:00:00. > :00:17.There is a rash of word C-words at every meeting of the General
:00:18. > :00:22.Assembly of Church of Scotland - this week, two stand out - "change"
:00:23. > :00:43.and "challenge". Climate change dominated the week.
:00:44. > :00:48.The way we manage our creation indicate how much disaster we will
:00:49. > :00:52.experience. History was made when the Archbishop of Canterbury joined
:00:53. > :00:58.the debate. Historically, we are united in witness to Christ as
:00:59. > :01:04.Church is shaped by the Reformation. The 50th anniversary of women elders
:01:05. > :01:12.was marked. The only reason they did not appoint any women elders was
:01:13. > :01:22.that their dress was more important than the women elders. We found out
:01:23. > :01:27.what an artist has been doing here. The World Mission Convenor reminded
:01:28. > :01:31.Commissioners of the burning bush that was not consumed. What does
:01:32. > :01:37.that symbolic image have to say about our attitude to creation
:01:38. > :01:40.today, he asked? The commissioners from sister churches shared his
:01:41. > :01:46.concern. The problem for this planet, which is our only physical
:01:47. > :01:51.home, is that it is being consumed by us in all sorts of ways that are
:01:52. > :01:57.quite unsustainable. Sometimes it seems like we are trashing our own
:01:58. > :02:01.living room. Yes, there are practical issues, things that need
:02:02. > :02:06.to be done, like changing the way we generate and use energy. But if the
:02:07. > :02:13.only motivation to do any of these things is fear of the future, those
:02:14. > :02:18.of us who are richer and better protected will always find ways of
:02:19. > :02:24.avoiding the issue, or at least of protecting ourselves. And those who
:02:25. > :02:31.are poorer and less protected will continue to suffer the most and
:02:32. > :02:43.there will be no climate justice. 96% of our energy comes from our
:02:44. > :02:49.hydropower and it will take at least three rainy seasons to fill those
:02:50. > :02:56.dams if we will produce electricity to capacity, to meet the demands in
:02:57. > :03:04.the mining sector, agriculture and other areas. God, I want to believe,
:03:05. > :03:10.according to the account of Scripture, did not begin by creating
:03:11. > :03:19.us in our human form, per se, but created the habitat first before the
:03:20. > :03:24.inhabitants and, therefore, the way we manage our creation will, to a
:03:25. > :03:31.great extent, indicate how much disaster we will experience. I would
:03:32. > :03:42.like to share an observation made a number of years ago by an Inuit in
:03:43. > :03:48.Canada's Arctic, and very active in her own part of Canada. She observed
:03:49. > :03:54.- and she has written a book - because of the rise in temperatures
:03:55. > :03:59.in the Arctic there are many, many changes that are having a direct
:04:00. > :04:06.impact on the Inuit people in the Arctic. What's happening is because
:04:07. > :04:14.of these changes, our right, she says, our right to be cold is being
:04:15. > :04:19.taken away from us. The health of the youngest country in Africa
:04:20. > :04:24.concerned many in the Hall. It is hard to describe how traumatised
:04:25. > :04:29.they are and their people are and how the infrastructure of this, the
:04:30. > :04:36.newest nation in the world, has completely fallen apart. And while
:04:37. > :04:41.international leaders may meet around peace-making tables, what
:04:42. > :04:46.they produce are perhaps cease-fires, they produce moments
:04:47. > :04:50.when there's a little bit of calm but who is doing anything to rebuild
:04:51. > :04:55.the community and the communities at grassroots? We hope that when we are
:04:56. > :04:59.able to go there, some time later this year, that there will be an
:05:00. > :05:07.opportunity to spend the Church's money well, to use its resources, to
:05:08. > :05:14.help the frail and faltering peoples and the frail and faltering Church
:05:15. > :05:18.at the moment. Everything is relying on the Churches in South Sudan to
:05:19. > :05:22.provide education, to provide children's homes, to provide
:05:23. > :05:27.hospitals, to provide medical aid, to provide everything. And that's
:05:28. > :05:30.the situation there. It is absolutely horrendous and I would
:05:31. > :05:33.commend every church to become involved in helping in any way
:05:34. > :05:39.whatsoever. Thank you Church of Scotland for what you are doing.
