A Great Grievance: Ecclesiastical Lay Patronage in Scotland until 1750

In 1843 the Church of Scotland split apart. In the Disruption, as it was called, those who left to form the Free Church of Scotland claimed they did so because the law denied congregations the freedom to elect their own pastor. As they saw it, this fundamental Christian right had been usurped by lay patrons, who, by the Patronage Act of 1712, had been given the privilege of choosing and presenting parish ministers.

But lay patronage was nothing new to the Church in Scotland, and to this day ...