ST MICHAEL’S PARISH CHURCH  • LINLITHGOW  •   EH49 7AL

tel - 01506 842188   e-mail - info@stmichaels-parish.org.uk

MINISTER:  REV DR STEWART GILLAN  BSc MDiv PhD

St Michael’s Parish Church is recognised as a Scottish Charity  No SCO16185

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It was twelve years ago that I received an envelope with the mystery post mark of Buckingham Palace and opened it to discover inside a letter from the Lord Chamberlain extending the Queen’s invitation to me to become one of her ten chaplains in Scotland! Very surprised by this, I immediately phoned Lorna, who was working as the General Secretary of the Guild, in Edinburgh. She, remembering that at that time there were five ministers of the Church of Scotland with the name ‘John Paterson’ including one who was a former Moderator of the Kirk, and, knowing the confusion that seemed to cause the church offices, responded with: ‘Oh dear! They must have made a mistake!’ (Nothing like a wife for keeping one’s feet on the ground!) After a discreet enquiry to the Dean of the Chapel Royal, it was confirmed that the letter had indeed come to the correct address – but from day one, I always regarded the invitation as less of an honour to myself and much more to the wonderful congregation it was my privilege to serve in St Michael’s, Linlithgow.

The service of installation to the Chapel Royal or Her Majesty’s Ecclesiastical Household in Scotland, as we are officially known, took place a few months later in the recently refurbished Chapel Royal in Stirling Castle. Also installed that evening was the Rev Alastair Symington, at that time minister of New Kilpatrick Parish Church, Bearsden. Included among his guests (we were allowed only 40 each) was none other than his parishioner and friend, Rikki Fulton. It was a strange experience to look out and see probably Scotland’s best known ‘minister’, the Rev I M Jolly, sitting there with typically lugubrious expression! I wondered if the Queen had ever had the opportunity of hearing this dour, doleful preacher! What a lot she has missed if she hasn’t! I’m sure, however, some other sermons she has heard over the years have had more than a hint of the Rev I M Jolly in them!

The Chapel Royal in Scotland isn’t a building, as such, but is, rather, a group of ten ministers: the Dean of the Chapel Royal, The Dean of the Thistle (currently this is a former Assistant minister of St Michael’s, the Very Rev Dr Gilleasbuig Macmillan) and eight chaplains-in-ordinary. The distinguishing dress for all is the red cassock and purple stock. On reaching the age of 70, each ceases to be a chaplain-in-ordinary but may, at the Queen’s pleasure, be appointed as an extra chaplain.

The origin of the Chapel Royal was in pre-Reformation times when priests were required to say Mass in Holyrood Abbey, St Margaret’s Edinburgh Castle, and chapels royal in Linlithgow Palace, Stirling Castle and Falkland Palace.  The Queen, when she is in Scotland, is now ministered to by the minister of Crathie Parish Church who is described as her Domestic Chaplain. When the Queen is in residence, the Moderator and various ministers and chaplains are invited to preach at Crathie and to be her guests at Balmoral over the weekend – an unforgettable experience.

The Church of Scotland and the Crown have not always had the best of relationships and sometimes there has been bloodshed. Unlike what happened south of the border, the Reformation took place in Scotland against the wishes of the Crown, the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, and Mary, Queen of Scots being devout Roman Catholics.  In the 17th century, all the kings sought to control the church in Scotland through crown appointed bishops, together with the imposition of a Prayer Book.  Many Scots resisted this and in 1638, they signed a National Covenant – a facsimile of which is at the west door of St Michael’s.  The Crown used armed force in an attempt to suppress the Covenanters and General Tam Dalyell of the Binns was one of the commanders most feared and disliked by them. Many were killed in battle, executed or even deported to the American colonies where they played a big part in the formation of a nation that was a century later to become the USA.  The covenanting minister of the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling was beheaded in 1660 on the orders of King Charles II. It is much safer being a minister today, but, sadly, there are parts of the world, including China, where there is still persecution.

Matters improved a little with the Revolution Settlement of 1688 but a new conflict between church and state developed over the Patronage Act of 1712, which decreed that ministers be appointed to vacant charges by local landowners, rather than the members of congregations.  In protest against this Act a number of secessions from the Church of Scotland took place over the next 130 years, resulting, in Linlithgow, in the founding of three additional Presbyterian congregations: the East church and Craigmailen church (both now demolished) and St Ninian’s Free church.  However, after the resolution of this unhappy conflict, the churches in Scotland came together in 1929 to form the Church of Scotland that we have today.

The most visible expression of the church-state link now is the office of Lord High Commissioner who is appointed by the Queen and represents her at the General Assembly.  There were times in the past when Lord High Commissioners sought to control the Assembly in the name of the King, even to the extent of using troops to break up an Assembly that wasn’t doing its work as the King had ordered! Today, of course, the office of Lord High Commissioner is ceremonial and he or she has no power whatsoever but the holder of the office has to give a full report to the Queen afterwards.

While the Lord High Commissioner is accorded by the state all the privileges of the Crown, living in Holyrood Palace during the Assembly, yet as far as the Church is concerned, the Commissioner, although receiving the courtesy due to the Queen’s representative, is regarded as technically outside the Assembly. The Commissioner may speak to the Assembly only if invited by the Moderator to do so.  This underlines the fact that while the Church of Scotland is a national church it is not a church governed by the state.

For two years, it was my privilege to be the chaplain to Lord Steel of Aikwood, a son of St Michael’s Manse, when he was the Commissioner.  This enabled me to see at first hand all that happens behind the pomp and pageantry that surrounds the position.  The Lord High Commissioner works hard to establish links between the Church and representatives of government, the universities, broadcasting and the press, business, commerce, banks, trades unions and the worlds of sport and entertainment.

However, there can be no doubt that the relationship of church and state is meaningful today only when ordinary Christian people take an interest in what is happening politically, both locally and nationally, and when some of them come forward to serve in either local or national councils. It is thus very important that we remember our politicians in our prayers for we have called them to do difficult work on our behalf. We should remember also to pray for our Queen and her advisers – not only when we sing ‘God save the Queen’! We are blessed that our present monarch is a deeply committed Christian, as she has often testified in her Christmas broadcasts, and that the Church of Scotland and the work it does is important to her.

REFLECTIONS ON CHURCH
AND STATE

by Rev Ian Paterson

a Chaplain to Her Majesty in Scotland