Scottish religion
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As of the 2011 census, Christianity was the largest religion in Scotland with the 53.8% of the Scottish population identifying as Christian when asked: "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?", an 11.3% decline from 65.1% in 2001. The Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination often known as The Kirk, is recognised in law as the
national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...
of Scotland. It is not an
established church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
and is independent of state control. However, it is the largest religious grouping in Scotland, with 32.4% of the population according to the 2011 census. The other major Christian church is the Catholic Church, the form of Christianity in Scotland prior to the Reformation, which accounts for 15.9% of the population and is especially important in West Central Scotland and parts of the Highlands. Scotland's third largest church is the Scottish Episcopal Church. There are also multiple smaller Presbyterian churches, all of which either broke away from the Church of Scotland or themselves separated from churches which previously did so. According to the 2019 Scottish Household survey, since 2009, there has been an increase in the proportion of adults reporting not belonging to a religion to 56%. The trend of declining religious belief coincided with a sharp decrease since 2009 in the proportion of people who report that they belong to the Church of Scotland, from 34% to 20% of adults. Furthermore 13% (slightly down from 15% in 2009) reported belonging to the Catholic Church. Other religions have established a presence in Scotland, mainly through immigration and higher birth rates among ethnic minorities. Those with the most adherents in the 2011 census are
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
(1.4%), Hinduism (0.3%), Buddhism (0.2%) and Sikhism (0.2%). Minority faiths include
Modern Paganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...
and the Baháʼí Faith. There are also various organisations which actively promote humanism and secularism, included within the 36.7% who indicated no religion in the 2011 census. In 2017, the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, conducted by ScotCen Social Research found that 58% of Scots identified themselves as non-religious, compared to 40% in 1999. Since 2016, secular humanists have conducted more weddings in Scotland each year than either the Catholic Church, Church of Scotland, or any other religion.


Census statistics

The statistics from the 2011 census and the 2001 census are set out below.


