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Scottish Episcopal Church

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Religious movements,
traditions and organizations

   The Scottish Episcopal Church ( Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais Easbaigeach na
   h-Alba) is a Christian denomination in Scotland and a member of the
   Anglican Communion. It has enjoyed a distinct identity in Scotland
   since the 17th century.

Governance and administration

   As an Episcopal denomination, the church is governed by Bishops (Greek,
   episcopoi), which differentiates it from the national Church of
   Scotland, which is Presbyterian.

   The Scottish Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican communion.
   However, although it is in full communion with the Church of England,
   it has its own distinct origins and history (it is not a 'daughter
   church').

   The church is composed of seven dioceses, each with its own bishop:
     * Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney — Vacant See
     * Diocese of Argyll and the Isles — The Rt Rev Martin Shaw,
       consecrated 8 June 2004
     * Diocese of Brechin — The Rt Rev Dr John Mantle, consecrated 8
       October 2005
     * Diocese of Edinburgh — The Rt Rev Brian Smith, installed 23 June
       2001
     * Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway — The Most Rev Idris Jones, current
       Primus
     * Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness — The Rt Rev John Crook,
       consecrated September 1999 and, hence, Senior Bishop after the
       Primus
     * Diocese of Saint Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane — The Rt Rev David
       Chillingworth, consecrated 11 March 2005

   All (except Edinburgh, founded by Charles I) were pre- Reformation
   sees.

   Unlike the Church of England, the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal
   Church are elected. The election procedure involves clergy and lay
   representatives of the vacant diocese voting at an Electoral Synod.

   The College of Bishops constitutes the episcopal synod, the supreme
   court of appeal. This synod elects from among its own members a
   presiding Bishop who has the title of Primus (the title originates from
   the Latin phrase Primus inter pares — 'First among equals'). The Primus
   has the style but not the functions of a metropolitan. The Primus is
   addressed Most Reverend, while all other bishops are addressed Right
   Reverend.

   The church is governed by the General Synod. This consists of the House
   of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity. The General
   Synod makes canon law, administers finance and monitors the work of the
   boards and committees of the Church. Most decisions are arrived at by a
   simple majority of members of the General Synod voting together. More
   complex legislation, such as changes to the Code of Canons requires
   each of the Houses to agree and to vote in favour by a two-thirds
   majority.

   Each diocese has its synod of the clergy and laity. Its dean (similar
   to an archdeacon in the Church of England) is appointed by the bishop,
   and, on the voidance of the see, summons the diocesan synod, at the
   instance of the primus, to choose a bishop. Each diocese has one or
   more (in the case of some united dioceses) cathedrals. The senior
   priest of a Scottish Episcopal cathedral is styled as provost (as the
   title of 'dean' is given to the senior priest of the diocese as a
   whole, see above). The only exception in Scotland is the Cathedral of
   the Isles on the island of Cumbrae which is led by a member of the
   clergy styled as Precentor. Diocesan deans and cathedral provosts are
   both addressed as Very Reverend.

   The Theological College was founded in 1810, incorporated with Trinity
   College, Glenalmond, in 1848, and reestablished at Edinburgh in 1876.
   Theological training is now provided by the various dioceses and is
   supervised by the Theological Institute of the Scottish Episcopal
   Church (TISEC).

History

   The Scottish Episcopal Church had its origins in 1582 when the national
   church, the Church of Scotland, rejected episcopal government (by
   bishops), and adopted full presbyterian government (by elders) and
   reformed theology. Scottish monarchs made repeated efforts to introduce
   bishops, and two church traditions began.

   In 1584 James VI of Scotland had the Parliament of Scotland pass the
   Black Acts bringing the Kirk under royal control with two bishops. This
   met vigorous opposition and he was forced to concede that the General
   Assembly should continue to run the church, but Calvinists reacting
   against the formal liturgy were opposed by an Episcopalian faction.
   After acceding to the English throne in 1603 James stopped the General
   Assembly from meeting, then increased the number of Scottish Bishops
   and in 1618 held a General Assembly and pushed through Five Articles of
   Episcopalian practices which were widely boycotted. His son Charles I
   was crowned in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, in 1633 with full
   Anglican rites. Charles subsequently introduced a Book of Common Prayer
   causing a revolt which led to the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, beginning
   with the Bishops Wars and developing into the English Civil War.

