8480: The Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland is the national church of Scotland. It is not a state church in the sense of being under the control of the state. 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.

In 1843, the Disruption saw the secession of about a third of congregations in Scotland to form the Free Church. In that year the evangelical ministers, at Cross (John Finlayson), Knock (Duncan Matheson), Lochs (Robert Finlayson) and Uig (Alexander Macleod), left to join the Free Church, while the moderate ministers at Stornoway (John Cameron) and Barvas (John Macrae) remained with the Established Church.

Subsequent mergers re-united parts of the Free Church and the United Presbyterian with the Church of Scotland.