History

Christianity was probably introduced to what is now southern Scotland during the Roman occupation of Britain. It was mainly spread by missionaries from Ireland from the 5th century and is associated with St Ninian,
St Kentigern Kentigern ( cy, Cyndeyrn Garthwys; la, Kentigernus), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this s ...
, and
St Columba Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
. The Christianity that developed in Ireland and Scotland differed from that led by Rome, particularly over the method of calculating Easter and the form of tonsure, until the Celtic church accepted Roman practices in the mid-7th century. Christianity in Scotland was strongly influenced by monasticism, with abbots being more significant than bishops.A. Macquarrie, ''Medieval Scotland: Kinship and Nation'' (Thrupp: Sutton, 2004), , pp. 117–128. In the Norman period, there were a series of reforms resulting in a clearer parochial structure based around local churches; and large numbers of new monastic foundations, which followed continental forms of reformed monasticism, began to predominate. The Scottish church also established its independence from England, developing a clear diocesan structure and becoming a "special daughter of the see of Rome" but continued to lack Scottish leadership in the form of archbishops.P. J. Bawcutt and J. H. Williams, ''A Companion to Medieval Scottish Poetry'' (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2006), , pp. 26–9. In the late Middle Ages the Crown was able to gain greater influence over senior appointments, and two archbishoprics had been established by the end of the 15th century.J. Wormald, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), , pp. 76–87. There was a decline in traditional monastic life but the
mendicant A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many inst ...
orders of friars grew, particularly in the expanding burghs.Andrew D. M. Barrell, ''Medieval Scotland'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), , p. 246. New saints and cults of devotion also proliferated.C. Peters, ''Women in Early Modern Britain, 1450–1640'' (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), , p. 147. Despite problems over the number and quality of clergy after the Black Death in the 14th century, and evidence of heresy in the 15th century, the Church in Scotland remained stable.Andrew D. M. Barrell, ''Medieval Scotland'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), , p. 257. During the 16th century, Scotland underwent a Protestant Reformation that created a predominantly Calvinist national kirk, which was strongly Presbyterian in outlook. A confession of faith, rejecting papal jurisdiction and the mass, was adopted by Parliament in 1560. The kirk found it difficult to penetrate the Highlands and Islands, but began a gradual process of conversion and consolidation that, compared with reformations elsewhere, was conducted with relatively little persecution.
James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
favoured doctrinal Calvinism but supported the bishops. Charles I of England brought in reforms seen by some as a return to papal practice. The result was the Bishop's Wars in 1639–40, ending in virtual independence for Scotland and the establishment of a fully Presbyterian system by the dominant
Covenanters Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...
.J. D. Mackie, B. Lenman and G. Parker, ''A History of Scotland'' (London: Penguin, 1991), , pp. 205–6. After the
Restoration of the Monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...
in 1660, Scotland regained its kirk, but also the bishops.J. D. Mackie, B. Lenman and G. Parker, ''A History of Scotland'' (London: Penguin, 1991), , pp. 231–4. Particularly in the south-west many of the people began to attend illegal field conventicles. Suppression of these assemblies in the 1680s was known as "
the Killing Time The Killing Time was a period of conflict in Scottish history between the Presbyterian Covenanter movement, based largely in the south west of the country, and the government forces of Kings Charles II and James VII. The period, roughl ...
". After the "
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
" in 1688, Presbyterianism was restored.J. D. Mackie, B. Lenman and G. Parker, ''A History of Scotland'' (London: Penguin, 1991), , p. 241. The Church of Scotland had been created in the Reformation. Then the late 18th century saw the beginnings of its fragmentation around issues of government and patronage, but also reflecting a wider division between the
Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
and the Moderate Party.J. T. Koch, ''Celtic Culture: a Historical Encyclopedia, Volumes 1–5'' (London: ABC-CLIO, 2006), , pp. 416–7. In 1733 the First Secession led to the creation of a series of secessionist churches, and the second in 1761 to the foundation of the independent Relief Church. These churches gained strength in the Evangelical Revival of the later 18th century.G. M. Ditchfield, ''The Evangelical Revival'' (1998), p. 91. Penetration of the Highlands and Islands remained limited. The efforts of the Kirk were supplemented by missionaries of the SSPCK, the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge.G. Robb, "Popular Religion and the Christianisation of the Scottish Highlands in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", ''Journal of Religious History'', 1990, 16(1), pp. 18–34. Episcopalianism retained supporters, but declined because of its associations with Jacobitism. Beginning in 1834 the "Ten Years' Conflict" ended in a schism from the church, led by Dr Thomas Chalmers, known as the Great Disruption of 1843. Roughly a third of the clergy, mainly from the North and Highlands, formed the separate
Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...
. The evangelical Free Churches grew rapidly in the Highlands and Islands. In the late 19th century, major debates, between fundamentalist Calvinists and theological liberals, resulted in a further split in the Free Church as the rigid Calvinists broke away to form the Free Presbyterian Church in 1893. From this point there were moves towards reunion, and most of the Free Church rejoined the Church of Scotland in 1929. The schisms left small denominations including the
Free Presbyterians Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...
and a remnant that had not merged in 1900 as the
Free Church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...
. Catholic Emancipation in 1829 and the influx of large numbers of Irish immigrants led to an expansion of Catholicism, with the restoration of the Church hierarchy in 1878. Episcopalianism also revived in the 19th century; the Episcopal Church in Scotland was organised as an autonomous body in communion with the Church of England in 1804. Other denominations included
Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
,
Congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
, and Methodists. In the twentieth century, existing Christian denominations were joined by the Brethren and Pentecostal churches. Although some denominations thrived, after World War II there was a steady overall decline in church attendance and resulting church closures in most denominations.


