QiS documents

A list of documents relating to QiS (Quakers in Scotland), which is replacing some or all of our previous 6 charities. A mix of web pages and files. Documents may be updated, please check date of your version. You can read more about the process of establishing QiS. 

• Current documents
• Archived documents - relating to work to develop the structure and policies of the new organisation, 2023-25. 
• Definitions - explanations of MoU (memorandum of understanding) and Policy

Current documents

1. Governing Document (constitution) (pdf) for the single charity, to function both as General Meeting for Scotland, and as Area Meeting for those Area Meetings that have agreed. As approved by OSCR (submitted Feb 2025). Note that this is primarily concerned with the formal responsibilities of the organisation as a registered charity. It must describe our purposes and some processes in order to be eligible for registration, but does not need to describe details of how we organise or manage our Quaker activities at local or regional levels. 
2. General MoU (pdf) describing how responsibilities are shared between local meetings, QiS, and QiS trustees - who does what. Property and Financial arrangements are dealt with in more detail in separate documents.  
3. Property MoU (pdf) outlines how responsibility for our properties could be organised and managed.
4. Eldership and pastoral care covering how Friends may be appointed to formal roles as Elders, Pastoral Care Friends, and how membership, marriages, funerals could be handled. It assumes that Intermediate Meetings (see below) will undertake some of this work.
   1. Eldership proposal (pdf, October 2025)
   2. Pastoral care proposal (pdf, August 2025)
5. Committee structure and nominations process (pdf) Oct 2025 - the functions, committees, and appointment routes that QiS may want to employ.
6. Financial structure and organisation (pdf) - describes how things could work with greatly reduced number of bank accounts, and a single place for formal accounting.
   
7. Intermediate meetings - could take on many of the things that are currently done at Area Meetings, flexible and not constrained by current geographical boundaries.
8. What difference might it make to the number of roles (pdf) - a reduction in many key roles, but not in Elders or Pastoral Care Friends.
   
9. Foundation and substantive trustee roles (agreed; to be endorsed by QiS subsequently). All MS Word documents:
   
   • Foundation trustee role
   • Substantive trustee role
   • Clerk to trustees role

Archived documents

Robert Rayner video

• Transfering GM members to QiS membership, the first step in establishing Quakers in Scotland. This will permit appointments to be made to the new organisation, and enable QiS to prepare to take on the responsibilities of AMs as they agree to move. 
  • Further clarification as QiS evolves - questions about the GM to QiS process (23 Aug 2025) - just about the GM change. Not AMs.
  • Transferring from GM to QiS - a wider perspective and longer explanation, June 2025, includes how AMs might move.
• Community proposals
  • Possible arrangements for Spiritual and Pastoral care May 2025 (pdf) 
  • 15-min video to describe the options and discussion. Robert Rayner, Nov 2024
  • Short written summary of option 4 (pdf) Nov 2024).
  • List of possible QiS structures Aug 2024 (pdf).
  • Community report July 2024 (MS Word)
  • Community questionnaire anonymised responses July 2024 (MS Word)
  • Community proposals - about how we organise ourselves at levels between local meetings and Scotland level. GM on 30 November 2024 requested development of an Option 4-Option 2 hybrid which we are calling Option 4 (evolving). The attached paper outlined this.
• How it might work (pdf) for illustration and discussion (draft overview).
• Summary of how Intermediate Meetings IMs might work (pdf) - they could take on many of the things that are currently done at Area Meetings, but this would be flexible and need not be constrained by our current geographical boundaries (North/ East/ South East/ West).
• Where are we up to now? (pdf, Feb 2025)
• Finance and buildings MoU (pdf) (advanced draft) - currently, local meetings each have an MoU with their Area Meeting (AM). This would be the version for their relationship with QiS.
• Property MoU (pdf) (advanced draft). This includes the basis of agreement about how properties (meeting houses and any other properties owned by Area Meetings) will be managed, with strong local oversight.
• Financial structure and organisation (pdf) (draft) - possible ways to streamline and integrate accounts and administration.
• Becoming QiS April 2024 - an earlier version of material now on the QiS main page gave a short summary at that time. Archived as a pdf file Becoming QiS in Scotland (April 2024) (pdf).
• Where are we up to now? Flow chart from GM Nov 2024 (pdf), and (2) Video (14 mins) from presentation to GM by Kate Gulliver on 30 Nov 2024. Exactly where we were then is at 8.40.
• QiS history in detail - full account 'QiS - where did it all begin' since first moves in 2015.
• FAQ - Frequently asked Questions about (1) the governing document, and (2) wider questions. From the first half of 2024
• FAQ about the GM to QiS transfer. August 2025.

Definitions

MoU = Memorandum of Understanding, an agreement between two or more parties (e.g. a local meeting and QiS) about where we make decisions and report issues; for instance about property issues.

Policy = An agreed way of doing things to comply with safety, legal, or other requirements. Includes policies for such things as health and safety, safeguarding, making our properties available to others.