Leverburgh Care Home
The Leverburgh Residential Care Home Committee hope to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of the Home with an open afternoon on Friday, 1 February 2013, DV. The Committee warmly invite all who have been associated with the Committee over the years to attend, and everyone who has had any association with the Home from the beginning.
(Rev) Donald Macdonald, Convener
Theological Conference 2012
The annual Theological Conference was held in Inverness on October 30-31. Around 25 members gathered for two days of papers, discussion and questions.
The first paper was delivered by Mr Roy Middleton, speaking on Louis Berkhof. Mr Middleton’s exhaustive account of a man to whom the Reformed world is so heavily indebted was well received. Berkhof, by way of his Systematic Theology and Principles of Biblical Interpretation, is a familiar figure on our shelves and in our studies, and it was a privilege to gain a fuller understanding of this gracious and gifted man.
Rev JB Jardine’s Bible character in the evening was Jonah, and the weaknesses of one of the Lord’s prophets were faithfully and usefully set over against the power and mercy of his God. The elements of Jonah’s repentance were drawn out and his prayer from the belly of the great fish, drawing as it did so largely from the Book of Psalms, was shown to be an expression of his faith.
Wednesday started with a paper on Antinomianism from Rev J R Tallach. Rabbi Duncan was quoted: “There is only one error, and that is Antinomianism”. A distinction was made between Antinomianism as a doctrine, stated and defended, which relatively few would engage in, and an Antinomian tendency which is the weakness of all our hearts.
In the afternoon Rev K D Macleod spoke on the Great Ejection of 1662.
The pressure to conform to unbiblical conditions is not so distantly related to the pressures building up in our own society. Certainly the directions drawn up by these good men suffering through evil days have an enduring relevance: “Cleave to Christ”; “Keep pure”; “Prepare for fiery trials”.
In the evening Rev Donald Macdonald gave a paper on the Fall. He drew largely on Prof John Murray and Thomas Boston and it was a timely reminder of the root from which so many bitter fruits spring in our own day. Pruning the branches will not suffice – a new creation in Christ Jesus is required.
We are indebted to all the speakers for the obvious effort put into the production of these papers and to those who raised questions of interest during the discussion periods. Two of the meetings were in private but perhaps in future all the meetings should be in public. Discussion under the chairmanship of Rev David Campbell was lively while remaining brotherly. Plans are already afoot for next year’s Conference, in Glasgow, the Lord willing. JRT
Meetings of Presbytery (DV)
Southern: At Glasgow, on Tuesday, January 15, at 3 pm.
Australia & New Zealand: At Auckland, Friday, January 25, at 9.30 am.
Outer Isles: At Stornoway, on Tuesday, March 5, at 11 am.
Western: At Lochcarron, on Tuesday, March 5, at 12 noon.
Northern: At Dingwall, on Tuesday, March 19, at 2 pm.