[15][16] This is probably in part due to the fact that it is, nonetheless, a union of the non-juring Episcopalians with the "qualified congregations" who worshipped according to the liturgy of the Church of England.

In 563 AD, Saint Columba travelled to Scotland with twelve companions, where according to legend he first landed at the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, near Southend.

[19] The Scottish Catholic Church would continue to grow in the centuries that followed, and in the 11th century Saint Margaret of Scotland (Queen Consort of Malcolm III of Scotland) strengthened the church's ties with the Holy See, as did successive monarchs such as Margaret's son, David, who invited several religious orders to establish monasteries.

In 1560, the Scottish Parliament abolished papal jurisdiction[20] and approved Calvin's Confession of Faith, but did not accept many of the principles laid out in Knox's First Book of Discipline, which argued, among other things, that all of the assets of the old church should pass to the new.

[21] John Knox himself had no clear views on the office of bishop, preferring to see them renamed as "superintendents"; but in response to the new Concordat a Presbyterian party emerged headed by Andrew Melville, the author of the Second Book of Discipline.

Subsequently, in 1637, Charles attempted to introduce a Scottish version of the Book of Common Prayer, written by a group of Scottish prelates, most notably the Archbishop of St Andrews, John Spottiswoode, and the Bishop of Ross, John Maxwell, and edited for printing by the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud; it was a combination of Knox's Book of Common Order, which was in use before 1637, and English liturgy in hopes of further unifying the (Anglican) Church of England and the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland.

As a result of the weakness of the king, Presbyterian Covenanters were able to become the de facto government in Scotland until disagreement between the Scottish and English Parliaments over how to run Britain in terms of both civil and religious governance after the king was defeated led to another war and Scotland's conquest by the Covenanters' erstwhile allies the English Parliament's New Model Army.

Following the Restoration of the monarch in 1660, the government of Charles II reimposed episcopacy, and required all clergymen to swear allegiance to the king and bishops and renounce the Covenants, or be prevented from preaching in church.

With the 1689 refusal of the Scottish bishops to swear allegiance to William of Orange whilst James VII lived and had not abdicated, the Presbyterian polity was finally re-established in the Church of Scotland.

However, the Confession of Faith Ratification Act 1690 (April c. 7) allowed Episcopalian incumbents, upon taking the Oath of Allegiance, to retain their benefices, though excluding them from any share in the government of the Church of Scotland without a further declaration of Presbyterian principles.

At length the hopelessness of the Stuart cause and the growth of congregations outside the establishment forced the bishops to dissociate canonical jurisdiction from royal prerogative and to reconstitute for themselves a territorial episcopate.

The Scottish Communion Office, compiled by the non-jurors in accordance with primitive models, has had a varying co-ordinate authority, and the modifications of the English liturgy that would be adopted by the American Church were mainly determined by its influence.

[22] Bishop James Sharp, a former moderate Covenanter and Resolutioner, was appointed Archbishop of St Andrews and primate of Scotland in 1661.

The Scottish Episcopalians Act 1711 protected the Episcopal Church, which marked its virtual incorporation as a distinct society.

Moreover, the Jacobitism of the non-jurors provoked a state policy of repression in 1715 and 1745, and fostered the growth of new Hanoverian congregations, using the English Prayer Book (served by clergy who had been ordained by a bishop but amenable to none), who qualified themselves under the 1711 act.

Their official recognition of George III, on the death of Charles Edward Stuart in 1788, removed the chief bar to progress.

[25] Canon Alice Mann of the Alban Institute was invited to begin developing a missionary emphasis within the congregations of the church throughout Scotland.

The Lord Bishop of Edinburgh and Anglican congregation were also evicted from St Giles' Cathedral following the Prayer Book riots in 1637.

The office of Royal Almoner was made largely honorific then effectively secular, and by 1835 had merged into the responsibilities of the King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer.

The last head of the Scottish Episcopal Church to hold both primate and metropolitan titles was Arthur Rose, Archbishop of St Andrews, up to his death in 1704.

[36] The statistics for the denomination, by their dioceses were as follows: In recent decades, the Scottish Episcopal Church has taken a left-of-centre stand on various political issues including economic justice, the ordination of women and "inclusion".

A church canon was altered to allow same-sex marriage after it was formally approved by the General Synod in June 2017, despite the protests of some, including the representatives of the conservative Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney.

[38] A number of clergy subsequently resigned, and in January 2019 the Westhill Community Church in Aberdeen voted to leave the SEC.

The General Synod makes canon law, administers finance and monitors the work of the boards and committees of the Church.

More complex legislation, such as changes to the Code of Canons requires each of the Houses to agree and to vote in favour by a two-thirds majority.

The only exception in Scotland is the Cathedral of the Isles on the island of Great Cumbrae which has been led by a member of the clergy styled as Precentor.

In recent years, revised Funeral Rites have appeared, along with liturgies for Christian Initiation (e.g. Baptism and Affirmation) and Marriage.

[38] In the area of human sexuality, a debate continued for many years as to the propriety of fully permitting the presence of non-celibate lesbian and gay church members (there never having been a prohibition on membership or ordination of celibate homosexuals).

The Scottish Anglican Network announced on 8 June 2017, the same day that the SEC voted to approve same-sex marriage, that they would be in "impaired communion" with the denomination, due to this decision.

It also expressed their "support for those Anglicans who have left or will need to leave the Scottish Episcopal Church because of its redefinition of marriage and those who struggle and remain", and presented their prayers for the return of SEC "to the doctrine of Christ in this matter and that impaired relationships will be restored.