21/05/2026
Bishop Ian Paton was the Scottish Episcopal Church representative at this year’s General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Here, he reflects on issues where the two churches have common interests, and asks if the Saint Andrew Declaration can lead us to address these issues together.
“It was a privilege and pleasure to be an ecumenical guest at the General Assembly, and to receive such a warm welcome,” writes the Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane. “It was striking that many of the issues and challenges being reported on, debated and decided by the Commissioners (members) of the Assembly were similar or identical to those we are facing in the SEC and will be discussing at our own General Synod. Issues such as education and formation for ministry; the causes of decline in the Church and what they mean for mission; climate justice and the environment; and the challenge of local ecumenism; and many more, are equally our concern and part of our agenda in the SEC.
“I asked myself the question - and asked it of the Assembly, as I would of our own Synod - how can we find more ways of addressing some of this together, to make our Saint Andrew Declaration a living part of our life?
“One of the important moments in the Assembly was the presentation of the Report on the Legacy of Slavery, another issue we have in common, and on which our own Working Group will be reporting to Synod. The Assembly approved an Apology for the historic involvement of the Church of Scotland in chattel slavery, which was presented to representatives from the Caribbean and West Africa.
“Responding to the apology, the Moderator of the Church in Ghana described two kinds of tree in his country, the plantain and the banana, which can only be distinguished by the fruit. He asked a question about the need for an apology to bear fruit in the Church today - is this apology a plantain or a banana tree? We’ll only know when there is fruit.
“This was a powerful question about any response to the legacy of slavery. But it’s also a question about the Saint Andrew Declaration between our two Churches - is it a plantain or a banana? We will only know by the fruits it bears.”