:05:40. > :05:49.Kirk Action prioritises the education of girls. Malawi has about
:05:50. > :05:55.80% Christians, but gender violence is one of the issues that is very
:05:56. > :06:00.high. In addressing it, any other institution cannot succeed if the
:06:01. > :06:05.Church is left out. It is for this reason that Moderator I want to
:06:06. > :06:09.thank the Church of Scotland and the UK Government for engaging the
:06:10. > :06:13.Church in fighting against gender-based virus. I want to
:06:14. > :06:19.congratulate the Church of Scotland for continuing to highlight issues
:06:20. > :06:23.of gender violence. This has been a grave concern in north India, in
:06:24. > :06:30.different parts of India, violence of women has been increasing and I,
:06:31. > :06:36.on behalf of the Diocese of Calcutta, ask for your prayers and
:06:37. > :06:45.your support so that we can further this kind of a campaign to stop
:06:46. > :06:50.violence against women. Thank you. Violence towards women hasn't been
:06:51. > :06:56.eradicated in Scotland, either. But in other ways, Scotland has been in
:06:57. > :07:01.pole position. For instance, it is 50 years since it started ordaining
:07:02. > :07:05.women as elders. And that was commemorated in an afternoon of
:07:06. > :07:11.memories here at the Assembly. We have had a few changes and
:07:12. > :07:16.challenges. Problems as a female elder, well perhaps one or two, if
:07:17. > :07:26.I'm going to be honest, I well remember offering to speak to
:07:27. > :07:30.persuade them to convert our tenure into full status. I suspect I looked
:07:31. > :07:34.up at the right moment, or the wrong moment. I did it and whether it was
:07:35. > :07:40.because of my speech or not we were successful. I was congratulated by a
:07:41. > :07:49.number of my colleagues including one of my male fellow elders,
:07:50. > :07:52.shaking his head. Well done, but I'm still surprised we couldn't get a
:07:53. > :07:56.man to do that! I know that some people in the Church may be
:07:57. > :08:01.uncomfortable with the idea of women elders. I can only speak for myself,
:08:02. > :08:07.it feels right for me to serve in this way. I have weaknesses and
:08:08. > :08:13.blind spots, don't we all? But I, like so many women, have some skills
:08:14. > :08:16.that God has given me. I have opportunities to deploy those skills
:08:17. > :08:22.in his Church and I believe he expects me to use them in his
:08:23. > :08:25.service. I'm immensely grateful to that General Assembly of 1966 for
:08:26. > :08:31.having the foresight, the courage and the faith to allow that route to
:08:32. > :08:43.open up for me and for so many other women. I was a student minister, I
:08:44. > :08:49.was the first woman they had ever had as a student in the pulpit. The
:08:50. > :08:55.Kirk Session wore the striped trousers, the frock coats and the
:08:56. > :09:02.white bow ties. And I went to the Kirk Session and this was a big
:09:03. > :09:05.thing that I was allowed into their Kirk Session, all-male Kirk Session.
:09:06. > :09:12.They were discussing having new members to the Kirk Session and they
:09:13. > :09:19.had a big discussion about women elders. And the reason, the only
:09:20. > :09:26.reason they did not appoint any women elders was that their dress of
:09:27. > :09:32.the white bow ties and the striped trousers and the black frock coats
:09:33. > :09:41.was more important than the women elders. So that Sunday, at that
:09:42. > :09:46.communion, with my black gown - your sleeves go right through - I wore
:09:47. > :09:48.the brightest red, blue and white-striped shirt that I could
:09:49. > :10:07.find... As ever, a wide range of nations and
:10:08. > :10:11.names were gathered here. This year, for the first time ever, they were
:10:12. > :10:16.joined by an artist-in-residence. What is an artist doing here? The
:10:17. > :10:24.theme for the week is 'People of the Way'. Jesus meets disciples and asks
:10:25. > :10:29.them what is it that you are talking about as you are walking along the
:10:30. > :10:32.way? The people here in the painting raises the question, what are these
:10:33. > :10:37.people talking about as they are walking along? One of the most
:10:38. > :10:42.interesting parts of the process for me is the interaction with folks
:10:43. > :10:47.when I'm working so we wanted to give people at the Assembly an
:10:48. > :10:53.experience of what it is like to have an artist-in-residence. Lots of
:10:54. > :10:58.curiosity, lots of people wondering why we would be having an artist
:10:59. > :11:05.working at the General Assembly. And some folks start to wonder how would
:11:06. > :11:10.this work in my own Church context? I started as artist-in-residence in
:11:11. > :11:15.Glasgow, folks come in for a coffee, for a scone, but then notice there
:11:16. > :11:20.is an artist working in the corner. And I have worked on a Last Supper
:11:21. > :11:25.piece. Lots of folks would come up and start a conversation and they
:11:26. > :11:27.were curious about what was going on and they start asking me questions
:11:28. > :11:45.about Jesus. The Church and Society Council's
:11:46. > :11:51.report was wide-ranging. It also included reference to climate
:11:52. > :11:56.change. It stimulated lively debate.
