United Free Church of Scotland - Union With The Church of Scotland

Union With The Church of Scotland

As its early days were preoccupied with the aftermath of union, so its later days were with the coming union with the Church of Scotland. The problem was the CofS's position as an established church conflicted with the Voluntaryism of the UFC. Discussions began in 1909, but were complex.

The main hurdles were overcome by two parliamentary statutes, firstly the Church of Scotland Act 1921, which recognised the CofS's independence in spiritual matters (a right asserted by its Articles Declaratory of 1919). The second was the Church of Scotland (Properties and Endowments) Act 1925, which transferred the secular endowment of the church to a new body called the General Trustees. These measures satisfied the majority of the UFC that the Church-state entanglement of the CofS, which had been the cause of the Disruption of 1843 had at last ended.

In 1929, the merger with the Church of Scotland largely reversed the Disruption of 1843 and reunited much of Scottish Presbyterianism. However, once more a relatively small minority stayed out of the union, and retained the name of U.F. Church.