Scots Mission Support Policy Reviewed Oct 2025
This policy provides the senior minister and Session with guidance on the causes we collectively align with as a congregation and how we support them. It seeks to address questions such as:
● What causes do we give to out of the church budget?
● Who will get time on the platform to promote their cause?
● Who do we pray for publicly, either regularly or on a one-off basis?
● Who gets granted permission to to invite church members to their support events?
The gospel compels us to love not only our own city but to be concerned for the eternal state of people everywhere. (John 3:16, Titus 2:11, Col 3:11, Gen 12:1-3).
Supporting gospel work beyond ourselves, prayerfully and financially, is a tangible way to participate in the joy of God’s work in the world.
As a church on mission to the city of Sydney, engagement with mission beyond our own city need not detract from our mission to the city. If done well, it should reinforce and energise the work of outreach in our own context – it normalises evangelism.
Scots is a church with a large proportion of young, well-educated and highly capable professionals. Exposure to various mission causes will hopefully (1) challenge them to personally consider serving the work of the gospel as vocational gospel workers; (2) inform their decision-making as they weigh up career moves, factoring in places of gospel need where they might be useful.
As a church, we can be more effective in cultivating a passion for mission by judiciously selecting a few causes and supporting them well.
The Session will review (usually annually) our Specific Mission Settings, taking into account the following areas:
Supported Mission Causes:
Supported Mission Causes fall into three categories:
● Financial Support: The Session will adopt a limited number of specific missionaries or missionary causes and focus our financial support upon them. The Scots Committee of Management will determine the amount of support in the annual budget presented to the congregation. In rotation, approximately annually, the Session will send an elder, deacon, or other key individuals on a visit of encouragement to our Financially Supported Missionaries and request that they report back to the church on their experience.
● Permission to Fund Raise: Identify other mission partners to whom we grant permission to approach individuals at Scots for team support. No one is permitted to raise support funds for themselves or any other person or cause without the express permission of the Session.
● Prayer Support: There will be certain causes for which we may pray regularly and commend to the congregation in various ways, but not fundraising permission or provide financial support.
Prayer Support:
● Request that the minister include Supported Mission Causes (all three categories) in our Sunday schedule of prayers.
● Include Financially Supported missionaries in every Week of Prayer. Include other Supported Missionaries in WOP when appropriate.
● Avoid public prayer in a regular cycle for other causes without the express permission of the Session.
Platform Time:
● Social Media (e.g. Scots WhatsApp group) and Platform time (e.g. interview, advertisement in News, etc. On Sundays and at things like Hub Huddle) will only be given to causes beyond our Supported Missionaries with the express permission of the Session.
● While recognising that extending invitations to guest preachers is the prerogative of the senior minister, the Session requests that the senior minister bring to the Session for discussion any potential missionary speakers.
Staff Time
● As part of our commitment to spreading the gospel beyond Scots, we expect our pastoral staff to dedicate work time to serving beyond Scots. (Things like training pastors in India to preach the OT, speaking at conferences, coaching gospel workers or consultations with sessions in other churches.) This is a way to develop our own staff, and we benefit from other church leaders reciprocating in kind. This is not “rest”, “leave” or “taking a break”.
Interns and Trainees
● Interns and Trainees are part of our mission support strategy. We view them as individuals we invest in, rather than merely as cheap labour. We invest financially in them through an allocation from general funds and dedicate time from our staff and others to their development. If granted permission to fundraise at Scots by the Session, they must clearly state that any individual support is in addition to regular giving to the church, and they must declare to their supporters the level of financial support (if any) they receive from the Scots Committee of Management.
● Interns and Trainees are encouraged to grow their support networks outside of Scots as much as possible. Scots social media, church directory, and church events are not to be used by interns for support raising without the express permission of the Session.
Comms
The Session will determine in the Specific Mission Settings what details, including details of Supported Mission Causes, can be communicated via various channels. All communication will abide by our Privacy Policy unless there is a specific exemption provided in the Specific Mission Settings.