                                                 CAPTION: The 2001 Census:

                                         Religion Percentage of Population
                 Church of Scotland                         42%
                    No Religion                             28%
                   Roman Catholic                           16%
   Other Christian (including Scottish Episcopal)            7%
                     No Answer                               5%
                       Islam                                0.8%
                      Buddhism                              0.1%
                      Sikhism                               0.1%
                      Judaism                               0.1%
                      Hinduism                              0.1%
                  Other Religions                           0.5%

   On the refusal of the bishops to recognize William III ( 1689), the
   presbyterian polity was finally re-established in the Church of
   Scotland. However, the Comprehension Act of 1690 allowed episcopalian
   incumbents, on taking the Oath of Allegiance, to retain their
   benefices, though excluding them from any share in the government of
   the Church of Scotland without a further declaration of presbyterian
   principles. Many 'non-jurors' also succeeded for a time in retaining
   the use of the parish churches.

   The extruded bishops were slow to organize the episcopalian remnant
   under a jurisdiction independent of the state, regarding the then
   arrangements as provisional, and looking forward to a reconstituted
   national episcopal Church under a 'legitimate' sovereign (see
   Jacobitism). A few prelates, known as college bishops, were consecrated
   without sees, to preserve the succession rather than to exercise a
   defined authority. But at length the hopelessness of the Stuart cause
   and the growth of congregations outside of the establishment forced the
   bishops to dissociate canonical jurisdiction from royal prerogative and
   to reconstitute for themselves a territorial episcopate.

   The act of Queen Anne ( 1712), which protects the Episcopal Communion,
   marks its virtual incorporation as a distinct society. But matters were
   still complicated by a considerable, though declining, number of
   episcopalian incumbents holding the parish churches. Moreover, the
   Jacobitism of the non-jurors provoked a state policy of repression in
   1715 and 1745, and fostered the growth of new Hanoverian congregations,
   served by clergy episcopally ordained but amenable to no bishop, who
   qualified themselves under the act of 1712. This act was further
   modified in 1746 and 1748 to exclude clergymen ordained in Scotland.

   These causes reduced the Episcopalians, who included at the Revolution
   a large section of the people, to what is now, save in a few corners of
   the west and north-east of Scotland, a small minority. The official
   recognition of George III on the death of Charles Edward in 1788,
   removed the chief bar to progress. The qualified congregations were
   gradually absorbed, though traces of this ecclesiastical solecism still
   linger. In 1792 the penal laws were repealed, but clerical disabilities
   were only finally removed in 1864. In 1784 Samuel Seabury, the first
   bishop of the American Episcopal Church, was consecrated at Aberdeen.

   The Book of Common Prayer came into general use at the Revolution. The
   Scottish Communion Office, compiled by the non-jurors in accordance
   with primitive models, has had a varying co-ordinate authority, and the
   modifications of the English liturgy adopted by the American Church
   were mainly determined by its influence.

   Among the clergy of post-Revolution days the most eminent are Bishop
   Sage, a well-known patristic scholar; Bishop Rattray, liturgiologist;
   John Skinner, of Longside, author of Tullochgorum; Bishop Gleig, editor
   of the 3rd edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica; Dean Ramsay, author
   of Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character; Bishop AP Forbes; GH
   Forbes, liturgiologist; and Bishop Charles Wordsworth.

   The Church enabled the creation of the Episcopal Church in the United
   States of America after the American Revolution, by consecrating in
   Aberdeen the first American bishop, who had been refused consecration
   by the clergy in England.

   There were 356 congregations, with a total membership of 124,335, and
   324 working clergy in 1900. No existing ministry can claim regular
   historic continuity with the ancient hierarchy of Scotland, but the
   bishops of the Episcopal Church are direct successors of the prelates
   consecrated to Scottish sees at the Restoration.

