through statutory bodies e.g., the Chambers of Commerce, Scottish Council for Development and Industry, Confederation of British Industry Scotland and the Scottish Trades Union Congress and gave birth to the Employees Counselling Service and Science, Religion and Technology Project. Members of the team have played a full part in the courts of the church including the National Executive of the Industrial Mission Association, the UK Retail Network, British Isles and Eire Airport Chaplains Network, Association of Chaplains to the Police.
We are also active in training new practitioners, and regularly contributing to IM publications. This takes place alongside spiritual signposting and a whole host of practical and liturgical duties and offering what we would consider the most important one, pastoral
care. This is carried out by building up relationships with the people that chaplains come in contact with on their visits.
For the majority of those in work, Work Place Chaplaincy may be the only the only pastoral care that they may receive. The chaplain is likely to be the only pastor the worker will have. In the workplace people from Human Resources or Occupational Therapists have
other separate and specific rolls, paid for by the company and thus seem to be connected to management. The shop steward or Trades Union Official also has a quite different role and in most cases seen to be for the workers all the time, right or wrong. The Chaplain is
the ONLY independent ear available to all, worker and manager. The long history of industrial mission shows unequivocally that the ‘independent ear’ has been sought by all sides.
It is recognised that as well as work that is creative and contributes to the common wealth and confers significance on those that do it, there is other work- work that is exploitative, divisive and destructive, work that is endured in order to ‘make a living’ or ‘feed a family’. It is very hard to think that we are worth more than the lilies of the field when we are mere pawns in a market economy. Whether in or out of work; whether in ‘good’ work or ‘endured’ work, whether finding fulfilment or frustration; whether growing in dignity or diminishing in humiliation, the workplace is, was, and will be the critical and most testing arena in the lives of the vast majority of our citizens. There is therefore, no more important place for the church to be.
We must ensure that we do not diminish Work Place Chaplaincy to a service for those who can pay and not for those who are in need.
Lewis Rose
National Co-ordinator
APPENDIX 3
WORK PLACE CHAPLAINCY SCOTLAND
National Co-ordinators Report for Scottish Churches Industrial Mission Council.
Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Team Matters:
The Rev Alister Goss is still off on sick leave and looks like being for the foreseeable future.
The Rev Linda Bandelier has informed me that her husband is not well again and we have agreed to have her chaplaincy work covered by colleagues in Edinburgh.
Mr Douglas Wright has also informed me that he is returning to his previous employer on a full time basis and will be leaving his appointment as City Centre Chaplain in Stirling at the end of December.
Chaplaincies:
Scottish Water Solutions which is the company set up by Scottish Water and other partners in the Water Industry to deliver the Capital Programme of new works in Scotland came to me some months past requesting a chaplaincy service as reported in my May report to the council for their offices at Livingston and Balmore Road in Glasgow. Since then I have visited the Livingston office setting up the service there and which has been well received .This service is going to be covered by the Rev Tom Preston, parish minister at Breich Valley who will also be holding conversations with the new members of the Ecumenical Parish Team as to their future involvement in this work.
The chaplaincy at Balmore Road is in final discussions and it is planned to start early in 2009.
Glasgow Post:
This post has been vacant since 31st March when the then post holder – Rev Elisabeth Spence returned to a parish position. At a recent meeting held between representatives of this council and the Ministries Council of the Church of Scotland, the Church of Scotland representatives informed myself and those present that recruitment would be allowed to go ahead. I have since learned at a meeting of the Chaplaincies Task Group of the Ministries Council of the Church of Scotland that this is no longer the case.
This I find unsatisfactory as I am of the opinion that the companies and organisation where we have current chaplaincies which are serviced by the Glasgow Area Organiser may reconsider their involvement with Work Place Chaplaincy SCOTLAND and ultimately the church at large.
Industrial Mission association - IMA:
'What's in a Name?'
With reference to my May report the task group that were meeting have brought forward a name as tasked, which is MAP@WORK. This name will be going forward to the NEC of the IMA for their consideration and hopefully acceptance.
ACTS – Church and Society Network:
Churches and Trade Unions
I presented a proposal to the Church and Society Network about holding a meeting similar to the one I attended in Brussels. They agreed to this in principle and a small group has been set up to develop the concept and produce a costed proposal. This group consists of myself, Tom Moyes of ACTS and the Rev Graham Blount.
Team Leaders Meeting
At the recent Team Leaders meeting which I attend concern was expressed in what appeared to be the line that the churches were taking in the support of Industrial Mission/ Workplace chaplaincy. They were looking to cut back on posts and withdraw financial support for this work and invite teams to encourage firms and organisations to finance the work.
Lewis Rose
National Co-ordinator
01/12/08