Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 1988. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Scottish History, University of Glasgow, 1988. Print version also available.

This research was stimulated by a concern for the losses in membership being experienced by the Church of Scotland and by the fact that only one research study had been carried out and that had concentrated upon the Church's recruitment of young persons. This was seen as too narrow an approach. The research concentrated on the urban city of Dundee and constructed a computer database of 20,297 membership records [1982] and 3,997 Questionnaire Survey records of actual attenders in the 32 participating congregations. From the straight-forward examination of the demographic and social indicators, eg. age, sex, class, etc., a model of attending frequency is built revealing that the Church's concern might be wisely directed towards better administrative and pastoral care of the existing members as its primary objective. A further research aim was to develop spatial and 'modeling' techniques in order that the existing patterns of allegiance and attendance might be analysed. By examining the differentiation between various sub-sets of members and attenders, the evidence demonstrated that the Scottish council housing policy with its attendant displacement of population in Dundee (outlined in chapter two), had exacerbated the phenomenon of 'membership-at-a-distance'. Distance, in itself produced lower rates of observance, and it is argued, in turn leads to a greater risk of lapsing. The total effect of distant membership also produces congregations no longer existing as coterminous with geographic parish areas. The Church has continued to unite and merge these spatially distributed congregations thus severing residual allegiance ties and adding to the losses experienced from other causes. The main conclusion of this research is that the Church has mistakenly attempted to respond to the situation with an institutional 'reaction', whereas the real need for the present is to acknowledge the primacy of the existence of these congregations and to restructure its ministry and resources to support the continuing existence of the congregations. It is argued that a pastoral response is what has been lacking, and in the absence of reliable, large scale studies, planning has proceeded on the false basis that the 'parish' concept was a suitable criteria in every circumstance. In the concluding chapter, several practical recommendations are made in respect of the churches own procedures, these being derived from close acquaintance with the evidence of the data.

Texte remanié de: Ph. D. thesis--Guelph, Ontario, Canada--University of Guelph, 1984. / Bibliogr. p. 258-272. Index.

The thesis is the first full scale analysis of the hundreds of untapped parochial sources created by the Kirk of Scotland during the mid-seventeenth century. By taking a thirteen-year period of study, these documents allow a significant assessment of how parishes balanced the practice of Reformed religion on a day-to-day basis, with the emerging backdrop of war and invasion. This takes our historical appreciation of the Kirk away from high-level politics and into the heart of communities. The findings of this thesis illustrate the depth of activity and flexibility in Scottish parish life during the mid-seventeenth century, showing how the Presbyterian Kirk survived the internal wars and foreign invasions of the mid-seventeenth century. As Kirk leaders become increasingly concerned with the sins of political disaffection and with wars affecting parishes, ministers and sessions entered into an active dialogue with local communities seeking ecclesiastical services as normal. Such conclusions display the Kirk as a living and evolving entity, rather than a monolithic body. This negotiation ensured that Reformed services continued at the centre of communal life and that the Kirk emerged from the Civil Wars into a restored monarchy still holding its position as the national church in Scotland. The thesis also illustrates that mid-seventeenth-century Scotland did not experience a distinct ‘second reformation’, but that reforming processes were on going. This defines the mid-seventeenth century as less of a modernising moment, than a period that constantly looked into the past. The desires of Kirk leaders were couched in a much older terminology, sharing the concerns of their Reformed forebears. While the context of the National Covenant altered the Kirk’s national standing, it continued to operate in the same, negotiated, manner it had since the mid-sixteenth century.

No description available.

Two propositions are advanced in the present study: firstly, national, not theological, attitudes have been the main influence on Scottish church music from the earliest days to the present; secondly, the present vitality of Scottish music can be traced back to a 19th-century search for musical excellence in church services by clergy, precentors and organists. Until the 19th century Scottish church music reflected a national indifference to music in general. Neither in pre-Reformation nor post-Reformation times is there completely convincing evidence of high-quality secular musical activity before a brief, if brilliant, period in Edinburgh during the late 18th century. Improvements in the national awareness of classical music came as a result of sweeping changes the Scottish churches had to make when they confronted the scientific and philosophical revolutions of the 19th century. Despite some resistance on the part of congregations, music came to be seen as a way of emphasising confidence and solidarity in the Christian faith. Thereafter more and more expert musicians were attracted to work in Scottish churches with long-term benefits for the churches themselves and for the community in which many of then worked as teachers and administrators. With a greater awareness of the potential benefits of music making, Scottish church and school soon began to regard musical excellence not only as desirable but also as a rationale - excellence equals truth. The pursuit of excellence on the part of leading clergy and church musicians from the late 19th century to the present, which has done so much for the musical health of the nation, has recently given rise to increasing concerns about accessibility. These concerns have fundamental implications for the music of the Scottish Church.