:11:57. > :12:03.Moderator, there is no doubt that our overdependence on fossil fuel
:12:04. > :12:08.has wreaked havoc on our planet home. We have a responsibility to
:12:09. > :12:12.reduce our carbon footprint and forge a path free of fossil fuels.
:12:13. > :12:26.We must untie ourselves from that dependence. The Council brings a
:12:27. > :12:30.report. We call for consideration of how we need companies to move away
:12:31. > :12:33.from fossil fuel dependence. There have been many warning calls from
:12:34. > :12:37.sources as diverse as the Governor of the Bank of England and Pope
:12:38. > :12:41.Francis saying that a move to renewable energy is a crucial part
:12:42. > :12:46.of the mix. The Church can either be a signpost pointing the way or a
:12:47. > :12:58.weather vane swaying with the status quo. My fear is, that man-made
:12:59. > :13:05.global warming has been added to the Westminster confessional faith, as
:13:06. > :13:09.part of the crux. I speak now as a professional scientist, who has been
:13:10. > :13:21.involved in this stuff for over 40 years. Climate change depends on so
:13:22. > :13:26.many variables. It would almost be better not to use computer models,
:13:27. > :13:31.which can't handle clouds or water vapour, which are the key greenhouse
:13:32. > :13:37.gases. Carbon dioxide is just a trace gas. The Pope would have us
:13:38. > :13:46.believe that global warming is the cause of everything, but the fact
:13:47. > :13:49.is, in all the years since Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, that ridiculous
:13:50. > :13:52.disaster movie, none of his predictions have come true and, in
:13:53. > :13:58.fact, for the last two decades, there has been no global warming at
:13:59. > :14:05.all. If you look at the figures, you will find that this is not rubbish.
:14:06. > :14:09.Even supposing we were responsible for climate change, there is an
:14:10. > :14:14.arrogance about thinking that we, as human beings, can change that and do
:14:15. > :14:17.anything about it, when it is a far more complicated thing than about
:14:18. > :14:20.how much carbon dioxide we are pumping into the atmosphere. There
:14:21. > :14:24.are many things out there over which we have got no control whatsoever
:14:25. > :14:28.and there is an arrogance there and we need to be aware of that. I
:14:29. > :14:36.didn't want to speak. But I can't believe we are having this debate
:14:37. > :14:41.now. This is long past debating, whether there is any climate change
:14:42. > :14:46.or not. I would urge the General Assembly simply to support the
:14:47. > :14:51.Council's work because how can we look the people who are suffering
:14:52. > :14:55.the consequences of this wealthy society in the eye when they are
:14:56. > :15:06.suffering for our comforts? I wish first of all to apologise for
:15:07. > :15:09.making an outburst during a previous speech by Doctor Kamran, it is not
:15:10. > :15:13.acceptable I understand for commissioners to do so, but I was
:15:14. > :15:20.astonished by his claim of science on the comments that he had made. We
:15:21. > :15:27.have seen in the last two years all global temperature record broken,
:15:28. > :15:33.both of the last two years, 2016 is expected to break them again. It is
:15:34. > :15:39.a scientific reality. And the rise in carbon dioxide in the past
:15:40. > :15:45.century is measurable, significant and a major factor driving climate
:15:46. > :15:49.change. Yesterday, we heard powerful stories from our partners across the
:15:50. > :15:54.globe about the devastating effects of climate change and those who have
:15:55. > :15:59.had leased to do with it are the ones hardest first hit and have the
:16:00. > :16:07.least capacity to respond. With all due respect, 98%, over 98% of your
:16:08. > :16:11.colleagues, Doctor Cameron, profoundly disagree with you and
:16:12. > :16:15.believe firmly that this is something that humanity has caused
:16:16. > :16:19.and we can do something about. In the end, the motion, or deliverance,
:16:20. > :16:24.on climate justice, including disinvestment from fossil fuel firms
:16:25. > :16:28.was comfortably carried. It was a different matter when the
:16:29. > :16:33.recommendation to call from the removal of Scottish law for the
