Church launches economy commission in wake of credit crunch

As the UK economy continues on its slow road to recovery, the Church of Scotland has announced a new commission to explore the moral and ethical questions raised by the credit crunch.

The Commission on the Purposes of Economic Activity will look primarily at the Scottish economy and formulate ways in which the Church can offer a new vision of economic, social and community life.

It will also consider how the Church can become more engaged in transformative economics that links justice, cohesion and sustainability to economic success, and how best to tackle inequality while ensuring choice to all.

Charles Munn, former Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, has been appointed Chair of the commission.

He said the commission would give the Kirk the opportunity to speak to its members and to the wider world about matters of “great importance”.

“That many parts of the economic system have broken so badly impacts all of our lives,” he said.

“It is important that the national church take the time to reflect, and look at the ways in which the economic system can operate more efficiently and fairly, in order that the benefits of economic growth are shared more widely.”

The commission includes the Rev Kathy Galloway, head of Christian Aid Scotland and former leader of the Iona Community, David Lonsdale, Assistant Director of CBI Scotland, Jeremy Peat, Director of the David Hume Institute, and John McFall, former Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee.

The commission was proposed by the Church and Society Council. Its Convener Rev Ian Galloway said: “This is a challenging time for many people, especially those who are, in their poverty, paying for the excesses of those who craved wealth.

“Yet it is also an opportunity for us as a church and a nation to step back and look into the very basis of our economic system to ask deeply human questions about what is acceptable and what should be the driving force of our economic relationships.”

The commission is due to report to the General Assembly in 2012 with a statement on connections between moral values and economic measures of success, and recommendations on the role of Church of Scotland congregations in enabling economic development.