The Church of Scotland is the largest Christian denomination in Scotland, with its historic roots in the missionary labors of St. Ninian and St. Columba and in the early Celtic Church. It was Ref in the 16th century after the Genevan and Calvinist pattern, but finally established in its Presb polity only with the Revolution Settlement of 1690. Various secessions occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since1929 the Church of Scotland has been largely reunited, and is committed to the modern ecumenical movement and to fostering church union. In the Declaratory Articles, which the parliament of the United Kingdom approved as a correct statement of the historic position of the Church of Scotland in matters spiritual, it is described as a “national Church representative of the Christian Faith of the Scottish people.” The final authority of the Church of Scotland is the General Assembly. The church’s overseas work includes mission partners in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean area, and ministers serving in Scots kirks abroad, mostly now in continental Europe, with some in Israel/Palestine.
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