Scottish Episcopal Church
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Scottish Episcopal Church

The Scottish Episcopal Church (Scots: Scots Episcopal Kirk; Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 275 local congregations. It is also an ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion.

A continuation of the episcopalian "Church of Scotland" as intended by James VI, and as it was from the Restoration of Charles II to the re-establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland following the Glorious Revolution, 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. Additionally, 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, though in Scotland they attend and are a member (but not the leader) of the former. The church is led by a Primus, who is elected from the seven Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church from among their number to serve as a primus inter pares or ‘first among equals’ as the Senior Bishop. The current primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church is Mark Strange, elected in 2017.

In terms of official membership, Episcopalians constitute under 1 per cent of the population of Scotland, making them considerably smaller than the Church of Scotland or the Catholic Church in Scotland. In 2011, 0.9% of the population, or 103,017 people, identified as Anglicans or Episcopalians. In the 2022 census, 72,359 people identified as Anglicans or Episcopalians in Scotland. The membership of the church in 2024 was 22,990, of which 16,124 were communicant members. The attendance at Sunday worship, as counted on Sunday next before Advent was 8,710. This compares with the figures from six 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.

The Scottish Episcopal Church was previously called the Protestant Episcopal Church in Scotland, simplified at the General Synod of 1838 to Episcopal Church in Scotland.

Although not incorporated until 1712, the Scottish Episcopal Church traces its origins including but extending beyond the Reformation and sees itself in continuity with the church established by Ninian, Columba, Kentigern, and other Celtic saints. The Church of Scotland and the Catholic church claim the same continuity.

The church is sometimes pejoratively referred to in Scotland as the "English Kirk", but this can cause offence. This is probably in part due to the fact that it is, nonetheless, a union of the non-juring Episcopalians with the "qualified congregations" who worshipped according to the liturgy of the Church of England. It is also sometimes known as the "Laird's Kirk" because of its historical associations with the landed aristocracy of Scotland whose membership of the church exceeded that of other denominations. In the mid 1800s it was recorded that three quarters of the "landed proprietors of Scotland" were Episcopalians.

The fifth-century Saint Ninian conducted the first Christian mission to what is now southern Scotland.

In 563 AD, Saint Columba travelled to Scotland with twelve companions, where according to legend he first landed at the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, near Southend. However, being still in sight of his native land he moved further north along the west coast of Scotland. He was granted land on the island of Iona off the Isle of Mull which became the centre of his evangelising mission to the Picts. However, there is a sense in which he did not leave his native people, as the Irish Gaels had been colonising the west coast of Scotland for some time.

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