Like most Reformed Churches, the Church of Scotland has a Presbyterian structure which invests in a hierarchy of courts the authority which other denominations give to bishops. Nevertheless, the Church of Scotland does have the concept of a bishop, and there has been debate about widening this concept. The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Zwinglian or Calvinist system of doctrine but organisationally independent. ... The Church of Scotland (CofS sometimes known as the Kirk) is the national church of Scotland. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... For other uses, see Bishop (disambiguation). ...

Historical background

The word bishop is derived from Greek episcopos, meaning "overseer". The word is used in the New Testament, but it is not certain what exactly the function of this office entailed in the Early Church. By the third century, however, both the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) Church had a system of bishops as spiritual rulers. After the Reformation, the Lutheran and Anglican (Episcopalian) traditions retained the episcopal system. The churches of the radical reformation, however, mostly rejected bishops, believing this concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals to be one of the causes of what they perceived as the corruption of the pre-Reformation Church. In Scotland, the reformer John Knox initially wanted bishops in the Church of Scotland, but the transparency of the Presbyterian system, where all decisions are made in public meetings, was ultimately preferred. Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... John Knox (1505, 1513 or 1514 – 1572) was a Scottish religious reformer who played the lead part in reforming the Church in Scotland in a Presbyterian manner. ...

The term "bishop" in the Church of Scotland

Nevertheless, the term "bishop" is Biblical, and it is not surprising that the Church of Scotland, 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 prior to ordination. It would be fair to say, however, that most lay people in the Church of Scotland are unaware of this usage. A minister can mean several things: A government minister is a politician who heads a government ministry A minister of religion is a member of the clergy A minister is the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that... This article is about the sacrament. ...

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 weilding 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 minsters 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 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 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, but were voted down by the Church of Scotland's presbyteries when referred to them under the Barrier Act. Logo of the UCA The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was formed on June 22, 1977 when the Methodist Church of Australasia, Presbyterian Church of Australia and Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union document. ... The Scottish Episcopal Church (or Episcopal Church of Scotland) is a member of the Anglican Communion in Scotland, formed in the 17th century after the national church, the Church of Scotland, adopted presbyterian government and reformed theology. ...