"Associate Session" or "Associate Congregation" - definition please?

[PrueM]

Hi all,
I haven't come across the terms Associate Session/Congregation before, but within several generations of one family (WARDLAW) from Dunfermline, I have it in relation to a number of baptisms from the 1700s.

Can anyone explain to me whether there is any particular meaning in the terms, or does it just mean they were baptised in front of the normal congregation?

Many thanks

Prue

[jessden]

Hello

The reference to your ancestors being baptized before the Associate Congregation means that the parents had left the established Church of Scotland and joined a group known collectively as the Associate Synod - the local church would be called an Associate Congregation.  This process of leaving the Church of Scotland began in 1733 and Dunfermline was one of the main centres of what is often called the Original Secession.  The reason for the split was the imposition of patronage by the government in Westminster - they gave a patron, often a local landowner, the right to select the parish minister and the people who left the Church of Scotland felt strongly that the local congregation ought to be allowed to choose the minister.  You ancestors presumably felt strongly about this subject and would have been willing to face the financial implications of their decision as the congregations of the new church had to find the money to pay their minister.

Despite having left the Church of Scotland, these people would sometimes arrange to have their baptisms entered in the parish records kept by the established church - sometimes they did not!

Hope this helps - if you need anything more on this subject, I'll try to help.

Regards

Jessden

[PrueM]

Oh, brilliant! 
Thank you very much Jess, that's really interesting.  I knew I must have rebels somewhere back in the ancestry 
I will be delving deeper into this family so if I find anything else I need help with, I'll be sure to give you a yell.

Cheers - and thanks again 

Prue