Rev. D. A. Ross
ONE hundred years ago, the 26th day of February witnessed the opening of the church of the Shieldaig Free Presbyterian Congregation, three years after the founding of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. What is a church more than another building? It is to be used for the assembling of worshippers, worshipping the living and true God in the manner prescribed by Himself. We are thankful that during the past one hundred years this has been done in the Free Presbyterian church at Shieldaig.
This scriptural worship was precious to the Rev. Donald Macdonald, the first minister of the Free Presbyterian Congregation in Shieldaig. No doubt he was raised up by God and obtained grace to depart from the then Free Church in 1893 because of the extremely unbiblical Declaratory Act introduced into the Church by its liberal professors and ministers. When the present Free Presbyterian church was built in Shieldaig it was with the intention that within it there would be the true worship of God, free from the trammels of the God-dishonouring Declaratory Act.
Rev. Donald Macdonald was by all accounts a faithful servant of Christ and was noted for his godliness. The first few years of his ministry were spent as a probationer in the Free Church; then he was ordained and inducted to the Shieldaig Free Church Congregation in 1872. However, in 1893, when the Free Church rejected the appeal to repeal the infamous Declaratory Act, introduced the previous year, and which demoted the truths of God’s Word, Mr Macdonald had no hesitation in departing from that unfaithful Church. Along with Rev D. Macfarlane and other godly persons, he took part in the founding of what is now the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Mr Macdonald’s congregation (apart from a very few persons), being in full agreement with the step he took, adhered to him as their pastor.
However, this step in faithfulness to Christ earned him a considerable degree of persecution. “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” says Scripture, and Mr MacDonald was no stranger to that experience. Sadly, some of that persecution came from the Free Church when it deprived him and his congregation of the church and manse gifted to them in 1877.
They then had to worship in the open air in a hollow in the moor not far from the church. This particular spot faces the sea, is on a fairly steep slope,
and has rock boulders at the back and at both sides which afforded some shelter from cold north-east winds. A dyke was erected on the south-west side which would have served as a wind break to some extent. In good weather the area was evidently an excellent sun trap. It was also wonderfully suited for the projecting of the preacher’s voice. The pulpit was a portable wooden structure with a roof and enclosed back and sides but open at the front, where there was a bookrest. It was raised a few feet from the ground and was capable of housing two persons. In some parts of the Highlands this type of pulpit for the shelter of the preacher was known as “the tent”, meaning a portable, temporary structure. The “tent” at Shieldaig was used even after the erection of the new church building in 1896 because at communion times the church, although large, was not large enough to hold all the people who gathered for the solemn occasion, and therefore the services had to be held in the open air again. This particular “tent”, having now outlived its usefulness, is presently housed in the Gairloch Museum.
How long after 1893, and before the building of the church, the congregation and its pastor worshipped in the open moor, we do not know exactly, but it seems to have been less than two years. Then, in the kind providence of the Lord, the present church building was erected.
On Wednesday, the 26th day of February 1895, the new church was opened by Rev J.R. MacKay, who preached from Hebrews 1:10-12 to a congregation of about 700 people. We can well imagine what a happy occasion it was for the people after having suffered so unjustly for taking their stand along with their faithful minister in defence of the Word of God. The Most High had now favoured them by providing a church which was described then “a handsome building, having the appearance of being substantial, commodious, comfortable, and well finished”. Indeed, even by today’s advanced standards in building the church fits this description well.
After the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church, Rev. Donald Macdonald’s ministry was greatly valued throughout the whole Church as well as by his own congregation, of which he continued to be the pastor until his death on 20th August, 1901.
As a man of God there were few like him. Rev. D. Macfarlane says in his Memoir and Remains of Rev. D. Macdonald, Shieldaig, “Mr Macdonald had not in his day many equals, and but few, if any superiors… He was a Christian of deeply rooted piety… Another feature of his character as a Christian was his prayerfulness… On some occasions under a sense of desertion he added fasting to prayer… Mr Macdonald was a Christian who, like Enoch, walked with God… He was a holy Christian – not perfectly holy,
for that is not attainable by any Christian till death… He was a humble Christian; he considered himself less than the least of all saints… Another outstanding feature of his character was his spiritual-mindedness. His affections were set on things above, not on things on the earth; his conversation was in heaven… Mr Macdonald was a hopeful Christian… a tried Christian… a sympathetic Christian… a steadfast, immovable Christian”. (pages 45-55). Many other beautiful things Mr Macfarlane has to say about Mr Macdonald; for example, that he “was strictly Calvinistic in his views and teaching.” In his preaching “his great theme was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. A sermon without Christ he never preached. Christ was the all and in all to him.”. Those of us today who are ministers of Christ would do well to constantly imitate the piety and faithfulness of Mr Macdonald in his being a follower of Christ. Mr Macfarlane concludes his memoirs of Mr Macdonald thus: “By the Divine blessing, Mr Macdonald left the Free Presbyterian Church on a sure footing, and in a prosperous condition. Ours is the duty of maintaining the position to which the Lord has called us, and which He has hitherto owned and blessed.”
Ninety-five years have passed since the death of Mr Macdonald, but the Shieldaig Congregation continues under the same gospel, which is cause for much thankfulness to the God of mercies. Over the years, while some ministers ministering to the Shieldaig congregation did not prove faithful, others, along with elders and church members, continued to the end to be faithful followers of Christ Jesus. There is one difference however: the large congregation of Mr Macdonald’s day is now reduced to a handful of people. What used to be numbered in hundreds is now numbered in tens. This has necessitated the joining of Shieldaig Congregation with the Applecross Congregation.
What has caused this reduction in numbers? There are a few causes. No doubt, one reason is that over the years an awful malady of carelessness regarding eternal issues has progressed steadily and now has taken a deadly hold upon whole communities in the West Highlands. People no longer attend the house of God as they used to do. Also, there has been the depopulation of these districts. Many of our Church people had to move south and east to obtain work. Rev. D. Macdonald saw this drift in his own day, and in addressing the young who left home to work elsewhere, he most earnestly directed them to continue attending their Church. While our congregations in the larger cities benefited by the arrival of such people, it is a sad fact that many who left their home congregations drifted away to other Churches or ceased attending church. The loss is theirs.
What of the future? By the grace of God the Shieldaig Congregation came into existence in 1893, and by the grace of God, the congregation, though small in number, continues to the present time. Only by Divine grace shall we continue to exist and also grow. What we need immediately and especially, is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He alone can bring about a true reviving in the Church and an awakening in the souls of men. We need the blessed Holy Spirit to come to stir up not only those in our churches but also those who presently absent themselves from church. Only then will they come to listen and give earnest heed to the truth, as those who have a great burden of heart about being prepared to meet their Creator. Meanwhile, we labour and pray for such a day. May God hasten it in His mercy.
“Turn us again, O Lord our God,
and upon us vouchsafe
To make thy countenance to shine,
and so we shall be safe.” (Psalm 80: 3,7,19).