Christianity


Protestantism


Church of Scotland (Presbyterian)

The British Parliament passed the Church of Scotland Act 1921, recognising the full independence of the church in matters spiritual, and as a result of this and passage of the Church of Scotland (Property and Endowments) Act, 1925, which settled the issue of patronage in the church, the Church of Scotland was able to unite with the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929. The United Free Church of Scotland was itself the product of the union of the former United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the majority of the
Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...
in 1900. The 1921 Act recognised the kirk as the
national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...
and the monarch became an ordinary member of the Church of Scotland, represented at the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
by their Lord High Commissioner. In the second half of the 20th century and afterwards the Church was particularly affected by the general decline in church attendance. Between 1966 and 2006 numbers of communicants in the Church of Scotland dropped from over 1,230,000 to 504,000. Formal membership reduced from 446,000 in 2010 to 398,389 or 7.5% of the total population by year end 2013, dropping to 325,695 by year end 2018 and representing about 6% of the Scottish population. By 2020, membership had fallen further to 297,345 or 5% of the total population. In 2016, the actual weekly attendance at a Kirk service was estimated to be 136,910. In the twenty-first century the Church has faced financial issues, with a £5.7 million deficit in 2010. In response the church adopted a "prune to grow" policy, cutting 100 posts and introducing job-shares and unpaid ordained staff. In the 2011 national census, 32% of Scots identified their religion as "Church of Scotland". In 2019, according to the Scottish Household Survey, 20% of Scots self-reported themselves as adherents.


Other Presbyterian denominations

After the reunification of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church, some independent Scottish Presbyterian denominations still remained. These included the Free Church of Scotland (formed of those congregations which refused to unite with the United Presbyterian Church in 1900), the United Free Church of Scotland (formed of congregations which refused to unite with the Church of Scotland in 1929), the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (which broke from the Free Church of Scotland in 1893), the Associated Presbyterian Churches (which emerged as a result of a split in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in the 1980s), and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) (which emerged from a split in the Free Church of Scotland in 2000). In recent years, four congregations of the
International Presbyterian Church The International Presbyterian Church (IPC) is a Reformed church in the United Kingdom, the European Union and South Korea, that holds to the Presbyterian confession of faith, with common commitments, purpose and accountability and government. ...
have also arisen in Scotland, all founded as a result of evangelicals leaving the Church of Scotland over recent issues. At the 2011 census, 3,553 people responded as Other Christian – Presbyterian (i.e. not Church of Scotland), 1,197 as Other Christian – Free Presbyterian, 313 as Other Christian – Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and as few as 12 people as Other Christian – Scottish Presbyterianism. Those identifying with a particular Presbyterian denomination other than the Church of Scotland were:


Free Church of Scotland

The second largest Presbyterian denomination in Scotland is the
Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...
with 10,896 people identifying as being of that church at the 2011 census. According to the Free Church, its average weekly attendance at a worship service is around 13,000. According to the 2016 Church Census, Free Church attendance was around 10,000 per week and amounted to 7% of all Presbyterian church attendance in Scotland. As of 2016 there were 102 Free Church congregations, organised into six presbyteries. A significant proportion of Free Church activity is to be found in the Highlands and Islands.


Scottish Episcopal Church

The Scottish Episcopal Church is the member church of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. It is made up of seven dioceses, each with its own bishop. It dates from the
Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...
in 1689 when the national church was defined as presbyterian instead of episcopal in government. The bishops and those that followed them became the Scottish Episcopal Church.J. D. Mackie, B. Lenman and G. Parker, ''A History of Scotland'' (London: Penguin, 1991), , pp. 252–3. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. In terms of official membership, Episcopalians nowadays constitute well under 1 per cent of the population of Scotland, making them considerably smaller than the Church of Scotland that represents 6% of the Scottish population. The all-age membership of the church in 2018 was 28,647, of whom 19,983 were communicant members. Weekly attendance was 12,430. One year earlier, in 2017, church membership had been 30,909, of whom 22,073 were communicant members. For 2013, the Scottish Episcopal Church reported its numbers as 34,119 members (all ages).


