ENI – Two Scottish Protestant churches have signed an agreement to help promote good relations between the denominations.
The covenant was signed by the Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, Alan McDonald, and his counterpart from the United Free Church of Scotland, Andrew McMillan. “The purpose of this covenant is to promote good relations and communications between both denominations and in particular to give a greater understanding on the differences or perceived differences of each denomination,” the Church of Scotland noted in a statement.
The Church of Scotland has about 600,000 members and 1,200 ministers, and has its roots in the 17th century Calvinist Reformation. The United Free Church of Scotland was originally founded in 1900, but its present organization dates from 1929 when a minority of the denomination refused to enter a union with the Church of Scotland. Both churches are Presbyterian in structure.
“This signing is part of a larger strategy to have exploratory discussions with a variety of churches, with none having union as their immediate goal,” the Church of Scotland said in its statement.
A United Free Church working group will monitor the implementation of the covenant and report back to its general assembly.
