The Church of Scotland, (Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais na h-Alba, Scots: Kirk o Scotland) known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, 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 pledged membership is about 9% of the Scottish population—though according to the 2001 national census, 42% of the Scottish population claim some form of allegiance to it (see Religion in Scotland).
Read more about Church Of Scotland: History, Theology and Practice, Current Issues, Life Issues, Position in Scottish Society, Governance and Administration, Publications
Famous quotes containing the words church of, church and/or scotland:
“When the Church of Jesus
Shuts its outer door,
Lest the roar of traffic
Drown the voice of prayer:
May our prayers, Lord, make us
Ten times more aware
That the world we banish
Is our Christian care.”
—Frederick Pratt Green (b. 1903)
“This is what the Church is said to want, not party men, but sensible, temperate, sober, well-judging persons, to guide it through the channel of no-meaning, between the Scylla and Charybdis of Aye and No.”
—Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801–1890)
“Four and twenty at her back
And they were a’ clad out in green;
Tho the King of Scotland had been there
The warst o’ them might hae been his Queen.
On we lap and awa we rade
Till we cam to yon bonny ha’
Whare the roof was o’ the beaten gold
And the floor was o’ the cristal a’.”
—Unknown. The Wee Wee Man (l. 21–28)