Other Protestant denominations

Other Protestant denominations which entered Scotland, usually from England, before the 20th century included the Quakers,
Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
, Methodists and Brethren. By 1907 the Open Brethren had 196 meetings and by 1960 it was 350, with perhaps 25,000 people. The smaller Exclusive Brethren had perhaps another 3,000. Both were geographically and socially diverse, but particularly recruited in fishing communities in the Islands and East.C. G. Brown, ''Religion and Society in Scotland Since 1707'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997) , p. 38. In the 2011 census 5,583 identified themselves as Brethren, 10,979 as Methodist, 1,339 as Quaker, 26,224 as Baptist, and 13,229 as Evangelical. Pentecostal churches were present from 1908 and by the 1920s there were three streams:
Elim Elim may refer to: Places * Elim Aboriginal Mission, Queensland, Australia Africa * Elim, Western Cape, a village on the Agulhas Plain in the Western Cape of South Africa * Elim (Bible), one of the places where the Israelites camped following t ...
,
Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
and the Apostolic Church. A
Holiness movement The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emph ...
, inspired by Methodism, emerged in 1909 and by 1915 was part of the American Church of the Nazarene. The 2011 census lists 12,357 Pentecostals and 785 Church of the Nazarene. The census choices were None, Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic, Other Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, Hindu, and Another religion or body. Those answering Other Christian or Another religion were asked to write which one.D. W. Bebbington, "Protestant sects and disestablishment" in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 494–5.


Catholicism

During much of the 20th century and beyond, significant numbers of Catholics emigrated to Scotland from Italy,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, and Poland. However, the church has been affected by the general decline in churchgoing. Between 1994 and 2002 Roman Catholic attendance in Scotland declined 19%, to just over 200,000. By 2008, the Bishops' Conference of Scotland estimated that 184,283 attended mass regularly in that year: 3.6% of Scotland's population. According to the 2011 census, Catholics comprise 15.9% of the overall population. In 2011, Catholics outnumbered adherents of the Church of Scotland in just four of the council areas, including North Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, and the most populous council, Glasgow City. In early 2013, Cardinal O'Brien resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh after allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Subsequently, there were several other cases of alleged sexual misconduct involving other priests. O'Brien was replaced as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh by
Leo Cushley Leo William Cushley (born 18 June 1961) is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland. He previously served as head of the English language section of the Vatican Secretariat of State. Early life Leo Cushley was born ...
.


Orthodoxy

The various branches of Orthodox Christianity (including Russian, Greek, and Coptic) had around 8,900 respondents at the 2011 census.


Non-Trinitarian denominations

Non-Trinitarian denominations such as the
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
with 8,543 respondents in the 2011 census and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 4,651 are also present in Scotland. However, the LDS Church claims a much higher number of followers with their own 2009 numbers listing 26,536 followers (in 27 wards and 14 branches).


Islam

Islam is the second most followed religion after Christianity in Scotland. The first Muslim student in Scotland was Wazir Beg from Bombay (now Mumbai). He is recorded as being a medical student who studied at the University of Edinburgh between 1858 and 1859. The production of goods and Glasgow's busy port meant that many lascars were employed there.
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
was at the peak of importing jute; hence, sailors from Bengal were a feature at the port. The 1903 records from the
Glasgow Sailors' Home Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
show that nearly a third (5,500) of all boarders were Muslim lascars. Most immigration of Muslims to Scotland is relatively recent. The bulk of Muslims in Scotland come from families who immigrated during the late 20th century, with small numbers of
converts Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...
. In Scotland Muslims represent 1.4 per cent of the population (76,737). Two important mosques in Scotland are
Glasgow Central Mosque Glasgow Central Mosque is located on the south bank of the River Clyde in the Gorbals district of central Glasgow. The organization, 'Muslims in Britain' classify the Glasgow Central Mosque as, Deobandi. The Mosque The Mosque was designed b ...
and
Edinburgh Central Mosque Edinburgh Central Mosque (officially known as the King Fahd Mosque and Islamic Centre of Edinburgh) is located on Potterrow near the University of Edinburgh central area and the National Museum of Scotland. The mosque and Islamic centre was des ...
, which took more than six years to complete at a cost of £3.5m and can accommodate over one thousand worshippers in its main hall.