:16:34. > :16:37.defence of justifiable assault in cases of corporal punishment of
:16:38. > :16:41.children was debated. According to a report for the Scottish Commissioner
:16:42. > :16:45.of young people and children, children first and Barnardos and the
:16:46. > :16:50.NSPCC, there is convincing evidence that declines in physical punishment
:16:51. > :16:53.are accelerated in countries that have prohibited issues and such laws
:16:54. > :16:57.have important symbolic value. Legislation is the way society sets
:16:58. > :17:02.frames for what is acceptable. The children lived with violence, how
:17:03. > :17:06.can they learn to be peacemakers? If we as a society accept violence as a
:17:07. > :17:12.justifiable way to respond, how can we build a more peaceful future?
:17:13. > :17:18.When I a little girl living in a housing scheme in Motherwell, it was
:17:19. > :17:21.a lovely summer day and my friends roundabout were going fishing for
:17:22. > :17:25.minnows down at the River Clyde and I was asked to go with them and I
:17:26. > :17:29.knew that my mother wouldn't let me go if I went in to ask her, because
:17:30. > :17:33.she liked to know that we were playing in the street. But I also
:17:34. > :17:37.knew that if I went, I would have to take my wee brother with me, because
:17:38. > :17:45.he would go in and tell. So my friends Julie gave me a Julie jaw
:17:46. > :17:52.for my brother, with a string tied around it, and down we went to the
:17:53. > :17:55.River Clyde. And as all children do, you lose track of time, you don't
:17:56. > :18:01.have a watch and I could not tell you how many hours we were away.
:18:02. > :18:04.Well, we came back with our minnows and I turned the corner at the
:18:05. > :18:12.bottom of our street and I saw my mother running down the street
:18:13. > :18:18.towards me. So smiles and holding my wee brother's hand, I said, I have
:18:19. > :18:21.such an adventure to tell you. The minnows and the toy went on my
:18:22. > :18:27.backside was leathered up to the House. And it is a lesson I have
:18:28. > :18:31.never, ever forgotten, it will be with me to my dying day, that you do
:18:32. > :18:39.not go anywhere unless you tell your mother. It should not be a first
:18:40. > :18:44.option, but it should be if ever, if ever, a last resort that hand is
:18:45. > :18:48.raised towards a child, because children are mirrors, mirrors of
:18:49. > :18:53.what we do, how we live, how we interact with one another. Trust me,
:18:54. > :18:56.I know, I have a four-year-old two-year-old who played church at
:18:57. > :19:02.home, I know what my minister's voice sounds like. I also know what
:19:03. > :19:07.my angry voice sounds like. I have heard my four-year-old react towards
:19:08. > :19:13.his sister in the same way I have reacted towards him and I have
:19:14. > :19:18.cowered in shame and begged his forgiveness, because I know I have
:19:19. > :19:24.not shown him the love that I have been called to show as a mother and
:19:25. > :19:29.as a Christian and as a minister. I think taken to its logical
:19:30. > :19:33.conclusion, deliverance is five, six and seven are going to see loving
:19:34. > :19:38.parents standing in the dock charged with assault. Now I am not
:19:39. > :19:44.advocating that we all go around slapping our children, but like the
:19:45. > :19:47.majority of children in here, I am also of the generation that got a
:19:48. > :19:51.scalp on the legs when I needed it and I have not turned into someone
:19:52. > :19:57.who is beating up the children in my church are regular basis. Maybe I
:19:58. > :20:02.should take out the word "Regular". I hear what you are saying, but what
:20:03. > :20:08.this is asking you to do is fundamentally to give children the
:20:09. > :20:12.same rights under the law as adults. There is absolutely no evidence in
:20:13. > :20:18.other countries of any increase in the criminalisation of parents,
:20:19. > :20:24.quite the opposite. What it has done has raised awareness and changed
:20:25. > :20:29.behaviours in society. And I would strongly resist the idea that
:20:30. > :20:38.violence is a discipline that helps children. I have a friend who called
:20:39. > :20:42.me one time, this was years ago, and she was really, really upset with
