Church law
CHURCH CONSTITUTION
Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of
Scotland
The articles declaratory of the Church's constitution, which
lay out our structure, how we govern and membership details,
are detailed in full below. Please note they are presented in
their original format and text and therefore do not necessarily
reflect our normal house style.
Articles I to III
Articles IV to VI
Articles VII to IX
I.
The Church of Scotland is part of the Holy Catholic
or Universal Church; worshipping one God, Almighty, all-wise,
and all-loving, in the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and
glory; adoring the Father, infinite in Majesty, of whom are
all things; confessing our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal
Son, made very man for our salvation; glorying in His Cross
and Resurrection, and owning obedience to Him as the Head
over all things to His Church; trusting in the promised renewal
and guidance of the Holy Spirit; proclaiming the forgiveness
of sins and acceptance with God through faith in Christ, and
the gift of Eternal Life; and labouring for the advancement
of the Kingdom of God throughout the world. The Church of
Scotland adheres to the Scottish Reformation; receives the
Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments as its supreme rule of faith and life;
and avows the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic faith
founded thereupon.
II. The principal subordinate
standard of the Church of Scotland is the Westminster Confession
of Faith approved by the General Assembly of 1647, containing
the sum and substance of the Faith of the Reformed Church.
Its government is Presbyterian, and is exercised through Kirk
Sessions; Presbyteries, [Provincial Synods deleted by Act
V, 1992], and General Assemblies. Its system and principles
of worship, orders, and discipline are in accordance with
"The Directory for the Public Worship of God," "The
Form of Presbyterial Church Government " and "The
Form of Process," as these have been or may hereafter
be interpreted or modified by Acts of the General Assembly
or by consuetude.
lll. This Church is in historical
continuity with the Church of Scotland which was reformed
in 1560, whose liberties were ratified in 1592, and for whose
security provision was made in the Treaty of Union of 1707.
The continuity and identity of the Church of Scotland are
not prejudiced by the adoption of these Articles. As a national
Church representative of the Christian Faith of the Scottish
people it acknowledges its distinctive call and duty to bring
the ordinances of religion to the people in every parish of
Scotland through a territorial ministry.
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IV. This Church
as part of the Universal Church wherein the Lord Jesus Christ
has appointed a government in the hands of Church office-bearers,
receives from Him, its Divine King and Head, and From Him alone,
the right and power subject to no civil authority to legislate,
and to adjudicate finally, in all matters of doctrine, worship,
government, and discipline in the Church, including the right
to determine all questions concerning membership and office
in the Church, the constitution and membership of its Courts,
and the mode of election of its office-bearers, and to define
the boundaries of the spheres of labour of its ministers and
other office-bearers. Recognition by civil authority of the
separate and independent government and jurisdiction of this
Church in matters spiritual, in whatever manner such recognition
be expressed, does not in any way affect the character of this
government and jurisdiction as derived from the Divine Head
of the Church alone or give to the civil authority any right
of interference with the proceedings or judgments of the Church
within the sphere of its spiritual government and jurisdiction.
V. This Church has the inherent
right, free from interference by civil authority, but under
the safeguards for deliberate action and legislation provided
by the Church itself, to frame or adopt its subordinate standards,
to declare the sense in which it understands its Confession
of Faith, to modify the forms of expression therein, or to
formulate other doctrinal statements, and to define the relation
thereto of its office-bearers and members, but always in agreement
with the Word of God and the fundamental doctrines of the
Christian Faith contained in the said Confession, of which
agreement the Church shall be sole judge, and with due regard
to liberty of opinion in points which do not enter into the
substance of the Faith.
VI. This Church acknowledges
the divine appointment and authority of the civil magistrate
within his own sphere, and maintains its historic testimony
to the duty of the nation acting in its corporate capacity
to render homage to God, to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ
to be King over the nations, to obey His laws, to reverence
His ordinances, to honour His Church, and to promote in all
appropriate ways the Kingdom of God. The Church and the State
owe mutual duties to each other, and acting within their respective
spheres may signally promote each other's welfare.
The Church and the State have the right to determine each
for itself all questions concerning the extent and the continuance
of their mutual relations in the discharge of these duties
and the obligations arising therefrom.
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VII. The Church
of Scotland, believing it to be the will of Christ that His
disciples should be all one in the Father and in Him, that
the world may believe that the Father has sent Him, recognises
the obligation to seek and promote union with other Churches
in which it finds the Word to be purely preached, the sacraments
administered according to Christ's ordinance, and discipline
rightly exercised; and it has the right to unite with any
such Church without loss of its identity on terms which this
Church finds to be consistent with these Articles.
VIII. The Church has the right
to interpret these Articles, and, subject to the safeguards
for deliberate action and legislation provided by the Church
itself, to modify or add to them; but always consistently
with the provisions of the first Article hereof, adherence
to which, as interpreted by the Church, is essential to its
continuity and corporate life. Any proposal for a modification
of or addition to these Articles which may be approved of
by the General Assembly shall, before it can be enacted by
the Assembly, be transmitted by way of overture to Presbyteries
in at least two immediately successive years. If the overture
shall receive the approval, with or without suggested amendment,
of two-thirds of the whole of the Presbyteries of the Church,
the Assembly may revise the overture in the light of any suggestions
by the Presbyteries, and may transmit the overture when so
revised to Presbyteries for their consent. If the overture
as transmitted in its final form shall receive the consent
of not less than two-thirds of the whole of the Presbyteries
of the Church, the General Assembly may, if it deems it expedient,
modify or add to these Articles in terms of the said overture.
But if the overture as transmitted in its final form shall
not receive the requisite consent, the same or a similar proposal
shall not be again transmitted for the consent of Presbyteries
until an interval of five years after the failure to obtain
the requisite consent has been reported to the General Assembly.
IX. Subject to the provisions
of the foregoing Articles and the powers of amendment therein
contained, the Constitution of the Church of Scotland in matters
spiritual is hereby anew ratified and confirmed by the Church.
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