Church set to study impact of separation

The General Assembly backed a call for the study, which will include a look at what the church's position would be if the 1707 Treaty of Union is superseded.

The Rev Ian Galloway, convener of the church and society council, said the Kirk did not have a policy on independence, but had a distinctive contribution to make to the debate.

He said: "The Church of Scotland has been debating devolution issues since 1947 and it is highly unlikely it would stop now, when we have just had the election we have and there are questions for the whole of our society to debate."

On the future of the Kirk's status as the "national church", he said: "I'm sure that whatever the constitutional outcome, its position as that will be respected and maintained."