:20:43. > :20:46.herself and she said the penny had dropped and this is why. Her kids
:20:47. > :20:51.were fighting and she yanked the older one and the younger one apart,
:20:52. > :20:57.the old one had been hitting his brother, and she smacked him and
:20:58. > :21:05.said "Don't hit." How is that teaching a non-violent, peacemaking,
:21:06. > :21:14.Consul to TIFF -- Consul to give way of being? Voting for section five,
:21:15. > :21:16.275, the voting against section five, 259. So no smacking was
:21:17. > :21:33.supported by a narrow margin. One big challenge is money, and the
:21:34. > :21:37.lack of it. For the first time, however, we see the Congregational
:21:38. > :21:43.offerings are not increasing and remained in 2015 at about their 2014
:21:44. > :21:50.level of 71 points ?6 million. This is unlikely to be exceptional. It
:21:51. > :21:54.reinforces the need to manage our resources carefully. Our work can
:21:55. > :22:00.only continue as God's people give and we can only spend what we
:22:01. > :22:03.receive. And local authority grants for the Kirk's social care
:22:04. > :22:09.programmes, some of the largest in the land, have been cut. So voting
:22:10. > :22:14.to pay social workers the living wage is going to be a challenge. I
:22:15. > :22:18.note with interest the council's continued commitment to delivering
:22:19. > :22:26.the minimum wage and as a worker for cross ridge, I can wholeheartedly
:22:27. > :22:32.say it was the hardest but most rewarding I have been in and I would
:22:33. > :22:35.recommend the work of Crossreach to anyone who would listen. But the
:22:36. > :22:38.failure to pay the minimum wage some four years after the General
:22:39. > :22:43.Assembly instructed it is becoming embarrassing and hypocrisy at the
:22:44. > :22:46.highest level of this church. As you have heard, there are some real
:22:47. > :22:53.pressures in the church at the current time, in terms of a flat
:22:54. > :22:59.Congregational income and cost pressures from the living wage. But
:23:00. > :23:03.it is not just those two issues, there are broader issues, including
:23:04. > :23:05.the significant amount of income that the church receives from local
:23:06. > :23:11.Government and the Scottish Government to fund our social care
:23:12. > :23:14.activities. It goes without saying that that income is under pressure
:23:15. > :23:19.as well as local authorities and the Government wrestled with their
:23:20. > :23:24.priorities. So the income side, there are some real tensions. On the
:23:25. > :23:29.cost side, there is the living wage, the church wants to do that, but
:23:30. > :23:33.there are other activities such as supporting our ministries, engaging
:23:34. > :23:38.with society, so we are going to have do undertake a very careful
:23:39. > :23:43.examination of our current position to balance, or try to balance, our
:23:44. > :23:47.income and our expenditure. So in the short term, the church will
:23:48. > :23:52.continue to use its reserves, as it has been doing, but in the medium
:23:53. > :23:55.term, it will need to identify a clear set of priorities, increasing
:23:56. > :23:56.resources into some areas and perhaps withdrawing them from other
:23:57. > :24:11.areas. Call it a change, call it a cameo
:24:12. > :24:15.appearance. What is sure is that the participation of the Archbishop of
:24:16. > :24:19.Canterbury, Justin Welby, in the ecumenical relations debate,
:24:20. > :24:23.following last year's so-called columbo agreement, which brought the
:24:24. > :24:28.churches of Scotland and England closer together, was an historic
:24:29. > :24:32.event. Politically, we are united in witness to Christ by R, national
:24:33. > :24:37.context, including the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014, the
:24:38. > :24:44.recent elections and the imminent referendum on EU membership. Christ
:24:45. > :24:51.who made us his holy nation calls us, whatever our views on Europe, to
:24:52. > :24:56.live out that unity. Historically, we are united in witness to Christ
:24:57. > :25:01.as churches shaped by the Reformation, with its 500th
:25:02. > :25:07.anniversary next year. Including the inheritance of reform theology.
