Kirk, church, chapel?

[ThistleDown]

I am sure you will all proceed with caution here, keeping in mind that a discussion of historical religious fact is acceptable whilst editorialising is not.

[James Hood]

Hmm. Back to the word, "Kirk"...

...In Deutsh, "Kirche"...

..(keer-shuh) , commonly designates the church structure and is not denomination-specific (and the word is feminine).

[Mike_Oettle]

The word being discussed actually derives from a Greek expression, doma kiriakon (“house of the Lord”), which passed into the Roman/Romance language (late Latin) as kirikon. It was taken up into Germanic long before the Germanic speakers generally had been converted to Christianity, and so passed into use in Germany itself, the Low Countries, Scandinavia and Britain.
As a Germanic word (Kirche [German], kerk [Dutch, Afrikaans], kirk [Norwegian, Scots], church [English]) it has always meant both “a building for worship” and “the whole body of believers”.
In this respect it is distinct from the Latin ecclesia (Greek ekklesia), which refers to people called out to follow Christ, and in turn is a concept borrowed from Hebrew.

Regarding the Scottish Episcopalians, quite aside from their political position within Scotland, they were greatly valued by the Anglican Communion in other countries. Episcopal clergy (fleeing Scotland because of one or another kind of persecution) were welcomed by the Church of England, and by the new Anglican/Episcopal churches in North America and the other countries of the Empire.
Scottish clergy played a significant role in building up the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, as well as elsewhere.
Regards,
Mike