The Secession and Relief Churches: Scotland's Presbyterian Breakaways

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

The chronology of splits and unions is well documented. Smaller continuing churches from these traditions survived after the major unions.

Patronage

established After the Reformation, Scottish Presbyterians generally held that congregations should have a say in choosing their ministers. The Patronage Act of 1712, passed by the British Parliament, restored the right of patrons, usually landowners, to present ministers to parishes. Many in the Church of Scotland opposed it, and disputes over unpopular presentations became frequent.

The First Secession

established In 1732 Ebenezer Erskine, minister at Stirling, preached a sermon attacking the Church's handling of patronage and was rebuked. In 1733 he and three other ministers, including William Wilson and Alexander Moncrieff, formed the Associate Presbytery. They were deposed by the General Assembly in 1740. The Secession grew rapidly.

Burghers and Anti-Burghers

established In 1747 the Secession split over the burgess oath, which required burgesses in some towns to affirm "the true religion presently professed within this realm". The Anti-Burghers believed this endorsed the established church; the Burghers did not. Later, both groups split again into "Auld Lichts" and "New Lichts" over the role of the state in religion.

The Relief Church

established Thomas Gillespie, minister of Carnock in Fife, was deposed by the General Assembly in 1752 for refusing to take part in the induction of an unpopular minister. In 1761 he and others formed the Presbytery of Relief, offering "relief" to congregations oppressed by patronage.

Reunion

established In 1820 the New Licht Burghers and Anti-Burghers united as the United Secession Church. In 1847 it joined the Relief Church to form the United Presbyterian Church, a large denomination committed to voluntary support of churches rather than state establishment. In 1900 the United Presbyterian Church and most of the Free Church formed the United Free Church, which reunited with the Church of Scotland in 1929.

How large the dissenting churches grew

The historian Stewart J. Brown notes that the first Seceders saw themselves as the only true heirs of the Reformation and the Covenants. When the English evangelical George Whitefield visited Scotland in 1741, they told him he should preach only to their members, as "the Lord's people". Both branches of the Secession kept growing after the 1747 split, and each split again in the 1790s over whether the union of Church and State taught in the Westminster Confession was God's will. By 1801 there were over 300 Secession and Relief congregations with perhaps 150,000 adherents, almost 10 per cent of Scotland's population. Brown sees in this the start of a multi-denominational Scotland, in which large numbers chose to leave the parish church for voluntary congregations.

• By 1801 almost one Scot in ten belonged to a Secession or Relief congregation.
• The Secession began in 1733.
• Ebenezer Erskine was minister of Stirling.
• The 1747 split was over the burgess oath.
• The Relief Church was founded in 1761.
• Most of these churches rejoined the Church of Scotland in 1929.

• Myth: the Secession and the Disruption of 1843 were the same event.