Much of the impetus for its formation came from Greville Ewing, who formed numerous congregations, and also the Glasgow Theological Academy.
[1][2] In 1841, James Morison of the United Secession Church was accused of Arminianism, and was expelled.
Two years later, this was joined by nine Congregational Union churches who supported John Kirk.
Initially strongly Calvinist, the Evangelical Union moved away from this, and focused its activity on promoting abstentionism.
[1] In 1928, the Congregational Union appointed the first woman minister of any Scottish church, Vera Finlay.