Scottish Episcopal Church

Scottish Episcopal Church
Logo of the Scottish Episcopal Church, depicting a mitre and two crosiers.
ClassificationProtestant[nb 1]
OrientationAnglican
ScriptureBible
TheologyAnglican doctrine
PolityEpiscopal
PrimusMark Strange
Associations
RegionScotland
HeadquartersEdinburgh, Scotland
OriginConcordat of Leith 1572, Scottish Episcopalians Act 1711
Branched fromInstitutionally: Roman Catholic Church and Church of Scotland
Theologically: Church of England
Congregations350[1]
Members
  • 30,909 (2017)[2]
  • 28,647 (2018)[3]
  • 27,585 (2019)[4]
  • 25,552 (2020)
  • 24,039 (2021)
  • 23,935 (2022)
Active clergy370 (2010)[1]
Official websitescotland.anglican.org Edit this at Wikidata
Slogan"Evangelical Truth and Apostolic Order"

The Scottish Episcopal Church (Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; Scots: Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk)[nb 2] is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland.

A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and as it was from the Restoration of King Charles II to the re-establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland following the Glorious Revolution,[6] it recognises the archbishop of Canterbury of the Church of England as president of the Anglican Instruments of Communion, but without jurisdiction in Scotland per se. This close relationship results from the unique history of the Scottish Episcopal Church. In the 1960s it was proposed that the Scottish Episcopal Church and Presbyterian Church of Scotland merge with the Church of England, however this did not take place. While the British monarch holds the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England, in Scotland the monarch maintains private links to both the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church.[7][8]

Scotland's third largest church,[9] the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations.[10] In terms of official membership, Episcopalians constitute well under 1 per cent of the population of Scotland, making them considerably smaller than the Church of Scotland or Catholic Church in Scotland. The membership of the church in 2022 was 23,935, of which 16,823 were communicant members. The attendance at Sunday worship, as counted on Sunday next before Advent was 8,532.[11] This compares with the figures from five years previously, in 2017, where church membership had been 30,909, of whom 22,073 were communicant members, and there was a Sunday worship attendance of 12,149.[2]

In 1633 Charles I remodelled Holyrood Abbey as a Chapel Royal, and held his coronation there with full Anglican rites. In this year he also founded the See of Edinburgh and appointed William Forbes as first Bishop of Edinburgh in the following year. The Abbey was lost to its protestant congregation as part of the events of the Glorious Revolution and eventually ruined. The current headquarters (the Scottish Episcopal Church General Synod Office) of the Scottish Episcopal Church is Forbes House, number 21 Grosvenor Crescent in the West End of Edinburgh.[12][13]

Since 1731, the Episcopal Church has been led by a Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church elected from among any of the Scottish dioceses. The primus does not have any metropolitan jurisdiction. Metropolitan responsibilities are held by the diocesan bishops. The last head of the Scottish Episcopal Church to hold both primate and metropolitan titles was Arthur Rose, Archbishop of St Andrews, up to his death in 1704. The last bishop to exercise metropolitan authority was Alexander Rose, Bishop of Edinburgh, up to his death in 1720. The current primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church is Mark Strange, elected in 2017. The Primus is elected from the 7 Bishops of Scotland from among their number to serve as a ‘primus inter pares’ or ‘first among equals’ as the Senior Bishop.[14]


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  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cofe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "35th Annual Report and Accounts SEC" (PDF). The Scottish Episcopal Church. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  3. ^ "36th Annual Report page 63" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Scottish Episcopal Church 37th Annual Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. ^ > ""Episcopaulian n."". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  6. ^ Pittock, Murray (1994). Poetry and Jacobite politics in eighteenth-century Britain and Ireland. Cambridge studies in eighteenth-century English literature and thought. Vol. 23. Cambridge University Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-521-41092-2.
  7. ^ https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Established+Church+of+Scotland
  8. ^ https://www.scotland.anglican.org/the-queen-remembered-part-2-rosslyn-chapel-hosts-a-royal-visit/
  9. ^ "Scottish Episcopal Church could be first in UK to conduct same-sex weddings". Scottish Legal News. 20 May 2016. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Scottish Church Census" (PDF). Brierley Consultancy. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Scottish Episcopal Church: 40th Annual Report: The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church - Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022" (PDF). Scottish Episcopal Church. General Synod Office. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  12. ^ https://www.electricscotland.com/history/edinburgh/edinburghclub/holyrooditspalac00bryc.pdf
  13. ^ https://www.scotland.anglican.org/terms-conditions/
  14. ^ https://www.scotland.anglican.org/who-we-are/organisation/bishops-and-their-dioceses/#:~:text=The%20current%20Primus%20is%20the,of%20Moray%2C%20Ross%20%26%20Caithness.