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Kirk





BASIC MEANING AND ETYMOLOGY

As a & Faroese ''kirkja''; Swedish ''kyrka''; Norwegian & Danish ''kirke''; German ''Kirche''; Dutch ''kerk''.


THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

As a Proper Noun , The Kirk is an informal name for the Church Of Scotland , the country's national church. ''The Kirk of Scotland'' was in official use as the name of the Church of Scotland until the 17th century, and still today the term is frequently used in the press and everyday speech, though seldom in the Church's own literature. However, Kirk Session is the standard term in church law for the court of elders in the local parish, both in the Church of Scotland and in any of the other Scottish Presbyterian denominations.


FREE KIRK


Even more commonly, ''The Free Kirk'' is heard as an informal name for the Free Church Of Scotland , an evangelical presbyterian church formed in 1843 when its founders withdrew from the Church of Scotland. See:



HIGH KIRK

High kirk is the term used to describe a congregation of the Church of Scotland which uses a building which was a , as well as ''High Kirk of Glasgow'', and St. Giles' Cathedral , as well as the ''High Kirk of Edinburgh''.


PLACE NAMES

Kirk is found as an element in many place names in Scotland and northern England , and in countries with large Scottish Expatriate communities, for example:

Scotland



Also Dunkirk , France , though this is an Anglicisation of an original Dutch form, ''Duinkerke''.

See: David Dorward, ''Scotland's Place-names'', 1995, p.82f. ISBN 1873644507


PERSONAL NAMES

Kirk is in common use as a Surname :

Kirk is also occasionally found as a Forename :