At Ingwenya, Zimbabwe, the John Tallach Secondary School will be losing three teachers in April. There is urgent need for teachers having
Mathematics or Science at degree level. Persons not having teacher training will be acceptable.
At Sengera in Kisii Province in Kenya there is urgent need for a doctor or nurse to supervise the setting up and running of the Hospital Clinic which has recently been built.
Again we would urge suitably qualified persons to give prayerful consideration to the above appeal. Anyone willing to respond to these needs should contact the Clerk to the Foreign Missions Committee, Rev. J. R. Tallach, Free Presbyterian Manse, Raasay, Kyle, IV40 8PB.
Presbytery Meetings (D.V.)
Skye: At Portree on 3rd April at 11 a.m.
Outer Isles: At Stornoway on 3rd April at 12 noon.
Northern: At Dingwall on 17th April at 2 p.m.
Australia and New Zealand: At Sydney on 4th May at 2.30 p.m.
Zimbabwe: At Bulawayo on 12th June at 2 p.m.
Western: At Laide on 19th June at 6 p.m.
Oban and Fort William Communions
There will be no Oban Communion but the Fort William Communion will be held on the fifth Sabbath of April (D.V.)
(Rev.) L. MacLeod, Interim Moderator
Northern Presbytery Protest Against Sabbath Postal Collections
The District Head Postmaster
14-16 Queensgate
INVERNESS
Dear Mr. Horlor,
I am writing on behalf of our Presbytery to express our sadness and dismay at the re-introduction by the Post Office of collections of mail on the Lord’s Day in certain parts of the Highlands and elsewhere, and to protest against this violation of the Fourth Commandment.
The Presbytery rejoiced when this service was withdrawn many years ago. Why it should be thought necessary to re-introduce it in an era of faster and faster communications, we cannot understand. The Presbytery are certain that this is the thin end of the wedge so far as Post Office services on the Lord’s Day are concerned and that, if it is not halted now, it will lead to further encroachments on the sanctity of the Lord’s Day.
We would remind the Post Office Management that the Fourth Commandment is an integral part of the Moral Law of God and that any under-
mining of this Commandment will inevitably result in further encroachment on the other Commandments. The Ten Commandments are binding on all men everywhere, and every person has an inalienable right to be free from all employment on God’s holy day, apart from works of necessity and mercy. Where Sabbath work has been introduced in other areas of employment, it has very often meant that those who have refused to participate in it have been victimised in one way or another. We would urge the abandonment of the present scheme, which we regard as a serious retrograde step and one which God will not honour, but will manifest His displeasure against it.
“Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” Exodus 20: 8-10.
If the decision to reintroduce the Sabbath postal collections has been taken at a higher than District level, I would be very grateful if you would forward this letter of protest to the appropriate authority.
On behalf of the Presbytery,
Yours faithfully,
D. B. Macleod, Clerk of Presbytery.
(Since the above letter was written, Lord Hesketh, Under Secretary of State, Environment, intimated in the House of Lords that the Post Office is to re-introduce ‘Sunday’ collections throughout the country from this autumn.)
Appeal for Historical Material
Mr James MacLeod is currently embarking on a 3-year Ph.D. Research Project at Edinburgh University, studying the Origins and Early History of the Free Presbyterian Church. He would welcome any private letters, notebooks, diaries, scrapbooks, articles etc relating to this topic, also personal or family anecdotes from that time. Anyone willing to help him may forward material to him at 43 Denholm Street, Greenock. All material will be returned in due course.