Continuing A Necessary Controversy
It is hard to believe that it is only about two years since the Free Church Defence Association was revived. Much has happened in that time. Some things have been positive and encouraging, but overall the future appears uncertain, if not bleak. Some are weary and frustrated at the way things are developing. Some are losing their patience. Others are drifting off elsewhere, having given up on the Free Church Courts and regarding the discipline of ministers and members within the Free Church as almost non-existent. What are we to say?
Revived in Controversy
It is necessary to remember that the FCDA was revived in the midst of controversy and division. It did not start the division. Those who talked up division through the media in order to persuade the 1995 Assembly to “close” the Professor Macleod case sowed the seeds of it. A Memorial circulated at that time showed up who was “for” and “against”. The division became more focused with the 1996 Court case and the “conspiracy” allegations. Then, after the Court case, Professor Donald Macleod famously asserted that he had only to say the word and the Church would split. Things degenerated completely with the emergence of Free Concern and the second Memorial. Congregations hitherto united were split apart. Who can forget some of the outrageous things said by people at Free Concern rallies? Many became convinced that discipline in the Free Church had become seriously undermined, if not non-existent. There was talk of the need to change things. The Constitution of the Church appeared to be under threat. Certainly if it was not going to be changed, some parts would be ignored as it suited those who were driving for change. In 1997 Free Concern supporters hijacked the Church’s Committees. Then there was the infamous censure of the three men at the 1997 Assembly. Only at the end of all this provocation did like-minded brethren join together to revive the FCDA. Are you weary of people telling you the FCDA is divisive? Point the finger where the blame really lies.
Reacting in Controversy
The reviving of the FCDA was a reaction to what others were doing. Up until the 1998 Assembly its actions continued to be largely reactions. Complaints were made against Professor Donald Macleod’s writings. There was criticism of the revisionist suggestion that the Free Church was not unreservedly committed to the whole of the Westminster Confession of Faith. There was also the “carol service” which along with Professor Macleod’s ridiculing of the principle of “purity of worship” troubled many who loved the Psalms and believed in the binding nature of ordination vows. People properly complained as individuals through the Church Courts. The FCDA did not try to supplant these courts or complain to them. Rather it informed the people of what was really happening in the Free Church and gave a platform for those who wanted to oppose this modernising or liberalising of the Free Church and the changing or ignoring the Constitution of the Church. What was the result? Some people tried to have the FCDA banned.
Battling in Controversy
At the 1998 Assembly the supporters of the FCDA had some significant encouragements. The attempt to ban the FCDA and attack the editor of Free Church Foundations was defeated. The General Assembly reaffirmed Purity of Worship and in so doing implicitly criticised the notorious “Aberdeen Carol Service”. The unconstitutional “censure” of the three men was overturned. On other important matters however little was done. And by that time one man, Professor Cartwright, and many good people had become weary and frustrated, and seeing the situation as hopelessly lost, they left the Free Church. A crisis was looming for the Free Church. A Peace Commission was established.
Peaceable despite Controversy
The 1998 Assembly called for peace, and a way forward was sought through the Peace Commission. Although it displeased and frustrated some supporters, the FCDA felt it was right to give peace a chance. In the last year, up until recently, that peace was maintained. Public comments critical of others were kept to a minimum. There was certainly no stirring up in the magazine. A disclaimer was even put onto one article which had appeared on the internet and was taken as offensive by some. On the Free Church Web-site, in the Monthly Record, in the Rev David Robertson’s Free Church News e-mail, in Church Courts and elsewhere, the FCDA continued to be unnecessarily attacked. Media manipulation continued to occur. We gave peace a chance, but others continued the attacks. Meanwhile the Special Commission, while doing some good work, failed to solve the main problems.
Persevering in Controversy
Perhaps you are one of those people who are beginning to grow weary. Some people, like the Rev Angus Smith, have been attacked relentlessly. Recently, he said he was intending leaving the Free Church and applying to join the Free Presbyterians. We are sad but we are not surprised nor do we blame him. Perhaps you too are noticing that today things are happening (and being publicly supported) in the Free Church which only a few years ago would have brought people under discipline. Laxity seems to prevail everywhere. You hear of the three private libels and fear that the Church will try to bury them, rather than deal openly and honestly with them. Perhaps you look at this Assembly as a turning point. You say: “If nothing happens, I’m off.”
To turn away, giving up, may seem the easy option. It is also what the opponents of the FCDA want. They want to wear you down and so divide and conquer. You should not allow them to do that. If all we want is truth, honesty, and faithfulness to the Constitutional position of the Free Church (what the Free Church theoretically stands for) we have got right on our side, and one day it must prevail. Let us hope and pray that the charges in the three libels will be dealt with properly. This may take months.
Let us also make it equally clear that we are not going to keep quiet. We will persevere in the battle. Indeed the struggle has only begun. For years good men have kept quiet in the face of much provocation and adverse publicity and slander. The Church must deal with these matters properly. The public has been given a most misleading version of events in the last few years. The truth will eventually come out. Let us fight on in the name of the God of truth, the “God, that cannot lie” (Tit.1:2). This is no time to give up. It is time to “cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Is.58:1). Let us persevere, for God and His glory.
Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the editor.
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