Protestantism in Scotland - James Aitken Wylie

inspecting the conduct of ministers, readers, and
exhorters.[1]
The government of the Church, Knox regarded
as hardly second to her instruction, believing that
the latter could not preserve its purity unless the
other was maintained in its rigor. First came the
Kirk Session, composed of the minister and elders,
who managed the affairs of the congregation; next
came the Presbytery, formed by the delegation of a
minister and elder from every congregation within
the shire; above it was the Synod, constituted by a
minister and elder from each congregation within
the province, and having, like the court below it,
power to decide on all causes arising within its
bounds. Last of all came the General Assembly,
which was constituted of a certain number of
delegates from every Presbytery. This scheme gave
to every member of the Church, directly or
indirectly, a voice fix her government; it was a
truly popular rule, but acting only through
constitutional channels, and determining all cases
by the laws of Scripture.
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