Judaism

Towards the end of the nineteenth century there was an influx of Jews, most from eastern Europe, escaping poverty and persecution. Many were skilled in the tailoring, furniture, and fur trades and congregated in the working class districts of Lowland urban centres, like the Gorbals in Glasgow. The largest community in Glasgow had perhaps reached 5,000 by the end of the century. A synagogue was built at Garnethill in 1879. Over 8,000 Jews were resident in Scotland in 1903. Refugees from Nazism and the Second World War further augmented the Scottish Jewish community, which has been estimated to have reached 80,000 in the middle of the century. According to the 2001 census, approximately 6,400 Jews lived in Scotland, however by the 2011 census this had fallen to 5,887. Scotland's Jewish population continues to be predominantly urban, with 80 per cent resident in the areas surrounding Glasgow, primarily East Renfrewshire, that area in particular containing 41% of Scotland's Jewish population, despite only containing 1.7% of the overall population. As with Christianity, the practising Jewish population continues to fall, as many younger Jews either become secular or intermarry with other faiths. Scottish Jews have also emigrated in large numbers to the US, England, and the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
for economic reasons, as with other Scots. The formally organised Jewish communities in Scotland now includ
Glasgow Jewish Representative CouncilEdinburgh Hebrew congregation
an
Sukkat Shalom Liberal CommunityAberdeen Synagogue and Jewish Community Centre
an
Tayside and Fife Jewish Community
These are all represented by th
Scottish Council of Jewish Communities
alongside groups like th
Jewish students studying in Scottish universities and colleges
an
Jewish people of Israeli origin living in Scotland


Sikhism

According to the 2001 census, Sikhism represent 0.2% of the Scotland's population (9,055). Maharajah Duleep Singh moved to Scotland in 1854, taking up residence at the Grandtully estate in
Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
. According to the Scottish Sikh Association, the first
Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
settled in Glasgow in the early 1920s with the first Gurdwara established on South Portland Street. However, the bulk of Sikhs in Scotland come from families who immigrated during the late 20th century.


Hinduism

According to the 2011 census, Hinduism represents 0.31% of the population of Scotland. The bulk of Scottish Hindus settled there in the second half of the 20th century. At the 2001 Census, 5,600 people identified as Hindu, which equated to 0.1% of the Scottish population. Most Scottish Hindus are of Indian origin, or at least from neighbouring countries such as
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Many of these came after Idi Amin's expulsion from Uganda in the 1970s, and some also came from South Africa. There are also a few of Indonesian and Afghan origin. In 2006 a temple opened in the West End of Glasgow. However, it was severely damaged by a fire in May 2010. The ISKCON aka "Hare Krishna" also operates out of
Lesmahagow Lesmahagow ( ; sco, Lismahagie or ''Lesmahagae'', gd, Lios MoChuda) is a small town in the historic county of Lanarkshire on the edge of moorland, near Lanark in the central belt of Scotland. Lesmahagow was also a civil parish. It lies west o ...
in
South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...
. There are also temples in Edinburgh and
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
with plans announced in 2008 for a temple in Aberdeen.


Buddhism

According to the 2011 census, 0.2% or 12,795 people in Scotland are Buddhist.


