History and Background 

With around 35,000 members, the Church of Scotland Guild is one of Scotland's largest voluntary organisations.

Members meet in local groups at congregational level (Wednesday 2.15pm fortnightly at St Andrews, Deans), in regional groups known as presbyterial councils, and once a year at our national meeting, to which each group can send a representative.

The current constitution of the Guild was adopted in 1997, after a major review of the present organisation's predecessor, the Woman's Guild. In 2003, the Guild reviewed its constitution to ensure more inclusive language was used and to take account of the need for flexibility in local groups.

The Guild today

The Guild is about invitation, encouragement, commitment, and fellowship which leads to providing opportunities for continuing growth in Christian faith through worship, prayer and action.

Worship is an essential ingredient in all meetings and activities. Prayer underpins everything - and is a means of involving those members who cannot be active in other ways.

Action means living out the faith through project work, exploration of the discussion topics and local involvement of groups and individual members in various aspects of Christian service.

Aims and ethos

Women and men of all walks of life meet together under our common aim:

"The Church of Scotland Guild is a movement within the Church of Scotland which invites and encourages both women and men to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and enables them to express their faith in worship, prayer and action."

The aim has been underlined in our motto which is taken from Acts 27, verse 23: "Whose we are and Whom we serve."