OK, this is really simple! Give back the authority to allow study leave to Presbyteries. We do not need a central system nor a central committee to determine whether or not ministers are allowed study leave. This is unnecessary bureaucracy. We somehow need to have strict accountability for two weeks and £275 per year, whilst we have no ministerial accountability for the rest of the year and a full stipend! Ridiculous! Furthermore, study leave is just that - time to study - so we do not need to provide long reports on what we have done - let's keep it simple! Or do we not trust our ministers to do what they say they are doing? The inability to use funds to provide accommodation for study leave to take place somewhere else other than the manse is very short-sighted and this should be reviewed immediately. The funds can still be administered centrally until the new power-devolved Presbyteries take this work on but let local parties determine what is and is not acceptable as study leave (make that very flexible) and make the appropriate arrangements! Mon the reformers!

 

Study leave reports involving change and reform in the Church can be accessed through the links below.

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(This page was last updated in October 2023)