Old Saint Paul's, Edinburgh

Old Saint Paul's, Edinburgh
Old Saint Paul's, Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh
Denomination	Scottish Episcopal Church
Churchmanship	Anglo-Catholic
Website	http://www.osp.org.uk
History
Dedication	Paul the Apostle
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of Edinburgh
Clergy
Rector	The Revd Canon Ian J Paton
Laity
Director of music	Dr John Kitchen

Old Saint Paul's is an historic church of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town in Scotland. It stands on the site of the original home of the separate Scottish Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion, which evolved with the adoption of the Presbyterian governance by the established Church of Scotland.

Its congregation originally formed a breakaway group from the city's St Giles' Cathedral, and it became a pro-cathedral.

Although the present building dates from the 19th century, Old Saint Paul's has a history going back 300 years to the beginning of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

The original congregation of Old Saint Paul's was a breakaway group from St Giles' Cathedral, which had become the Cathedral of Edinburgh in 1634. The last bishop at St Giles', Alexander Rose, left the Cathedral in 1689 accompanied by much of his congregation. He founded a new place of worship in an old wool store in Carrubber's Close - this lies close to the present site of Old Saint Paul's.

Many Episcopalians remained pro-Jacobite during the Jacobite Rebellion, loyal to James and his descendants. Members of Saint Paul's were involved in the Jacobite struggle, including the Risings of 1715 and 1745. One member of the congregation brought the news of Bonnie Prince Charlie's victory at Prestonpans to Edinburgh, shutting the town gates against the defeated Hanoverian army.

As a result of the Risings, Episcopalians and their places of worship were persecuted under law. It was only after the death of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) in 1788 that the association of the Episcopalians with Jacobitism was shaken off. Penal laws were gradually repealed, and in that year the Scottish Synod resolved that George III would be prayed for in all Episcopal Churches.