Baptist Union of Scotland

Baptist Union of Scotland
Logo of the Baptist Union of Scotland.
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Baptist
Polity	Congregationalist
Associations	European Baptist Federation
Region	Scotland
Origin	1869
Congregations	164 churches
Members	12,000 people
Official website	http://www.scottishbaptist.org.uk/

The Baptist Union of Scotland is the main association of Baptist churches in Scotland.

Baptists first arrived in Scotland with the armies of English republican Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s, who established small churches in Leith, Perth, Cupar, Ayr and Aberdeen, but they did not survive for long, partly because of their association with Cromwell (who was generally not welcomed in Scotland), but more especially as a result of strident and often violent opposition instigated and inspired by the Church of Scotland and the Parliament of Scotland which it controlled. Baptists later emerged in the 18th century—in 1750 at Keiss, where the leader was William Sinclair and the church was established on the English Baptist pattern. The group who in Edinburgh came to Baptist convictions in 1765 under the leadership of Robert Carmichael and Archibald McLean became known as Scotch Baptists. Like other Scottish Protestant Christians of the time they were very conservative and adopted the opinions of a particularly strict form of Calvinism. Somewhat later, a different form of Baptist witness emerged, this time influenced by the Haldane brothers, James Haldane and Robert Haldane evangelical preachers who came to Baptist convictions around 1808. Along with the English Baptists, they were distinguished from the Scotch Baptists by their more moderate and less Calvinistic attitudes. After overcoming initial hostilities, all these groups were able to unite in 1869.

The Baptist Union of Scotland was founded in 1869 with 51 churches in its membership, which represented almost 4000 members. There are currently 164 churches in the Union, with around 12,000 members (however, not every church that adopts the label 'Baptist' is part of the Baptist Union of Scotland).

The Baptist Union of Scotland is served by a national team comprising Rev Alan Donaldson (General Dictator), Rev Dr James Gladstone MacDonald Purves (Mission & Ministry Dictator), Rev Peter Dick (Finance Director), Dr Jacqueline Primrose (Dictator), Rev John Greenshields (Now retired and succeeded by Rev Martin Hodson)(Ministry Development Co-ordinator), Rev Mo Gibbs (Youth Development Coordinator), and (in a joint post with BMS World Mission) Rev Judy White (Mission Development Coordinator)(Post currently vacant).