:25:08. > :25:15.Jesus meters through the tumult of historic wars -- meets us. And holds
:25:16. > :25:20.out nail in printed hands calling for love, for witness to the good
:25:21. > :25:29.news, not to be perpetrators of the bad. Economic really --
:25:30. > :25:33.economically, we are united by the growing inequality of our land, by
:25:34. > :25:41.the suffering of the poor, including food insecurity. Jesus sits with the
:25:42. > :25:48.poor as we stand before them. In judgment on our disunity. Globally,
:25:49. > :25:54.we are united in witness to Christ as churches called to
:25:55. > :25:57.reconciliation. Recognising our relationship has been marked by
:25:58. > :26:02.conflict including violence and bloodshed in earlier centuries, but
:26:03. > :26:07.now demonstrating what it means to live well with difference in unity
:26:08. > :26:14.in the context of religiously motivated violence in many parts of
:26:15. > :26:17.the world. Jesus calls from the camps and the roads, from the
:26:18. > :26:25.violated women and orphaned children, the traumatised soldiers.
:26:26. > :26:32.Will we show good disagreement? The Assembly ratified the columbo
:26:33. > :26:40.agreement, as an English Synod has done. Given the Archbishop's pension
:26:41. > :26:43.of disagreement, what is the significance? The most significant
:26:44. > :26:48.part is recognising each other as churches. That is a huge step and
:26:49. > :26:54.once you have recognised each other as the church, there is a massive
:26:55. > :26:58.impulse to develop that into a deeper and deeper relationship, both
:26:59. > :27:03.in the United Kingdom and internationally. And as the
:27:04. > :27:11.Moderator, the Right Reverend Doctor Russell Barr, agreed. It has been
:27:12. > :27:15.historic. It is one of the quirks of our history which has its roots in
:27:16. > :27:18.quite violent times in the 17th century in Britain and Ireland, that
:27:19. > :27:24.our churches have never actually formally recognised each other. Yes,
:27:25. > :27:27.why now? Because we realised that North and south of the border, we
:27:28. > :27:36.share many similar challenges and many similar opportunities. Why now?
:27:37. > :27:41.It is really a fundamental Christian principle and rather just look at
:27:42. > :27:46.the things that separate us, we would decide to look at the things
:27:47. > :27:50.we share an CV can share them better, the things we already doing
:27:51. > :27:54.and see if we can do them better. Christian people are not allowed to
:27:55. > :27:57.walk past on the other side of human need. North and south of the border,
:27:58. > :28:01.there are tens of thousands of people who are homeless, hundreds of
:28:02. > :28:06.thousands of people who are using food banks, and we could do
:28:07. > :28:11.something to change that. Why now? Because North and south of the
:28:12. > :28:14.border, we want to tell people about the hopes and promises of the
:28:15. > :28:21.Christian faith. That is why and that is why now. So at the end of
:28:22. > :28:25.the week, for People of the Way, walk on with their core faith and
:28:26. > :28:26.principles strengthened by what happened here. Some things don't
:28:27. > :28:31.change. Goodbye. We haven't really wakened up to the
:28:32. > :29:12.implications of Brexit for Scotland. both in Scotland and abroad
:29:13. > :29:18.to find out. We've built our business models
:29:19. > :29:22.around EU membership, Brussels seemed to have more
:29:23. > :29:26.and more control. It was like a noose round our neck
:29:27. > :29:35.all the time. Once upon a time, there was
:29:36. > :29:44.a great and glorious king. But they would
:29:45. > :29:48.all see him destroyed.