Church History
1560 – 1610
Reformation
| The Church of Scotland was established in August 1560 by the so called reformation parliament. It declared that the national church was to separate itself from the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church and adhere instead to the doctrines of the reformed church. The reformation movement had be gaining momentum in mainland Europe and in neighbouring England. The Scottish church was to be influenced by the teaching of the Swiss reformers, particularly John Calvin. This particular change took place fairly peacefully across most of Scotland, with priests being allowed to stay in their parishes. There was acceptance of both the old structure and the new structure of the church in many parts. The reformers hoped to establish a church governed by Presbyteries, Synods and a General assembly. Ultimately it was to be a church whose head was Christ. Whilst this was accepted by the rulers of the day, it was a principal that was to be challenged many times in the next 130 years. |
1560-1660
Parish Ministers
1610 – 1660
Episcopacy and Unrest
| In 1611, the King James Version of the bible was published. This was to become the standard translation of the Bible in the English speaking world. King James was a Protestant, but he and his Stuart descendants did not approve of the Presbyterian system if church government. They favoured the Episcopalian model that was managed by bishops. Crucially this system placed the king as head of the church. This system was imposed on the church in Scotland and gradually took hold. For 20 years, between 1618 and 1638, no General Assembly was held. The General Assembly of 1938 was a radical gathering. They drew up the National Covenant, setting out the position of the national church in relation to the state, and also claiming the Presbyterian system as the way in which the church should be run. Many churchmen throughout the land signed this covenant. Some felt it went too far. Among those was the Marquis of Montrose. He was in favour of the Covenant initially, but thought there was a place for king and church to work alongside one another. Montrose led an uprising which sought to reform the church using military might. He was executed for his part in that uprising but then his memory was honoured again by the next generation. |
1660 – 1710
Restoration and Revolution
| With the Stuart king, Charles II, back on the throne, the tensions between church and civil government began again. Charles believed in the divine right of kings, and he set about establishing Episcopalian rule in the Church. Bishops were again appointed in the Church of Scotland. In 1662, all ministers admitted to charges since 1649 were removed from office if they did not receive the approval of the bishop. Further to this, a Test Act was passed in 1681, that compelled all ministers to recognise the king as the head of the church. Failure to do so would result in their removal from office. This act only helped to push the pendulum back once more. In London, James VII was removed from the throne and William and Mary declared joint monarchs of Great Britain during what was called the Great Revolution. As part of the Post Revolution Settlement, the Church of Scotland was finally settled as a church that was ruled by Presbyteries, Synods and General Assembly, but under the headship of Christ. Ministers were once again asked to conform to the Presbyterian order, but those who did not were not always deprived of their parishes. The church in Scotland was at this time split into three: the national Established Church of Scotland, a separate Episcopal Church and the Cameronians. This latter group was a remnant of the Covenanters who felt the 1690 settlement did not go far enough. They were to become the Reformed Presbyterian Church. |
1660-1760
Parish Ministers
1710 – 1760
Disquiet and schism
| Things did not settle for long. In 1712, the Patronage Act was passed. This gave landowners (or heritors) the right to call ministers to a parish. While in many cases this was not a problem, there were several cases where heritors imposed ministers on congregations who did not agree with the choice of candidate for the charge. The issue of Patronage was to result in several schisms within the Church of Scotland, with the first “Secession” taking place in 1733. This group initially called itself the associate Presbytery. The Secession movement was popular in the cities, but did not grab the attention or rural parishes. This period saw several Jacobite risings, the last of which being the ’45. The rising was eventually crushed at a battle on Culloden Moor in April 1746. A brutal persecution of the Highland clans who had been loyal to the Jacobite cause followed. It is said that many of the Established Church ministers of the time were employed as eyes and ears for the government, reporting any remaining sympathisers in their parishes. This could only serve to alienate the clergy from their people and weaken the loyalty of the ordinary citizen to the national church. |
1760 – 1810
Moderates and Evangelicals
| The national church continued to uphold and apply the Patronage Act. More and more congregations and ministers objected to this, and ministers were expelled for failing to comply with that act. These ministers had no theological differences with the Established Church, and would have been willing to rejoin. In 1761, a group of ministers left the church and established the Relief Presbytery. This was the Second Secession. Meanwhile the Associate Presbytery split (Burgers and Anti-Burghers) and split again(New lights and Old Lights), leaving 4 factions. Within the Established Church, the clergy were beginning to align themselves with two different parties too: the Moderates and the Evangelicals. The Evangelical party became involved in new church planting. They were involved in the creation and leadership of many of the new Mission churches and Chapels of Ease. As this was happening, the period known as the Highland Clearances was beginning to gain momentum. Landowners across the Highlands ordered large scale movements of communities. The eviction of these people was carried out by force and often with violence. Ministers were often seen as agents acting on behalf of the landowners, rarely standing up for the parishioners caught in these events. Again, the people and their pastors were alienated from one another. |
1760-1860
Parish Ministers
1810 – 1860
Disruption and consolidation
“The evangelical movement in the Established Church was gaining momentum, and, across the highlands, many new churches were built and parishes created. The old parishes had responsibilities under civil law for (among other things) the registration of births and marriages. These parishes retained those rights but many new parishes were formed as “Quoad Sacra” parishes – that is for religious purposes only.
