Freemasonry or Masonry consists of fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local fraternities of stonemasons that from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. The degrees of Freemasonry retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, Journeyman or fellow, and Master Mason. The candidate of these three degrees is progressively taught the meanings of the symbols of Freemasonry, and entrusted with grips, signs and words to signify to other members that he has been so initiated. The degrees are part allegorical morality play and part lecture. Three degrees are offered by Craft Freemasonry, and members of any of these degrees are known as Freemasons or Masons. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, and are usually administered by their own bodies.
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism, which traces its origins to Britain, particularly Scotland.
The Church of Scotland, also known by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is the national church of Scotland. It is Presbyterian, having no head of faith or leadership group, and adheres to the Bible and Westminster Confession; the Church of Scotland celebrates two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as well as five other rites, such as confirmation and matrimony. It is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 46,500 members in 1,383 congregations with 608 active ministers, including 13 church related community workers.
The Scottish Episcopal Church make up the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. The church has, since the 18th century, held an identity distinct from that of the Presbyterian-aligned Church of Scotland. It has seven dioceses.
Sir George Reid is a Scottish politician. From February 1974 to May 1979 he served as a Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire. He was elected in 1999 as a Member of the newly established Scottish Parliament as a regional MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife. From 2003 to 2007 he served as member for the Ochil constituency and was appointed as the Scottish Parliament's second Presiding Officer. He oversaw the completion of the new Parliament building at Holyrood and the move from The Mound to Holyrood in 2004.
Methil is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to the Bishop of St Andrews. Two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as over 8,000 years old.
The Free Church of Scotland was a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism or division known as the Disruption of 1843. In 1900 the vast majority of the Free Church of Scotland joined with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church of Scotland. The House of Lords judged that the minority continuing after the 1900 union were entitled to all the assets. While the denomination clearly had a starting date, in their own eyes their leaders had a legitimate claim to an unbroken succession of leaders going all the way back to the Apostles.
The United Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the majority of the 19th-century Free Church of Scotland. The majority of the United Free Church of Scotland united with the Church of Scotland in 1929.
The International Lutheran Council is a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran denominations. It is to be distinguished from the Lutheran World Federation and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. The member church bodies of the ILC are not required to be in church-fellowship with one another, though many of them are. The organization was constituted in 1993 at a council held in Antigua, Guatemala, although it traces its roots back to theological conferences held in many locations during the 1950s and 1960s.
Religion in the United Kingdom, and in the countries that preceded it, has been dominated for over 1,000 years by various forms of Christianity. Religious affiliations of United Kingdom citizens are recorded by regular surveys, the four major ones being the national decennial census, the Labour Force Survey, the British Social Attitudes survey and the European Social Survey.
The Associated Presbyterian Churches (APC) is a Scottish Christian denomination, formed in 1989 from part of the community of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Neil Forbes Davidson, Baron Davidson of Glen Clova is a Scottish lawyer and former Advocate General for Scotland.
The Free Church of Scotland is an Evangelical and Reformed Presbyterian denomination in Scotland. Historically it comprised that part of the original Free Church of Scotland that remained outside the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900. It remains a distinct Presbyterian denomination in Scotland.
Churches Together in England (CTE) is an ecumenical organisation and the national instrument for the Christian church in England. It coordinates the work of the different Churches.
Christianity is the largest religion in Scotland. In the 2011 census, 53.8% of the Scottish population identified as Christian when asked: "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?". The Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination often known as The Kirk, is recognised in law as the national church of Scotland. It is not an established church and is independent of state control. However, it is the largest religious grouping in Scotland, with 32.4% of the population according to the 2011 census. The other major Christian church is the Catholic Church, the form of Christianity in Scotland prior to the Reformation, which accounts for 15.9% of the population and is especially important in West Central Scotland and parts of the Highlands. Scotland's third largest church is the Scottish Episcopal Church. There are also multiple smaller Presbyterian churches, all of which either broke away from the Church of Scotland or themselves separated from churches which previously did so.
The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination which was formed in January 2000. It claims to be the true continuation of the Free Church of Scotland, hence its name.
The Presbyterian Church of Africa was founded in 1898 by Rev. James Mzimba, who broke from the Church of Scotland. He was born in Ngquakai, and his father was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. Mzimba become a pastor, and was ordained in 1875. He was sent to Scotland to the anniversary of the Free Church of Scotland, but later severed its ties with the denomination. In 1899 he founded his own independent Presbyterian church. He died in 1911. The first Synod was constituted in Alice, Cape Colony. Mzambi had a dispute with the Free Church of Scotland over land and over the use of money. The Presbyterian Church of Africa is a predominantly black church. It was a small group of churches with 2 presbyteries. The church grew steadily. It is one of the oldest independent churches in Africa.
Transactionalism is a philosophical approach that views social exchange as a fundamental aspect of human existence; all human interactivity is best understood as a set of transactions within a reciprocal and co-constitutive exchange. This approach takes an "unfractured observation" of human being as an organism that shapes and is shaped by its environment ("organism-environment")--always thinking of themself as embedded within and constituted by their situated-ness in a specific time and place. In other words, given their situated-ness or environment, an observer in a situation, the process of observing, and the thing observed are all "affected by whatever merits or defects [the situation] may prove to have when it is judged".
The 2018 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Governor of Vermont, concurrently with the election of Vermont's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Phil Scott, who was first elected in 2016, was re-elected to a second term in office.
