SCOTLAND
The following denominations in Scotland formally affirm the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647):
- Church of Scotland
- Free Church of Scotland
- United Free Church of Scotland
- Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland
- Free Church of Scotland Continuing
- Associated Presbyterian Churches
- Reformed Presbyterian Church
- International Presbyterian Church
With a membership of 360,000, and over 800 congregations, the Church of Scotland is by far the largest of these. The Free Church of Scotland with 13,000 members and over 100 congregations is a distant second. The other Presbyterian denominations are even smaller: the United Free Church of Scotland (59 congregations), the Free Presbyterian Church (32 congregations), the Free Church Continuing (27 congregations), the Associated Presbyterian Churches (8 congregations), the Reformed Presbyterian Church (5 congregations), and the International Presbyterian Church (4 congregations).
Church of Scotland membership represents 7.5% of the Scottish population but a much larger proportion (28%) claim some form of Church of Scotland allegiance in social surveys.
While ministers in all these denominations are called to affirm the Westminster Confession, in the case of the Church of Scotland and of the United Free Church of Scotland (59 congregations) liberty of opinion is granted ‘on such points in the Standards not entering into the substance of the faith.’ At the time when such liberty of opinion was granted (1879 and 1892), the substance of the faith was not explicitly defined, but in 1921 the Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity, the incarnation of the Son, the Headship of Christ over the church, his Cross and Resurrection, the forgiveness of sins, acceptance with God through faith, and the gift of Eternal Life. The Article concludes: ‘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.’ However, in practice the Church of Scotland embraces a wide range of theological and ethical positions from conservative evangelical to liberal. There are more conservative evangelicals in the Church of Scotland than in all of the other denominations all together.
In addition, there are around a dozen reformed Baptist congregations in Scotland, some of which form the Grace Baptist Partnership focusing on church revitalisation and church planting. The ‘20 Schemes’ initiative (‘Gospel Churches for Scotland’s poorest’), has a reformed statement of faith, and so far has planted four churches in areas of urban deprivation and has a vision to plant more.
Regular church attendance in Scotland is declining - down about one third since 2002 - and now represents less than 10% of the population. Some of the smaller denominations are experiencing growth, but this is largely (but not exclusively) accounted for by the crisis over human sexuality in the Church of Scotland.
There are two theological colleges committed to the Westminster Confession – the Highland Theological College in Dingwall, which is a constituent college of the University of the Highlands and Islands, and Edinburgh Theological Seminary, which is a partner institution with the University of Glasgow. The Rutherford House network, which encourages people to think biblically and theologically, and organises the biennial Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference, affirms the Westminster Confession. Covenant Fellowship Scotland has recently been set up to counteract the move of the Church of Scotland away from Scripture and the Westminster Confession, and to work for the reform of the Church in terms of Declaratory Article I. A Scottish Reformed Conference is held annually at which 500 believers of all ages and denominations gather to benefit from biblical exposition and fellowship. Positively Presbyterian is a smaller annual theological conference initiated by the Free Church of Scotland, but open to members of other denominations. The Scottish Reformation Society, a small non-denominational body, exists to defend and promote the work of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, and holds regular public meetings in Aberdeen, Lewis and Inverness, as well as publishing its quarterly magazine The Bulwark. There are two reformed publishing houses in Scotland: the Banner of Truth Trust in Edinburgh and Christian Focus Publications in Fearn, Ross-shire.