The lowest court in the Established Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian Churches, composed of the minister and elders of the parish or congregation.
(The Free Church having revived the office of deacon, has as its lowest court a Deacons’ Court.)
1717. De Foe, Mem. Ch. Scot. (1844), 6. The Subordination of Judicatories is such, and the Proceedings so nicely accounted for by the Kirk-Sessions to the Presbyteries, by the Presbyteries to the Provincial Synods, and by the Synods to the General Assemblies, that there can no Mistake pass unobserved.
1806. Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2), Introd. 19. The Kirk Session, composed of the minister, elders, and deacons of every parish, forms the lowest ecclesiastical court of Scotland.
1871. Sir H. Moncrieff, Pract. Free Ch. Scotl., 7. The Pastor or Pastors of each Congregation, along with a suitable number of Elders, who are not pastors, constitute a governing body, which is called the Kirk-Session.
