THE Church of Scotland has said care firms should be subsidised by government so they can top up staff pay to the level of the living wage.

The appeal to recognise workers at the forefront of care in Scotland was made as the Kirk's annual gathering in Edinburgh, the General Assembly, heard a report on social services it provides.

The Kirk's Social Care Council has committed to pay its care workers the Scottish living wage from October at an as yet unidentified overall cost.

The Church said care workers are to receive the £7.85 living wage - set at a level said to provide a decent living - while ancillary staff will receive no less than £7, above the legally set minimum wage of £6.50.

However, the Kirk also has called on the Scottish Government and local authorities to factor in fair pay to care contracts.

Its social care arm, called Cross Reach, runs 22 homes including eight specialist dementia services, caring for more than 750 older people around the country.

Care council convener Sally Bonnar said: "About 70 per cent of our funding comes from local authorities and health boards contracts so we are reliant on the level of funding that they put in their contract.

"There are lots of providers in the same position.

"No-one in the organisation works at the minimum wage."

Wider services include counselling and care services for parents coping with post-natal depression, children whose parents have drug and alcohol addiction problems and people suffering with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.

The council, responsible for more than 2,000 staff, said in its report: "It is a source of real concern and disappointment to the council that they were unable to grant staff a consolidated cost of living increase in 2014 and were only able to give all staff a one-off £100 payment in December 2014. "This is not a tenable long-term position and the council are committed to continuing discussions with funders and employee representatives to try to seek ways to address this without affecting the long term sustainability and viability of the organisation."

Earlier the assembly heard a new style of Kirk minister is to be created charged with reconnecting large parts of Scotland with Christianity.

Five new groundbreaking "Pioneer Ministry" posts were approved by the General Assembly floor with the 46 presbyteries of Scotland's national church being asked to bid for the new roles.

Rev Neil Dougall, convener of the Church of Scotland's Ministries Council, said: "We need ministers who can go into areas where there is no Church of Scotland presence, read the needs of the community and bring the benefits of Christianity to them.

"The ideal candidate will have to be a good self-starter and have an entrepreneurial outlook."

The move follows the launch last week of the Church of Scotland's major recruitment drive for new ministers with an online campaign and video that has been viewed by almost 40,000 people in the first week on Facebook and YouTube, half of them aged between 15 and 24 years old.

The key skills being sought for the pioneering roles are the abilities to "work with people outside of the traditional Kirk network, an understanding of contemporary culture and a clear idea of how their specific parish can benefit from the Christian message".

Finding new places to worship, rather than in a church, will also be in the remit, with the possibility of using sports clubs and various community venues being considered.