medieval-atlas/the-church/389

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Ecclesiastical organisation: the early seventeenth century As part of the process by which lames gradually restored the authority ofbishops, the thirteen ancient dioceses as fleetingly restored in 1572 were by 1610 once more the recognised units of regional oversight. Synods were still held twice-yearly, but now with bounds coterminous with diocesan boundaries (though StAndrews had two synods for north and south of the Forth, and Glasgow apparently had three, meeting at Glasgow, Irvine and Peebles) and with the bishops as constant moderators. At the same time the king accepted the continuing utility of presbyteries as indispensable units ofadministration. The royal chancery accepted them as an appropriate agency for examining and admitting candidates presented to benefices in the king's patronage; and the exchequer also followed the practice of listing ministers' stipends not according to dioceses but in the form of presbyterial districts. The number of presbyteries continued to grow, and by the early seventeenth century they were operating with varying efficiency throughout the country. The coexistence of presbyteries with the diocesan structure for oversight and administration led to some anomalies, for presbyterial boundaries could not readily be accommodated to suit diocesan requirements. Most parishes in Perth presbytery, for example, lay within the diocese of St Andrews, but half a dozen parishes lay within Dunkeld, and four within Dunblane diocese. To add to the air of inconsistency, the moderator of the presbytery was the bishop of Dunkeld, who was also minister of St Madoes parish belonging to Dunblane diocese The archbishop of St Andrews, who kept in close touch with the presbytery through correspondence, supervised admissions to churches in his diocese, but often devolved the duties of ordination and admission to the presbytery and its bishop-moderator, whereas the bishop of Dunkeld took charge of admitting a minister to parishes like Forgandenny and Redgorton which lay within his diocese though in Perth presbytery. This confusing administrative pattern in 1607 paved the way for the period of full episcopal ascendancy, 1610-38; and by 1633 a fourteenth diocese, Edinburgh, was created o,ut of that portion of St Andrews diocese south of the Forth. Presbyteries continued without a break to play their role under episcopal guidance. The fully developed system as expressed in the canons of 1636 fulfilled the ideal of the bishop in presbytery, in which effective power and initiative lay with the bishop, and presbyteries acted as his executive agents. The Glasgow assembly of 1638 abolished bishops, and the old dioceses were once again discarded as units of oversight and visitation. The country was divided instead into fifteen provinces, each of which was to be governed by a twice-yearly synod or provincial assembly and within their own districts by the constituent presbyteries assigned to each province. The plan was to establish no fewer than 67 presbyteries each with its elected moderator; and by the early 1640s as many as 64 are known to have been active. Only in Argyll and the Isles were the plans of 1638 partly frustrated. Elsewhere the presbyterian structure was resumed with vigour, and despite the distraction of civil war further presbyteries were to be added (such as Biggar in 1644). The aim of 1638 to return to the earlier presbyterial model was achieved in all essentials. 389

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