Andrew Melville upbraids a bishop at the court of James VI

There have not been bishops in the Church of Scotland since the Restoration Episcopacy of the 17th century, although there have occasionally been attempts to reintroduce episcopalianism. Like most

Reformed Churches Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian ...

, the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

has a presbyterian structure which invests in a hierarchy of

courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

, that authority which other denominations give to

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s. Nevertheless, the Church of Scotland does have the concept of a bishop, and there has been debate about widening this concept.

Historical background

The word ''bishop'' is derived from the Greek word ''episcopos'', meaning "overseer". The word is used in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, but the exact function of this office is not specific in the

Early Church Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and bey ...

. By the third century, however, both the Eastern (

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

) and Western (

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

) Church adopted a system of bishops as their spiritual rulers. After the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

traditions retained the episcopal system. However, most of the churches of the

radical reformation The Radical Reformation represented a response to perceived corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Starting in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th cen ...

rejected the role of bishops, thinking that concentration of power in few individuals is the root of corruption in the pre-Reformation Church. During the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

, the reformer

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

initially wanted the appointment of bishops in the Church of Scotland. But ultimately, the church preferred the transparency of the Presbyterian system, where all decisions are made in public meetings. During parts of the 17th century there were conflicts between the Presbyterian and

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

tendencies in the Kirk (see

Bishops' Wars The Bishops' Wars were two separate conflicts fought in 1639 and 1640 between Scotland and England, with Scottish Royalists allied to England. They were the first of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which also include the First and Second En ...

), with Episcopalianism (patronised by the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

) sometimes in the ascendancy. Presbyterianians finally gained the upper hand, leading to the establishment of a separate

Episcopal Church of Scotland The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion. A continuati ...

in 1690. For a list of the 17th-century Church of Scotland bishops, see

Bishop of Edinburgh The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh, is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh. Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St ...

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pop ...

and

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

Historical recognition of episcopal ordination

On 10 February 1645 the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland approved a document produced by the

Westminster Divines The members of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, sometimes known collectively as the Westminster Divines, are those clergymen who participated in the Assembly that drafted the Westminster Confession of Faith. The Long Parliament's initial ord ...

outlining the nature of Presbyterian governance. This document, ''

The Form of Presbyterial Church Government ''The Form of Presbyterial Church Government'' is a document drawn up by the Westminster Assembly dealing with Presbyterian polity. It forms part of the Westminster Standards, and was adopted by the Church of Scotland in 1645. Contents Church of ...

'', did not include bishops within its recognition of church officers, listing the valid offices thusly: However, this lack of recognition for an office of episcopate distinct from that of a

presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...

did not entail a rejection of the validity of

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

s by the

Anglican bishops Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. This allowed for former

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

of the English church to be received into service of the Church of Scotland, following suitable examination, without reordination.

Use of the term "bishop" in the Church of Scotland today

Although the Church of Scotland had no bishops after 1690, the term "bishop" is Biblical and it is not surprising that a Presbyterian Church, with its focus on the Bible, should retain the word in its basic sense of "one who has oversight". Specifically, a minister who is placed in charge of a person training for the ministry is referred to as the student's bishop. This term is used in the context of theology students doing "student attachments" (work-experience placements) in parishes and later of graduates who must complete a probationary year in a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

prior to

. Most lay people in the Church of Scotland, however, would be unaware of this usage.

Proposals to reintroduce episcopacy

In the latter part of the 20th century, there were a number of moves to reopen the debate on episcopacy. Presbyteries may be more transparent than bishops in their wielding of power, but they have often proved rather less good at the pastoral care of parish ministers, a problem with which the Church has frequently wrestled. One proposed solution, under the catchphrase "incorporating episcopacy into our system", was for presbyteries to appoint full-time or part-time bishops to minister to the ministers on the presbyteries' behalf. These bishops would not have the power of bishops in other traditions, but would have analogous pastoral functions. Precedents for such a "mixed system" were to be found in the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...

and elsewhere. The most serious presentation of such proposals came in the 1980s when a union between the Church of Scotland and the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...

was attempted. A precondition from the Episcopalian side was that the united church should have a form of episcopacy recognisable to their tradition. Negotiations for the proposed union were almost completed, and were ratified by the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

, but were voted down by the Church of Scotland's presbyteries when referred to them under the

Barrier Act In the ecclesiastical law of the Church of Scotland, the Barrier Act of 1697 is a measure which compels the General Assembly to consult the wider Church before innovating in the areas of worship, doctrine, discipline or church government. It is a ...

. In the 1990s, the Scottish Churches Initiative for Union (SCIFU) aimed to unite the Church of Scotland, Scottish Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church (in Scotland) and the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

(in Scotland) by 2010. An element of the proposed structure was again a form of episcopal oversight, whilst retaining elders from the Presbyterian system. After considerable debate, the SCIFU proposals were rejected by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May 2003. The proposed structure of the post-union Scottish church was described by Albert H. Lee as:

Modern declarations

In the 21st century, the Church of Scotland has made two declarations between itself and the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church respectively in which the issue of oversight, ''episkope'' was recognised but not resolved into a common polity.

St Columba Declaration

The St Columba Declaration was written in 2015, by the work of the ''Church of England – Church of Scotland Joint Study Group'', in the aftermath of the "No" vote in the

2014 Scottish independence referendum A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or ...

and building upon the 2010 report ''Our Fellowship in the Gospel''.

St Andrew Declaration

The St Andrew Declaration emerged from the work of Our Common Calling Working Group of the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church and was approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May 2021 and by the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church in June 2021. Signed on 30 November 2021, this declaration is very similar in wording to the St Columba Declaration, from which the Scottish Episcopal Church was excluded, causing grave offence.