Scottish Liturgy
The Scottish Episcopal Church has a distinctive liturgical tradition that holds special significance for St Andrew’s Cathedral and the wider Anglican Communion.
A Living Heritage
The Scottish Episcopal Church uses a range of liturgies in worship. As the Cathedral Church, both Traditional and Contemporary Liturgies are in regular use, with local adaptations.
The Cathedral congregation is most diverse in its Anglican Heritage, so, parts of liturgies from around the world is used appropriately in consultation.
Liturgical innovation is encouraged within the Scottish Episcopal Church, built around our distinctive Scottish liturgy and influenced by the rediscovery of our Celtic roots.
The Aberdeen Connection
The Scottish Liturgy has a profound connection to St Andrew’s Cathedral and to the birth of the American Episcopal Church. When Samuel Seabury was consecrated as the first American bishop in Aberdeen on 14 November 1784, it was on the condition that he study the Scottish rite of Holy Communion and work for its adoption in America.
True to this agreement, Seabury published his “Communion Office” in 1786, based on the Scottish Liturgy of 1764 rather than the 1662 Book of Common Prayer used in the Church of England. The Scottish Rite Prayer continued with an oblation, anamnesis, epiclesis, intercessions and doxology based on ancient classical models of consecration prayers. Wikipedia This adoption of the Scottish Prayer of Consecration brought the Episcopal Church’s eucharistic doctrine closer to the tradition of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, restoring the ancient doctrine that the Eucharist is the Church’s sacrifice.
A Gift to the Anglican Communion
The influence of the Scottish Liturgy thus flows through American Episcopalian worship to this day, making Aberdeen the birthplace not only of the American episcopate but also of a distinctive liturgical tradition that enriched Anglicanism worldwide. When you worship at St Andrew’s Cathedral, you participate in a living tradition that connects Scotland, America, and the global Anglican family.