Communions.
Inverness, 4th Sabbath of month; Dingwall, 1st Sabbath of February.
Acknowledgment.
The Treasurer of the Dingwall congregation begs to acknowledge, with thanks, the sum of £5 from a Free Presbyterian friend within the bounds of the Northern Presbytery, and £5 from “A Friend, Bridge-of-Allan,” for the Church Building Fund.
Raasay.
A correspondent writes:—”The Free Presbyterian congregation here is put under abiding obligations of gratitude to Mr. James Mackenzie, Cliff House, Poolewe, who some years ago lent £200 to help to erect Church Buildings on the island. Now, Mr. Mackenzie has written cancelling this debt in the most generous manner, and putting the congregation in a position to look once more for a settled ministry.” We may add that the whole Church is obliged to Mr. Mackenzie for his liberality in this matter.
Appeal by Dingwall Congregation.
The following extract from the Records of the Northern Presbytery has been issued in circular form, and we trust the appeal will meet with a generous response:—
“At Dingwall, the 2nd day of November, 1906, the which day the Northern Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland met and was constituted:—Inter alia: Rev. D. Macfarlane informed the Presbytery that, at a Congregational Meeting of the Free Presbyterian Congregation of Dingwall on the previous day, it was unanimously resolved to proceed to the erection of an Iron Church for the use of the said Congregation at Dingwall, they being at present without a place of worship of their own. The proposed Church is to be seated for about 200, and the probable cost is about £300. The Congregation ask the sanction of the Presbytery for this project, on an understanding that one-half of the money necessary for building the said Church shall have been collected, ere the building thereof be commenced with. The Presbytery, on this understanding, sanctioned the building of the said Iron Church, and cordially recommend the scheme to the sympathy of Christian friends.”—(Signed) D. MACFARLANE, Moderator; J. R. M’KAY, Clerk. Contributions will be thankfully received and acknowledged by Rev. D. Macfarlane, F.P. Manse, Dingwall, or Mr. Murdo Urquhart, Treasurer, Craig View, Craig Road, Dingwall.
Resolution anent Opium Traffic.
The following resolution has been drawn up by the Committee of Synod on this subject, and forwarded to the Prime Minister, the Secretary for India, and others: “This Synod hails with thankfulness the statement made in the House of Commons in May anent the opium traffic with China, and also the steps taken since by the Chinese Government to put a stop to the cultivation, retailing and consumption of opium within their territories, and it prays the British Government to lend its effectual aid to China by stopping the deportation of opium from India. It desires to say that so much light has been shed recently on the demoralising and degrading effects of opium on the people of China, and the guilt in connection with it which lies at the door of the British Government, that it shall stand condemned before all other nations if it does not take immediate steps to bring to an end this iniquitous traffic.” A resolution on the same topic has also been forwarded by the Southern Presbytery.
Ordination at Halkirk.
The Northern Presbytery met at the Free Presbyterian Church, Halkirk, Caithness, on Tuesday, the 18th December, and ordained the Rev. Norman Matheson, probationer, to the pastoral charge of Halkirk and Helmsdale. Rev. John R. Mackay, Inverness, presided, and preached from 1 Corinthians ii. 12. Thereafter, he gave a narrative of the proceedings leading up to the ordination. The pastor-elect then answered the usual questions and signed the formula, whereupon he was set apart with prayer and the laying-on of the hands of the Presbytery. Rev. D. Beaton, Wick, afterwards addressed the pastor and the congregation, and the proceedings terminated with devotional exercises.