Church of Scotland

"The Kirk" redirects here. For the term, see kirk. For other uses, see kirk (disambiguation).
Church of Scotland
Kirk o Scotland
Motto: "Nec tamen consumebatur"
"Yet it was not consumed"
AbbreviationCoS
TypeCommunion
ClassificationChristian
OrientationProtestant
TheologyCalvinism
PolityPresbyterian[1]
GovernanceGeneral Assembly of the Church of Scotland
ModeratorShaw Paterson
Lord High CommissionerPrince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Associations
RegionScotland
TerritoryScotland
FounderJohn Knox
OriginAugust 1560 (Reformation Parliament)
464 years ago
Independence28 July 1921
Separated fromCatholic Church
Absorbed
Separations
Congregations1,136 (2023)[2]
Members
  • 259,200 (2023)[3]
Official websitechurchofscotland.org.uk

The Church of Scotland (CoS; Scots: The Kirk o Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais na h-Alba) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 259,200 members in 2023. While active membership in the church has declined significantly in recent decades (in 1982 it had nearly 920,000 members),[4] the government Scottish Household Survey found that 20% of the Scottish population, or over one million people, identified the Church of Scotland as their religious identity in 2019.[5][6] The Church of Scotland's governing system is presbyterian in its approach, therefore, no one individual or group within the church has more or less influence over church matters. There is no one person who acts as the head of faith, as the church believes that role is the "Lord God's". As a proper noun, the Kirk is an informal name for the Church of Scotland used in the media and by the church itself.[7]

The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox in the Reformation of 1560 when it split from the Catholic Church and established itself as a church in the Reformed tradition. The church belongs to the Presbyterian tradition of Reformed Christianity (Calvinism), having no head of faith or leadership group and believing that God invited the church's adherents to worship Jesus.

The Church of Scotland celebrates two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as well as five other ordinances, such as Confirmation and Matrimony. The church adheres to the Bible and the Westminster Confession of Faith and is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The annual meeting of the church's general assembly is chaired by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

  1. ^ Nimmo, Paul T.; Fergusson, David A. S. (26 May 2016). The Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology. Cambridge University Press. p. 248. ISBN 9781107027220. The established and national Church of Scotland was Reformed and Presbyterian, and dominated the Divinity Faculties of the ancient universities.
  2. ^ "Report of the Assembly Trustees" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Report of the Assembly Trustees" (PDF).
  4. ^ secular Scotland is fast losing its churches
  5. ^ "Section Two - Household Characteristics". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Scotland's People Annual Report Key findings | 2019" (PDF). gov.scot. 2019.
  7. ^ "Our Structure". Church of Scotland. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2023.