Assembly, GENERAL

Assembly, GENERAL, in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States, denotes the highest court of the Presbyterian Church. It differs from the Anglican Convocation at once in its constitution and in its powers, representing as it does both the lay and the clerical elements in the church, and possessing legislative and judicial authority in all matters purely ecclesiastical. The General Assembly of the Established Church of Scotland consists of representatives, clerical and lay, from all the presbyteries of the church. The royal burghs of Scotland also return elders to the General Assembly of the Established Church, and each of the Scottish universities sends a representative. The Assembly meets once a year, in the middle of May, at Edinburgh, and sits for ten days. Its deliberations are presided over by a Moderator, whose election is the first step in the proceedings, after a sermon by his predecessor. In former times, this office was sometimes filled by laymen: among others, in 1567, by George Buchanan. In modern times, the moderator is always a clergyman. 84 presbyteries, composing 16 synods, return members to the General Assembly of the Established Church of Scotland. Its relation to the state is represented by a royal commissioner, who exercises no function in the Assembly beyond that of adding by his presence the sanction of the civil authority to its proceedings. The other functionaries are a principal and a depute clerk (both clergymen), a procurator, and an agent. All business not despatched during the session is referred to a commission, with the moderator as convener, which meets immediately after the dissolution of the Assembly, and again at intervals of three months. The General Assemblies of the Free Church of Scotland (in 1900 joined with the United Presbyterians as the United Free Church) and of the Irish Presbyterian Church are similarly constituted save in comparatively minor matters—such as in respect of their greater legislative and judicial independence and the absence of the royal commissioner. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, representing 23 synods and 182 presbyteries, mostly in the Northern States, meets annually in May, but has no stated place of meeting. There is also a General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church (67 presbyteries), and of the United and Cumberland Presbyterians; while the Reformed Presbyterian Church of the United States, like the United Presbyterian Church in Scotland, calls its supreme court the synod. See PRESBYTERIANISM, SCOTLAND, FREE CHURCH.—For the Assembly of Divines, see WESTMINSTER, CONFESSIONS OF FAITH; for the National Assembly, see FRANCE.