Modern Paganism

Modern Pagan religions such as Wicca, Neo-druidism, and
Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism Celtic reconstructionism or CR (also Celtic reconstructionist paganism) is a polytheistic reconstructionist approach to Ancient Celtic religion, emphasising historical accuracy over eclecticism such as is found in most forms of Celtic neopaganis ...
have their origins in academic interest and romantic revivalism, which emerged in new religious movements in the twentieth century. Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant, founded modern Wicca. He cultivated his Scottish connections and initiated his first Scottish followers in the 1950s. The
Findhorn community Findhorn Ecovillage is an experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in Moray, Scotland, near the village of Findhorn.Local relations between the Findhorn Foundation and the village of Findhorn have occasionally foundered ove ...
, founded in 1962 by Peter and Eileen Caddy, became a centre of a variety of new age beliefs that mixed beliefs including
occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
ism, animism, and eastern religious beliefs. The ancient architectural landscape of pre-Christian Britain, such as stone circles and dolmens, gives pagan beliefs an attraction, identity, and nationalist legitimacy. The rise of
pan-Celticism Pan-Celticism ( ga, Pan-Cheilteachas, Scottish Gaelic: ''Pan-Cheilteachas'', Breton: ''Pan-Keltaidd'', Welsh: ''Pan-Geltaidd,'' Cornish: ''Pan-Keltaidd,'' Manx: ''Pan-Cheltaghys''), also known as Celticism or Celtic nationalism is a politica ...
may also have increased the attractiveness of Celtic neopaganism. In the 2011 census 5,282 identified as Pagan or a related belief. The
Scottish Pagan Federation The Scottish Pagan Federation (SPF) is a Scotland-based organisation which works to support the Neopagan community in Scotland. Originally part of the Pagan Federation, it became an independent organisation in 2006. The group seeks to promote tolera ...
has represented Modern Pagans in Scotland since 2006.


Bahá'í Faith

Scotland's Baháʼí history began around 1905 when European visitors, Scots among them, met `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, in Ottoman Palestine. One of the first and most prominent Scots who became a Baháʼí was
John Esslemont John Ebenezer Esslemont M.B., Ch.B. (1874 – 1925), from Scotland, was a prominent British adherent of the Baháʼí Faith. Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith, posthumously named Esslemont a Hand of the Cause of God, one of ...
(1874–1925). Starting in the 1940s a process of promulgating the religion called pioneering by Baháʼís began for the purpose of teaching the religion. This led to new converts and establishment of local
Spiritual Assemblies Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...
, and eventually a Baháʼí Council for all Scotland was elected under the National Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United Kingdom. According to the 2011 Census in Scotland, 459 people living there declared themselves to be Bahá'ís, compared to a 2004 figure of approximately 5,000 Baháʼís in the United Kingdom.


Irreligion


Ethnicity

The table shows the irreligious populations among ethnic groups and nationalities in Scotland.


Religious leaders

* Church of Scotland: The
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...
convene Learning Technology Partners (previously known as Convene) is an early distance learning company and the largest company in that market. The software company was founded in the late 1980s by Larry Allen when he created collaborative seminary trai ...
s the annual
assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
, but does not "lead", the church. Moderators are limited to serving one year in office. The moderator-designate is nominated in October and takes office in the following May. The moderator for 2019-2020 was Colin Sinclair of Palmerston Place Church, Edinburgh. The moderator for 2020-2021 was Martin Fair of St Andrews Parish Church, Arbroath. * Roman Catholic Church in Scotland:
Leo Cushley Leo William Cushley (born 18 June 1961) is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland. He previously served as head of the English language section of the Vatican Secretariat of State. Early life Leo Cushley was born ...
,
Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The archdiocese covers an area of 5,504 km2. The metropolitan see is in the City of Edinburgh where the archbishop's s ...
(see
Bishops' Conference of Scotland The Bishops' Conference of Scotland (BCOS), under the trust of the Catholic National Endowment Trust, and based in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, is an episcopal conference for archbishops and bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. The ...
, installed 8 September 2013). *
Scottish Episcopal The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...
Church: The Presiding Bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church is called the Primus. The current Primus is
Mark Strange Mark Jeremy Strange (born 2 November 1961) is a British Anglican bishop. He is the current Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He is the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, having been elected at an Epis ...
,
Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness The Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It covers Caithness and Sutherland (the old Diocese of Caithness), mainland Ross and Cromarty (the old Diocese of Ross), and mainland Inver ...
, who has held the role since 27 June 2017. *
Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...
: The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland for 2016/17 is the Rev. John Nicholls, a minister at the Smithon Free Church and a former chief executive of the
London City Mission London City Mission was set up by David Nasmith on 16 May 1835 in the Hoxton area of east London. The first paid missionary was Lindsay Burfoot. Today it is part of the wider City Mission Movement. History The London City Mission's early work ce ...
. * Free Church of Scotland (Continuing): The current Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) is the Rev. James I. Gracie who is the minister in Edinburgh. * Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland: The current Moderator of Synod for the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland is the Rev. D Campbell. * Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland: The Moderator of the RPCS is the Rev. Gerald Milligan from Stranraer.


