SCOTTISH CHURCH

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 7, 3 October 1929, Page 10

SCOTTISH CHURCH

REUNION CEREMONIAL TO-DAY DUKE OF YORK TO TAKE PART CLOSING OF A GREAT CHASM (United Press Association.— By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright) Australian Press Association. (Rec. October 2, 7.45 p.m.) London, October 2. “The great chasm which opened in the Scottish Church 86 years ago, is being closed to-morrow,” declared Lord Sands in supporting in the Assembly of the Church of Scotland a report authorising union with the United Free Church. The Duke of York was present, and also participates in to-morrow’s ceremonial, including the induction of Dr. John White, of Glasgow, as the first Moderator of the United Church.

The Assembly of the United Free Church also approved of union, the terms of which provide for a dissenting minority of thirty-three congregations receiving £25,000 in settlement of all claims against Free Church property. THE STORY OF THE UNION EPOCH IN SCOTTISH HISTORY (By “R.W.”) “Take from us the freedom of assemblies and you take from us the Gospel.”—John Knox to Queen Mary. The story of the steps that led up to the union of two great Scottish Churches now being consummated in the Scottish capital, has been told in more than one issue of “The Dominion” and stress has been laid. on the fact that this union marks an epoch in Scottish history. But there is an aspect of the union celebrations that calls for some explanation, and that is the presence of Royalty in the Assembly in all its pomp and circumstance. Our King is described as the “Chief Governor of the Church of England,” but the writer is not awaare that he has a recognised place in the new Anglican “National Assembly” or in the House of Convocation or in the Lambeth Conference. But in the Scottish Presbyterian Assembly he has had for centuries a recognised place, and he will retain that place in the new United Church.

How Royalty Entered the Assembly.

It is stated now and again as a political axiom that the function of the State debars it from having anything to do with rellglpn. As regards the Reformation in Scotland, leading to the setting up of the Presbyterian Church in 1560, the State played a great part. The Parliament that met in August, 1560, had to face a national petition demanding “the abolition of the existing Church, the setting up of a Church of the Reformation, and that the Church property be used for the maintenance of a true ministry, the founding of schools, and the support of the poor.” The first General Assembly met in December, and was largely an assembly of laymen, as only six ministers were present, but the laymen were men with a passion for the Reformed Faith, and many of them became ministers. The Assembly was made up of representatives from all parts of Scotland, and from its beginning it was a political as well as a religious force. In 1561 the Assembly seemed to Queen Mary a political menace, and it was asserted that it had no right to meet without her consent, and this led John Knox to sound a blast: “Take from us the freedom of Assemblies and you take from us the Gospel.” As a compromise it was agreed that the Queen 1 could send a representative to hear what was said and to report to her, and this suggestion led to the appointment of a Royal Commissioner who, in the King’s name, could summon and dissolve assemblies. On the whole, the presence and help of .the King’s representative was a blessing to the Church, but on a number of occasions, and over long periods, the abuse of the Royal prerogative led to appalling disasters to Church and State. On the other hand, the “freedom of assemblies” that Knox gloried in was more than once badly abused, and “assemblyism” is a dark blot on Scottish Church history. The “freedom” of assemblies had to be checked by the Barrier Act,, which took legislative power out of the hands of a clerical coterie and placed it in the hands of the Church as a whole. The. Averted Disaster in 1694. The story of the. sufferings of the Presbyterian Church at the hands of the Stuart Kings is well known. With the coming of William 111 a new day dawned and Presbyterianism again came to her own: the General Assembly again met and the representative of a friendly King sat on the throne in the "Assembly. The Lord High Commissioner in the United Church. It was feared that the continuance of the King’s representative in the Assembly would be a barrier to union to an element in the United Free Church who had clamoured for the disestablishment of the Church. But the continuance is on such lines that there is not a shadow of State interference with the liberty of the Assembly. The new Church has all the freedom of a voluntary Church, anjl the Sovereign is in the Assembly by invitation. The plan of union runs thus: “Our General Assembly will loyally welcome the Sovereign should it be the Royal pleasure to attend in person; or, failing the Sovereiegn, a Lord High Commissioner as the Royal representative. Neither the Sovereign nor the Lord High Commissioner as such is a constituent member of Assembly.” This arrangement has been accepted by the King. The Duke of York in his closing address to the Assembly on May 29, said: “I rejoice to learn that care has also been taken to provide that the changes now to be made will Involve no breach in the relations of confidence and affection which for so many generations have subsisted between the Monarchy and the Church of Scotland, and of which the presence at the General Assembly of a representative of the Sovereign is an historic symbol.” The Earl of Morton said when the Scots merged into the British Parliament. here was the “end of our auld sang.” As regards the presence of royalty in coming Scottish assemblies the “auld sang” is not to end.