This policy provides the senior minister and Session with guidance on the causes we collectively align with as a congregation and how we support them. It seeks to address questions such as:
● What causes do we give to out of the church budget?
● Who will get time on the platform to promote their cause?
● Who do we pray for publicly, either regularly or on a one-off basis?
● Who gets granted permission to to invite church members to their support events?
The gospel compels us to love not only our own city but to be concerned for the eternal state of people everywhere. (John 3:16, Titus 2:11, Col 3:11, Gen 12:1-3).
Supporting gospel work beyond ourselves, prayerfully and financially, is a tangible way to participate in the joy of God’s work in the world.
As a church on mission to the city of Sydney, engagement with mission beyond our own city need not detract from our mission to the city. If done well, it should reinforce and energise the work of outreach in our own context – it normalises evangelism.
Scots is a church with a large proportion of young, well-educated and highly capable professionals. Exposure to various mission causes will hopefully (1) challenge them to personally consider serving the work of the gospel as vocational gospel workers; (2) inform their decision-making as they weigh up career moves, factoring in places of gospel need where they might be useful.
As a church, we can be more effective in cultivating a passion for mission by judiciously selecting a few causes and supporting them well.
The Session will review (usually annually) our Specific Mission Settings, taking into account the following areas:
Supported Mission Causes:
Supported Mission Causes fall into three categories:
● Financial Support: The Session will adopt a limited number of specific missionaries or missionary causes and focus our financial support upon them. The Scots Committee of Management will determine the amount of support in the annual budget presented to the congregation. In rotation, approximately annually, the Session will send an elder, deacon, or other key individuals on a visit of encouragement to our Financially Supported Missionaries and request that they report back to the church on their experience.
● Permission to Fund Raise: Identify other mission partners to whom we grant permission to approach individuals at Scots for team support. No one is permitted to raise support funds for themselves or any other person or cause without the express permission of the Session.
● Prayer Support: There will be certain causes for which we may pray regularly and commend to the congregation in various ways, but not fundraising permission or provide financial support.
Prayer Support:
● Request that the minister include Supported Mission Causes (all three categories) in our Sunday schedule of prayers.
● Include Financially Supported missionaries in every Week of Prayer. Include other Supported Missionaries in WOP when appropriate.
● Avoid public prayer in a regular cycle for other causes without the express permission of the Session.
Platform Time:
● Social Media (e.g. Scots WhatsApp group) and Platform time (e.g. interview, advertisement in News, etc. On Sundays and at things like Hub Huddle) will only be given to causes beyond our Supported Missionaries with the express permission of the Session.
● While recognising that extending invitations to guest preachers is the prerogative of the senior minister, the Session requests that the senior minister bring to the Session for discussion any potential missionary speakers.
Staff Time
● As part of our commitment to spreading the gospel beyond Scots, we expect our pastoral staff to dedicate work time to serving beyond Scots. (Things like training pastors in India to preach the OT, speaking at conferences, coaching gospel workers or consultations with sessions in other churches.) This is a way to develop our own staff, and we benefit from other church leaders reciprocating in kind. This is not “rest”, “leave” or “taking a break”.
Interns and Trainees
● Interns and Trainees are part of our mission support strategy. We view them as individuals we invest in, rather than merely as cheap labour. We invest financially in them through an allocation from general funds and dedicate time from our staff and others to their development. If granted permission to fundraise at Scots by the Session, they must clearly state that any individual support is in addition to regular giving to the church, and they must declare to their supporters the level of financial support (if any) they receive from the Scots Committee of Management.
● Interns and Trainees are encouraged to grow their support networks outside of Scots as much as possible. Scots social media, church directory, and church events are not to be used by interns for support raising without the express permission of the Session.
Comms
The Session will determine in the Specific Mission Settings what details, including details of Supported Mission Causes, can be communicated via various channels. All communication will abide by our Privacy Policy unless there is a specific exemption provided in the Specific Mission Settings.
