Church of Scotland rejects unity proposal

Church of Scotland rejects unity proposal

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Proposals for the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland to join with the Scottish Episcopal Church — the Scottish province of the Anglican Communion — and three other smaller churches to form a new united church have been decisively rejected by the Church of Scotland’s general assembly.

The proposals came from the Scottish Church Initiative for Union, which began work in 1996. They would have involved a church with bishops, but bishops serving for a defined term of office and working within a conciliar framework of regional councils covering the same kind of area as a presbytery or diocese. Presbyterians historically are suspicious of bishops. Three years ago the proposal only narrowly survived when the assembly voted 276–238 to continue working it out. This year the opposition proved fatal.