18 May 1843 A.D. Split in Church of Scotland—Formation of the Free Church of Scotland
Archivist. “May 18: The Disruption of 1843.” This Day in Presbyterian History. 18 May 2014. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2014/05/may-18-the-disruption/. Accessed 18 May 2014.
May 18: The Disruption of 1843
A Foundation Stone Laid—The Formation of the Free Church
of Scotland
A
third Reformation or a sinful schism? The power of the people in the pews or a
decision by a wealthy member to choose an under shepherd for the church pulpit?
The nation’s House of Lords in control or Presbyterian government? Evangelical
party or moderate party? These were the questions which swirled around the
Church of Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the land of
Knox.
Already
divisions within the national church were producing separations of ministers
and members. In 1733, in what is known as the First Succession, a group
led by the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine and others had separated from the Church of
Scotland. It was followed by the Second Secession led by reformer Thomas
Gillespie in 1761 into what was called the Relief Church. Both breakaways will
have future posts in This Day in Presbyterian History.
One
common issue in all these successions was an ancient tradition known as
“patronage,” in which a wealthy individual in a church district had the
authority to choose and install a pastor himself, despite what the people of
that parish thought of the pastor. In 1834, the General Assembly would pass
what was known as the Veto Act, which allowed for a majority of male heads of
families to reject a patron’s sole choice of pastor. It was followed in 1842 by
the General Assembly producing a Claim of Right, which stated that Jesus was
the head of the church, not the government of Scotland. The latter responded by
rejecting that action of the General Assembly. The background was set for a
disruption in the Church of Scotland.
On May 18, 1843, 121
ministers and 73 elders walked out of the General Assembly at the Church of St.
Andrews on George Street, Edinburgh, to form the Free Church of Scotland. Rev.
Thomas Chalmers was elected to be the first Moderator of the new denomination.
Eventually 475 ministers representing one-third of her clergy was joined be
one-third of her members in separation from the Church of Scotland.
The First Free Church Assembly—Signing the Deed of
Demission.
Since
the Church of Scotland was financially supported by the government, the
ministers and members who left were without salaries, pulpits, manses, and the
people, their church buildings. It was very much a “let goods and
kindred’s go” type of separation. To solve the immediate problem of finances,
Moderator Chalmers instituted a plan for a penny a week from every member to
help the new church and its ministers. From this modest beginning, other monies
were raised from Scotland and churches overseas to support the need of its
clergy and the buildings necessary for ministry.
Fast
forward 85 years, after the Church of Scotland had dropped its link to the
state and even the issue of patronage was resolved, the two churches re-united
in 1929. Not every pastor and people rejoined however, as there continues to be
a Free Church of Scotland in the nation.
Words to Live By: Fast forward another century in your mind, dear reader,
to 2013, when the General Assembly voted to allow homosexual clergy within its
ministerial ranks. It is obvious by this action that another Protestant
Reformation is needed again. Let us pray to that end.
Image source: Frontispiece portrait for Annals of the Disruption, by
Rev. Thomas Brown. Edinburgh: MacNiven & Wallace, 1884.
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