ABSTRACT
The first major adaptation to the superintendents' role, sanctioned by the General Assembly, was the superintendents' synods. With the notable exception of Fife, the lack of surviving minutes from synods held during the period to 1572 renders it difficult to unravel their precise function within individual districts. The broad picture given in the minutes of the General Assembly for that period shows synods forming an increasingly important intermediate layer of authority within the developing appellate nature of the church courts, rising from kirk sessions, to synods, to, ultimately, the General Assembly. Any person dissatisfied with the subsequent ruling of the synod were appealed to the next meeting of the General Assembly, whose decision was final. The insistence that appeals originating in parishes were first heard in synods, and only if dissatisfied with the result the matter was further appealed to the General Assembly, highlighted the role of synods as an intermediate court between the kirk session and the General Assembly.