Current issues

   The Scottish Episcopal Church has been involved in Scottish politics.
   The Church is an opponent of nuclear weaponry. Supporting devolution,
   it was one of the parties involved in the Scottish Constitutional
   Convention, which resulted in the setting up of the Scottish Parliament
   in 1997. The Church actively supports the work of the Scottish Churches
   Parliamentary Office in Edinburgh and the Society, Religion and
   Technology Project.

Name

   The Scottish Episcopal Church was previously called the Episcopal
   Church in Scotland, reflecting its role as the Scottish province of the
   Anglican Communion.

   This church may rarely be referred to colloquially (or pejoratively) in
   Scotland as the English Church or English Kirk, but this is inaccurate
   and many members of the church find this term offensive. Although not
   incorporated until 1712, the Scottish Episcopal Church can trace its
   origins to well before the Acts of Union 1707 with England. It is a
   thoroughly Scottish institution both in terms of its history and its
   modern character, despite occasional instances of creeping
   anglicisation, which have occurred throughout Scottish society and are
   not unique to any one organisation. Also, although the church is a
   member of the Anglican Communion, there is some controversy over the
   use of Anglican to describe it.

   Members are sometimes referred to as "Piskies", as a shortened form of
   the name; this is not usually derogatory.

Theology and sociology

   The Scottish Episcopal Church embraces three orders of ministry:
   Deacon, Priest (referred to as Presbyter) and Bishop. Increasingly, an
   emphasis is being placed on these orders working collaboratively within
   the wider ministry of the whole people of God.

   All orders of ministry are open to both male and female candidates. As
   yet, no women have been elected to the Episcopate and thus there are no
   bishops who are women. Debate continues in the church as to the
   propriety of fully affirming the presence of lesbian and gay church
   members.

   The church is a member of Action of Churches Together in Scotland.

Mission 21

   In 1995, the Scottish Episcopal Church began working through a process
   known as Mission 21. The Rev Canon Alice Mann of the Alban Institute
   was invited to begin developing a missionary emphasis within the
   congregations of the church throughout Scotland. This led to the
   development of the Making Your Church More Inviting programme which has
   now been completed by many congregations. In addition to working on
   making churches more inviting, Mission 21 emphasises reaching out to
   new populations which have previously not been contacted by the church.
   As Mission 21 has developed, changing patterns of ministry have become
   part of its remit.

Liturgies

   In addition to the Scottish Prayer Book 1929, the church has a number
   of other liturgies available to it. In recent years, revised Funeral
   Rites have appeared, along with liturgies for Christian Initiation (eg
   Baptism and Affirmation) and Marriage. The modern Eucharistic rite
   (1982) includes Eucharistic prayers for the various seasons in the
   Liturgical Year and is commonly known as "The Blue Book" - a reference
   to the colour of its covers. A further Eucharistic prayer is provided
   in the Marriage liturgy.

Notable Scottish Episcopalians

     * Patrick Campbell Rodger, Provost of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh
     * George Gleig, Primus
     * Alexander Penrose Forbes, Bishop of Brechin
     * Robert Keith, bishop and historian
     * Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, surgeon
     * Michael Russell, Scottish National Party (SNP) politician
     * John Skinner, historian and song-writer
     * James Syme, surgeon
     * Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury
     * Andrew Wilson, Scottish National Party (SNP) politician
     * Richard Holloway, Primus, Bishop of Edinburgh, writer and
       broadcaster
     * Alexander McCall Smith, writer
     * "J.K" Joanne Rowling, writer

Authorities

     * Carstares, State Papers
     * Keith, Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops (Russel's
       edition, 1824)
     * Lawson, History of the Scottish Episcopal Church from the
       Revolution to the Present Time (1843)
     * Stephen, History of the Church of Scotland from the Reformation to
       the Present Time (4 vols, 1843)
     * Lathbury, History of the Nonjurors (1845)
     * Grub, Ecclesiastical History of Scotland (4 vols, 1861)
     * Dowden, Annotated Scottish Communion Office (1884).

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