By the 1830s, the Evangelical wing constituted a majority at General Assembly and moves were being made to challenge the Patronage Act, allowing congregations to select their own ministers rather than the heritors. Several cases arose where the heritors chose a minister without reference to the congregation, and then used the civil courts to enforce the appointment. Tensions grew, but the government of the day insisted that the Church should submit to civil authority in this matter. Eventually the evangelical party could take no more and broke away from the Established church. This was the Disruption of 1843. A third of the ministers left the Established church to form the Free Church of Scotland. Across the Highlands and Islands, many of the people joined the new Free Church. In rural areas, almost all deserted the Established Church. The Free Church set about building new churches and manses in all these parishes, with schools being set up too across the country.
The secession churches began to see that their differences were much less than there similarities, leading to some rejoining the Established church and some joining with the Relief church so that two groups remained: the Original Secession church and the United Presbyterian church. Some of the Original Secession Church joined the Free Church in 1852, including the Thurso congregation of that time.”
1860-1910
The move towards Union (mostly)
| The Church in Scotland was represented in late Victorian times by three large groupings. The Established church, the Free Church and the United Presbyterian church. There were changes in the forms of worship with hymns being used more and then organs being introduced to the churches. One of the smaller denominations, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, united with the Free Church in 1876. Discussions also started to take place between the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church with the hope of a union taking place. There were some who objected strongly to this, and in 1892, a small group broke away to form the Free Presbyterian Church. Union did take place in 1900 and the majority of the Free Church ministers and the majority of the United Presbyterian Church joined together to form the United Free Church. However, in the Highlands especially, the people did not all follow their ministers. It was expected that the majority Free Church would carry its buildings into this union, but it was not that simple. Only 26 ministers refused to join the union, and they claimed to be the true Free Church. Because of this, they stated that the buildings were the property of those who remained loyal to the Free Church in 1900. This led to court proceedings, appeals and eventually a case was brought before the House of Lords. In 1909, their Lordships ruled in favour of the Free Church remnant so all the buildings remained with the Free Church remnant – the Wee Frees. A more pragmatic solution was worked out, and where a third or more of the congregation remained loyal to the Free Church, the building stayed within their possession. This was the case in many rural congregations, and so the new United Free church embarked on a program of church building. |
1860-1960
Parish Ministers
1910 – 1960
Further Union and Restructuring
| The schisms and unions of the previous 150 years had left most highland communities with at least 4 Protestant churches – the Established Church, the Free Church, the United Free Church and the Free Presbyterian Church. The United Free church and the Established Church began discussions on Union. The independence of church from state control was a major issue, and had been for two centuries at least. The British government, however, passed the Church of Scotland act in 1921, paving the way for the union in 1929 of the Church of Scotland and the United Free church. The effects of war, emigration, rural depopulation and the advance of secularism have all affected the strength of the churches on Scotland. That meant that there was a marked decline in attendance at church in the 20th century. The churches across the land faced rationalisation of the buildings and congregations in the following years. |
1960 – present
Decline and Radical Measures
“The church has undergone a period of modernisation over the last sixty years, not all of which were universally popular.
The ordination of women as elders and then ministers was accepted. Much later, the acceptance of ministers in open homosexual relationships was discussed and accepted at General Assembly, leading to some congregations leaving the Church of Scotland.
The scarcity of ministers, the reduction in membership and dropping income has in recent years led to further reorganisation and rationalisation. This has caused pain and many have experienced grief and loss as congregations and building are lost.
We pray that God will lead his Church in Scotland forward in these coming years, hoping that the Church of Scotland will be instrumental in achieving his plans for this nation and its people.”
1960 onwards
Parish Ministers