Religious issues


Sectarianism

Sectarianism became a serious problem in the twentieth century. In the interwar period religious and ethnic tensions between Protestants and Catholics were exacerbated by
economic depression An economic depression is a period of carried long-term economical downturn that is result of lowered economic activity in one major or more national economies. Economic depression maybe related to one specific country were there is some economic ...
. Tensions were heightened by the leaders of the Church of Scotland who orchestrated a racist campaign against the Catholic Irish in Scotland. Key figures leading the campaign were George Malcolm Thomson and
Andrew Dewar Gibb Andrew Dewar Gibb MBE QC (13 February 1888 – 24 January 1974) was a Scottish advocate, barrister, professor and politician. He taught law at Edinburgh and Cambridge, and was Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow 1934–1958.
. This focused on the threat to the "Scottish race" based on spurious statistics that continued to have influence despite being discredited by official figures in the early 1930s. This created a climate of intolerance that led to calls for jobs to be preserved for Protestants. After the Second World War the Church became increasingly liberal in attitude and moved away from hostile attitudes. Sectarian attitudes continued to manifest themselves in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
rivalries between predominantly Protestant and Catholic teams. This was most marked in Glasgow with the traditionally Roman Catholic team,
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
, and the traditionally Protestant team,
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
. Celtic employed Protestant players and managers, but Rangers have had a tradition of not recruiting Catholics. This is not a hard and fast rule, however, as evidenced by Rangers signing of the Catholic player Mo Johnston (born 1963) in 1989 and in 1999 their first Catholic captain, Lorenzo Amoruso. From the 1980s the UK government passed several acts that had a provision concerning sectarian violence. These included the
Public Order Act 1986 The Public Order Act 1986 (c 64) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936. It implements recommendations
, which introduced offences relating to the incitement of racial hatred, and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which introduced offences of pursuing a racially aggravated course of conduct that amounts to harassment of a person. The 1998 Act also required courts to take into account where offences are racially motivated, when determining sentence. In the twenty-first century the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
legislated against sectarianism. This included provision for religiously aggravated offences in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003. The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 strengthened statutory aggravations for racial and religiously motivated crimes. The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 criminalised behaviour which is threatening, hateful, or otherwise offensive at a regulated football match including offensive singing or chanting. It also criminalised the communication of threats of serious violence and threats intended to incite religious hatred.


Ecumenism

Relations between Scotland's churches steadily improved during the second half of the twentieth century and there were several initiatives for co-operation, recognition, and union. The Scottish Council of Churches was formed as an ecumenical body in 1924. The foundation of the
ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
Iona Community in 1938, on the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland, led to a highly influential form of music, which was used across Britain and the US. Leading musical figure John Bell (born 1949) adapted folk tunes or created tunes in a folk style to fit lyrics that often emerged from the spiritual experience of the community. Proposals in 1957 for union with the Church of England were rejected over the issue of bishops and were severely attacked in the Scottish press. The Scottish Episcopal church opened the communion table up to all baptised and communicant members of all the trinitarian churches and church canons were altered to allow the interchangeability of ministers within specific local ecumenical partnerships. The Dunblane consultations, informal meetings at the ecumenical Scottish Church House in Dunblane in 1961–69, attempted to produce modern hymns that retained theological integrity. They resulted in the British "Hymn Explosion" of the 1960s, which produced multiple collections of new hymns. In 1990, the Scottish Churches' Council was dissolved and replaced by Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), which attempted to bring churches together to set up ecumenical teams in the areas of prisons, hospitals, higher education, and social ministries and inner city projects. At the end of the twentieth century the Scottish Churches Initiative for Union (SCIFU), between the Episcopal Church, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church, and the United Reformed Church, put forward an initiative whereby there would have been mutual recognition of all ordinations and that subsequent ordinations would have satisfied episcopal requirements, but this was rejected by the General Assembly in 2003.Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins, IV, Justyn Terry, Leslie Nuñez Steffensen, eds
''The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion''
(Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2013), .


