Welcome

Welcome from the Moderator of the Scottish Synod

Welcome to the Synod of Scotland and The Royal Burgh of St Andrews.

There has been a settlement on the site of the city from at least 6th century A.D. Since then the city has played an important part in the history of the development of Scotland. As the focus for the national cult of St Andrew, it became in the middle ages a religious centre of major importance.

Two legends tell of the bringing of the relics of the Apostle Andrew to what we now call St Andrews. Both involve a religious figure interpreted as St Rule, or St Regulus, who brought relics of the Apostle to the local site then known as Cennrigmonaid or Kilrymont. Whatever the truth of these legends, and whether Rule was no more than a monkish invention, we may never know. There is no doubt however, that relics claimed to be of St Andrew were present at Kilrymont. This subsequently was the reason for the establishment of the place now called St Andrews, as a major religious centre and a prominent centre for pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. Thousands upon thousands of pilgrims came each year for hundreds of years to worship at the shrine of the relics of the Apostle and Martyr, St Andrew of Bethsaida in Galilee, who was made Patron Saint of Scotland.

Closely integrated with the Burgh, and recognised by the Papal Bull of Benedict XIII in 1413, the University of St Andrews is the oldest in Scotland, and the third oldest in Britain. The three colleges of the University; St Salvator's (1450), St Leonard's (1512) and St Mary's (1537) gradually evolved into its modern collegiate form, to include the amalgamation in 1747 of St Salvator's and St Leonard's Colleges as the United College. Herein all the arts and science subjects are studied today, while St Mary's has maintained its identity as a college of divinity.

For many years the Annual Assembly of the Congregational Union of Scotland was held here, and it was here that the historic decision was made to seek union with the United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom, and bring the Synod of Scotland into existence. The Synod is now delighted to host here the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church, and I hope you will find the place congenial to good fellowship, lively debate and wise decision-making.

John Arthur 
Moderator Synod of Scotland

Links
St Andrew's University
Synod of Scotland