No description available.

During the late nineteenth-century William Ross became the minister of Cowcaddens Free Church Glasgow, which was situated in an area of serious social deprivation. Subsequently the church experienced significant growth and was recognised by contemporaries as an example of successful urban mission amongst the working class. This study aims to explore the reasons for the apparent success of the church and its minister, the influences which formulated their response to the urban environment, and how this compares with the work and growth of other churches within the same locality. The wider aim is to explore the extent to which the social status, activities and work of Cowcaddens Free Church either support or contradict, existing understandings about the place of religion in nineteenth-century working class life and patterns of religious decline. This study also assesses the approach of Ross and his church to ‘social concern’, a subject of considerable importance to evangelicals during the nineteenth-century. The evidence concerning church growth and the social status of the congregation is explored through detailed statistical analysis. Examination of archive material and secondary sources contribute to the formation of a more detailed picture of the local social context in which Cowcaddens Free Church operated, and of the wider Scottish theological and ecclesiological context. The evidence suggests that this was an active, growing, working class church which succeeded in attracting the urban masses to religion, but that it did so through a concentration on evangelistic outreach rather than an emphasis on social concern. As an example of religious growth and successful urban mission, Cowcaddens Free Church contributes to ongoing research concerning the importance of religion to the urban working class, and present understanding of patterns of religious growth and decline during the nineteenth-century.

The starting point of this thesis was the debate in the General Assembly of Church of Scotland of 1974 which marked the culmination of a six year assessment of the Westminster Confession of Faith in the Church. The presbyteries and kirk sessions of the Church had indicated their overwhelming approval of the proposed changes, but in the end the General Assembly voted for the status quo. What struck me, as one who was present, was that many of the issues raised in the debate were not doctrinal, but legal. It would have been tempting to dismiss this as an example of legalist obstructionism, but my interest was aroused, and I decided to investigate for myself the background to some of the things being said, and in particular to explore the place of creeds and confessions within the Church o f Scotland, and to study the tensions created by their hybrid nature as doctrinal statements and constitutional documents. The question of a Church's relationship to its doctrinal standards is an important one in the field of Practical Theology. This thesis sets the current debate within the Church of Scotland against its historical background, thus enabling us to see that debate as the latest development in the Church's changing attitude towards Confessions of Faith in general and the Westminster Confession of Faith in particular. The Confession has served now as help, now as hindrance; now as guide, now as source of confusion; now as theological statement, now as constitutional document. The whole question of the relationship between law and doctrine in the Church is a large one. In this thesis I have made a special study of one contemporary and important aspect of the question by considering it with particular reference to Confessions of faith. The variety of functions which the Church expects its Confession to serve raises many interesting questions for theologians and for lawyers.

This thesis examines the Scottish Presbyterian Churches anti-Irish campaign in the inter-war period with particular emphasis on the governmental response. It can, and has been, argued that the Church campaign was driven more by sectarian sentiment than by any other motive, however, the Church made a determined attempt to make their case on racial grounds. Discredited as those theories now are this thesis will carefully examine intellectual basis of the Church’s case. It has not thus far been considered how much the Church’s arguments were influenced by academic opinion in the United States and by the American experience of immigration restriction. It has also been argued that politically the campaign was a failure as no measures to restrict Irish immigration were ever imposed. Equally, it has been held that politicians of all parties were either hostile or indifferent to the Church campaign. It will be demonstrated here that this was far from the case and that the Church had its supporters on all sides of the political divide and that at various times the issue was seriously considered by Governments whether Unionist, Labour or National and that arguments for restriction did not emanate solely from the Scottish Churches or indeed solely from Scotland.