Episcopal polity Apostle. Currently the bishops of the Assyrian Church of the East continue to maintain its apostolic succession. Anglicanism is the most prominent of the Reformation traditions to lay claim to the historic episcopate through apostolic succession in terms comparable to the various Roman Catholic and Orthodox Communions. Anglicans assert unbroken episcopal succession in and through the Church of England back to St. Augustine of Canterbury and to the first century Roman province of Britannia. While some Celtic Christian practices were changed at the Synod of Whitby, the church in the British Isles was under papal authority from earliest times. The
Scottish Episcopal Church the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury as president of the Anglican Instruments of Communion, but without jurisdiction in Scotland "per se". This close but ambivalent relationship – consisting of a partial recognition of the authority of the Church of England, yet concurrent claim of independence – results from the unique history of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. According to the Mission Atlas Project, 85,000 affiliates identify with the Scottish Episcopal Church with the members being "largely upper middle class with a large number of landed aristocrats." In the