My dear friends,
As I'm sure you're aware, the Commission of Assembly met on 8th and
9th December 1999 to consider various matters which are of considerable
importance to the whole Church. No doubt fuller reports of the decisions
taken will appear shortly, but in the meantime the following appear
to be particularly significant:
1. The response of the FCDA to the Commission's order to disband
The Free Church Defence Association submitted a letter intimating that
they did not intend to disband and that they backed the editors of their
magazine Free Church Foundations in their raising of issues of
which the Assembly had forbidden mention.
The Association took this line because they believed that they had a
duty to draw to the attention of the Assembly actions which they believed
were carried out by the Assembly contrary to the Constitution of the
Church. They further argued that while they had great respect for the
Assembly as the supreme court of the Church, their duty to uphold the
Constitution of the Church was higher than their duty to obey illegal
decisions of the Assembly.
The Commission decided on Thursday 9th December 1999 to charge more
than thirty ministers with contumacy - that is, wilful persistent refusal
to obey the instructions of a court of the Church - because they supported
that stand. Ten of those ministers were present in the building and
were summoned to the bar of the Commission (ie. put in the dock). All
refused to alter their views, because they believe that they are acting
in accordance with the Constitution of the Church whereas the Assembly
are acting illegally (ie. against Scripture, against the Constitution,
against the Laws and against the Practice of the Free Church of Scotland).
The others have received notice by letter that they are to be charged.
Instructions have also been given to local trustees to evict from his
home any minister who may be suspended.
I am among those charged, but I believe that in good conscience I must
uphold my ordination vows to stand firm for the Constitution of the
Free Church of Scotland which places a higher duty on me to obey the
requirements of the Bible, the Westminster Confession of Faith and the
Form of Process (the basic code of Church Law) than to obey Assembly
instructions which contradict any one or more of these.
2. Church Government by Presbyteries changed
A decision was taken to impose, against the will of the Presbytery of
Skye and Uist, sixteen assessors on that Presbytery in order to ensure
that the decisions and actions of that Presbytery will conform to what
the majority in the nationwide Church wish. That action is, in terms
of my understanding, completely unprecedented since the start of the
Free Church and is, I believe, fundamentally contrary to the Constitution
of the Church. It amounts in practice to an end of genuine Presbyterian
church government in favour of central control.
From a personal point of view I wish to assure each one of you that
when I made solemn promises before this congregation at the time I was
ordained and inducted, I meant every word. I still hold to those promises
and will do everything that lies within my power, as God may enable
me, to put them into practice.
My prayer is that we will all be enabled to continue on the same basis
as this congregation has for over 150 years and indeed on the same basis
as the Church here has striven to do since at least 1690.
May God enable us all to see very clearly what the Constitution of this
Church says so plainly: the Great King and Head of the Church is the
Lord Jesus Christ and it is His instructions that we must obey, first
and foremost.
Any comments or questions please E-Mail
me or Rev William Macleod
the Editor.
[Back to Reformed Christian Pages][Back
to Free Church Foundations]