Irreligion

Church attendance in all denominations declined after the First World War. By the 1920s roughly half the population had a relationship with one of the Christian denominations. This level was maintained until the 1940s when it dipped to 40% during the Second World War, but it increased in the 1950s as a result of revivalist preaching campaigns, particularly the 1955 tour by Billy Graham, and returned to almost pre-war levels. However, from that point there was a steady decline and by the 1980s it was just over 30%. The decline most affected urban areas and was most noticeable among the traditional skilled working classes and educated working classes, although participation stayed higher in the Catholic Church than the Protestant denominations.R. J. Finley, "Secularization" in M. Lynch, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), , pp. 516–17. In the 2011 census roughly 54% of the population identified with a form of Christianity and 36.7% stated they had no religion, while 5.5 per cent did not state a religion. In 2001, 27.5% had stated that they had no religion (compared with 15.5% in the UK overall). A study carried out on behalf of the British Humanist Association at the same time as the 2011 census suggested that those not identifying with a denomination, or who see themselves as non-religious, may have been much higher at between 42 and 56 per cent, depending on the form of the question asked. In 2016 the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found that 52% of people said they are not religious. The decline was most rapid in the Church of Scotland, from 35% in 1999 to 20%, while the Roman Catholic (15%) and other Christian (11%) affiliations remained steady, In 2017, the Humanist Society Scotland commissioned a survey of Scottish residents 16 years and older, asking the question "Are you religious?" Of the 1,016 respondents, 72.4% responded no, 23.6% said yes, and 4% did not answer. Church attendance has also declined, with two-thirds of people living in Scotland saying they "never or practically never" attend services, compared with 49% when the survey began. Since 2016, humanists in Scotland have conducted more marriages each year than the Church of Scotland (or any other religious denomination).


See also

* Religion in the United Kingdom


References


Citations


Sources

* Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Church institutions: early medieval" in Lynch (2001). * Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Scotland, the 'Nennian' Recension of the ''Historia Brittonum'' and the ''Libor Bretnach'' in Simon Taylor (ed.), ''Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland 500–1297.'' Four Courts, Dublin, 2000. * Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Nechtan son of Derile" in Lynch (2001). * Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Columba, Adomnán and the Cult of Saints in Scotland" in Broun & Clancy (1999). * Cross, F.L. and Livingstone, E.A. (eds), ''Scotland, Christianity in'' in "The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church", pp. 1471–1473. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997. * Foster, Sally M., ''Picts, Gaels, and Scots: Early Historic Scotland.'' Batsford, London, 2004. * Hillis, Peter, The Barony of Glasgow, A Window onto Church and People in Nineteenth Century Scotland, Dunedin Academic Press, 2007. * Markus, Fr. Gilbert, O.P., "Religious life: early medieval" in Lynch (2001). * Markus, Fr. Gilbert, O.P., "Conversion to Christianity" in Lynch (2001). * Pope, Robert (ed.), ''Religion and National Identity: Wales and Scotland, c.1700–2000'' (2001) * Taylor, Simon, "Seventh-century Iona abbots in Scottish place-names" in Broun & Clancy (1999).


External links


Church of ScotlandCongregational FederationFree Church of ScotlandScottish Baptist UnionScottish Episcopal ChurchFree Church of Scotland (Continuing)Free Presbyterian Church of ScotlandUnited Free Church of ScotlandReligious Society of Friends (Quakers) in ScotlandHumanist Society of ScotlandThe Scottish Council of Jewish CommunitiesJewish Encyclopedia on ScotlandScottish Pagan Federation
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