The Late Alexander MacLennan, Elder, Glasgow
ALEXANDER MACLENNAN was born in Fernamore, Applecross, on 17th June 1919, the eldest son of John and Lexie MacLennan. Another son and daughter completed the family.
Alick’s father presented in the Free Church prior to 1893. He was one of the first in the village to join the Free Presbyterian Church, where he also acted as precentor when it was formed in that year. His wife was a sister of the eminently pious William MacBeath, who was an elder in the congregation in Applecross, and a faithful witness for Christ in his day and generation.
Undoubtedly Alick had a good example set before him in his home, but sadly his father died when he was only thirteen years of age. He left school the following year and went to work on a farm at Glenelg. He remained there until he was called up for war service in 1939, serving in the Royal Navy, where he was on convoy duty for most of the time. He was discharged in 1946, having been safely preserved in the midst of the dangers of that terrible war.
After his discharge he spent two seasons fishing at sea. He then joined the Merchant Service, where he served mostly on foreign ships as a seaman, and eventually as a bosun. When he left the sea he obtained employment as an insurance agent, and served his company faithfully until he retired. He was married on 17th May 1954. His wife Dina, a native of the Island of Raasay, proved a true helpmeet to him in every way. There is a family of three sons from their marriage.
Alick appears to have been a considerable time under concern for his soul. He was deeply impressed with the holiness of God, and in the measure that was good for him, the Holy Spirit gave him a taste of the experience of Isaiah when he exclaimed, “Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts,” (Isaiah 6:5).
While under concern he was visited with a very severe temptation. Satan, making bad use of the parable of the prodigal son, tempted him with the thought that, as he was the elder brother in the family, there was no hope of salvation for him. The temptation was so vivid that he was quite certain there was no hope for him. While in this state of mind he was further tempted to think, on a particular Sabbath, that since there was no hope for him, there was no point in his going to church. Instead it was suggested to him that he should take his wife and family for a car run down the Clyde Coast. How strong and cunning are the wiles of the evil one, to keep souls away from the means of grace! Alick was prevented from acting on this temptation by the thought painfully entering his mind, that although there was no hope for him, yet his wife and family should not be denied the privilege of going to hear the gospel. So he took out his car and went to church as usual.
During the course of the service the preacher broke away from the particular subject he was dealing with, and referred to the deliverance of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. In the course of his remarks he said that if anyone, among the families of Israel, had the greatest cause for rejoicing, it would be the first-born in each family. Under the shelter of the blood of the Paschal Lamb, he had been delivered from the destroying angel, while the first-born in the families of the Egyptians had been slain. The Holy Spirit used this part of the sermon to break the power of Alick’s temptation.
Alick now began to seek the true Paschal Lamb with great earnestness. There is no doubt but that the time came when, through the faith which is by the operation of the Holy Spirit, he began to feed upon the Saviour, and to find a resting place for his soul under the shelter of the blood that cleanseth from all sin. He could now say with the church in the Song: “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste,” (Song of Solomon 2:3). The services of God’s house were now his great delight, and the people of God his chosen companions.
In November 1978 he appeared before the St. Jude’s Kirk Session, seeking to be admitted to the Lord’s Table for the first time. The Session had much pleasure in granting him his desire, and he took his place with the people of God in keeping in remembrance the death of the one who, having loved His own, loved them unto the end. He became a well-known and very welcome visitor at Communion Seasons throughout the Church, when his prayers and his speaking to the Question were much appreciated.
In December 1980 he was ordained and inducted as a deacon, and in 1985 as an elder. In both these offices he discharged his duties conscientiously, and he ever kept in mind his ordination vows. His fellow office-bearers looked forward to enjoying his warm fellowship for many years, but that was not to be.
In May 1995 he suffered a severe stroke and was taken to hospital, where he received excellent treatment. By the blessing of the Lord this treatment led to a return of sufficient strength for him to be allowed home from the hospital. He continued to progress to such an extent that he was able to attend services in the church, to his great pleasure.
At the April Communion in Glasgow last year he gave out this verse as the “question” at the fellowship meeting on Friday: “He that believeth on the Son hath life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him,” (John 3:36). He said these words had been much on his mind while he was in hospital, and he obviously had resolved to give them out at a fellowship meeting, if he was spared to be present. He was in a very happy frame of mind during the communion services, and was able to take his place at the Lord’s Table, although he did not know that it was to be for the last time.
Another person sitting at the Table on that occasion was also there for the last time, although she knew it not. Miss Mary Nicolson, who had been a communicant in Glasgow for fifty-nine years, passed away the following August, her sister Joan having predeceased her by five months. Both these sisters were well-known in the Glasgow congregation, and throughout the Church, as true and faithful witnesses on the side of Christ and His Cause. They are greatly missed in the Church below, although we believe that, as to their souls, they are now in the Father’s house, with Christ, which is far better.
On the Monday of that communion, after the Sabbath services, Alick seemed his usual self, but early on Tuesday 30th April he took a heart attack and passed away, in his 77th year, to the rest that remaineth for the people of God. His empty place in the congregation and in the courts of the Church is deeply felt, but our loss, we believe, is his everlasting gain.
We extend our sincere sympathy to his widow and family. May the Lord comfort and uphold them, and reveal Himself as the Father of the fatherless, and the widow’s judge, in His holy habitation. To his sons we would address the words which David, King of Israel, addressed to his son, “Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth the imagination of all the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee: but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever,” (1 Chron. 28:9).
(Rev.) D. M., Glasgow