Since May 2018, the Interim General Secretary is the Reverend Ian Boa. The Assistant General Secretary is the Reverend Ian Boa of the United Free Church of Scotland; he succeeded the Revd Lindsey Sanderson of the United Reformed Church. There are also two Programme Officers to support the work of ACTS. When first created, the office of ACTS was located at the former Scottish Churches House in Dunblane. In 2006 the ACTS office was moved to Forrester Lodge, adjacent to Inglewood House in Alloa, but in October 2015 it was relocated to Stirling, in a self-contained office within the headquarters building of Volunteer Scotland. Scottish Churches House was opened in 1960, closed in 2011 and subsequently converted into a hotel.
ACTS is a place where churches meet, experience, reflect, share and act together. There are a number of projects which ACTS coordinates across Scotland. It is not intended that ACTS should develop into a "superchurch". Prior to 2003, four member churches of ACTS were part of the "Scottish Churches Initiative for Union", but a negative vote at the General Assembly in 2003 necessitated the withdrawal of the Church of Scotland from SCIFU. Henceforth, greater emphasis has been placed on the development of Local Ecumenical Partnerships. The principle of being Churches Together is of central importance to the work of ACTS. Essentially, this is known as the "Lund Principle" This states: "the churches should act together in all matters... except those in which deep difference of conviction compel them to act separately"
Governance of ACTS
The agenda of ACTS is set at a national level by the church denominations through their representatives on the "Members' Meeting". To comply with the requirements of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, the legal responsibility for the oversight and governance of ACTS is vested in Trustees, chaired by the Convener of ACTS and supported by the Secretariat.
ACTS works through its Programme Groups, Partner Group and Bodies in Association. Programme Groups include the Scottish Churches Rural Group, Scottish Churches Anti-Human Trafficking Group and the Scottish Churches Education Group. Partner Groups include the Scottish Churches Racial Justice Group. The ACTS Ecumenical Development Group promotes local ecumenism. Before restructuring in the early 2010s, ACTS had four "Networks".
Scottish Churches' Committee
A separate body, the Scottish Churches' Committee, is responsible for liaison with public authorities on legal matters - such as changes to legislation and the resulting effect on churches. Seven of the nine members of ACTS are also members of the SCC. The SCC also includes the Baptist Church, the Free Church of Scotland and several smaller Presbyterian churches. The Secretary of the SCC is the Solicitor of the Church of Scotland. It also co-operates with the UK-wide Churches Legislation Advisory Services, formerly known as the Churches' Main Committee.
