Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
Modern logo of the Kirk
Classification
Protestant
Orientation
Mainline/Calvinist
Polity
Presbyterian
Associations
Action of Churches Together
in Scotland
Churches Together in Britain
and Ireland
Leuenberg Agreement
World Alliance of Reformed
Churches
Conference of European
Churches
World Council of Churches
Geographical
Area
Scotland
Founder
John Knox
Origin
1560
Separated
from
Roman Catholic Church
Separations
Scottish Episcopal Church
(definitive separation 1689);
Free Church of Scotland
(separated 1843);
incorporated the United Free
Church of Scotland in 1929
Congregations 1,200
Members
480,000
The Church of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic:
Eaglais na h-Alba), known informally by its
Scots language name, The Kirk, is the na-
tional church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterian
church, decisively shaped by the Scottish
Reformation.
The Church of Scotland traces its roots
back to the beginnings of Christianity in
Scotland, but its identity is principally shaped
by the Reformation of 1560. Its current mem-
bership is about 14% of the Scottish popula-
tion - though according to the 2001 national
census, 42% of the Scottish population claim
some form of allegiance to it (see Religion in
Scotland).
Position in Scottish
society
The 2001 Census
Religion
Percentage of
Population
Church of
Scotland
42.4%
No Religion
27.5%
Roman Catholic
15.9%
Other Christian
6.8%
No Answer
5%
Islam
0.8%
Buddhism
0.1%
Sikhism
0.1%
Judaism
0.1%
Hinduism
0.1%
Other Religions
0.5%
The Church of Scotland has around 984 act-
ive ministers, 1,179 congregations, and its of-
ficial membership at approximately 489,000
[1]comprises about 12% of the population of
Scotland. However,
in the 2001 national
census, 42% of Scots identified themselves as
‘Church of Scotland’ by religion. The Church
of Scotland Guild, historically the Kirk’s wo-
men’s movement, is still the largest voluntary
organisation in Scotland.
Although it is the national church, the Kirk
is not a "state church", and in this, and other,
From Wikipedia, the