THE Half-yearly Meeting of Synod was held in the Free Presbyterian Church, Inverness, on Tuesday the seventh day of July. The Moderator, Rev. John R. Mackay, M.A., Inverness, conducted public worship at twelve noon, and preached from Hebrews x. 13: “From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” After public worship was ended the Moderator constituted the Synod with prayer, and the roll was called. There were present: From the Southern Presbytery—Rev. J. S. Sinclair, John Knox’s, Glasgow (Clerk), minister. From the Western Presbytery—Revs. D. Graham, Shieldaig, and D. M’Kenzie, Gairloch, ministers; with Messrs. Finlay M’Donald, Shieldaig; John M’Donald, Gairloch; and John M’Donald, Stornoway, elders. From the Northern Presbytery—Revs. D. Macfarlane, Dingwall; J. R. Mackay (Moderator), Inverness; and Norman Matheson, Halkirk, ministers; with Messrs. Alexander Maclean, Inverness, and John Swanson, Halkirk, elders. The Clerk reported apologies for absence from the Revs. A. Macrae, Portree; D. Beaton, Wick; Neil Macintyre, Stornoway; and E. Macqueen, Dornoch; Messrs. Macintyre and Macqueen being indisposed.
Mr. William Fraser was appointed officer of Court, and the minutes of last meeting of Synod were read and approved of.
Rev. D. Macfarlane moved that the Moderator be requested to publish his sermon in the Magazine. The motion was seconded and cordially agreed to. The Moderator thanked the Synod, and expressed his willingness to accede to the request.
It was agreed that all the members of Synod meet as a Committee on Bills and Overtures at the Manse at four p.m. Examiners of Presbytery Records were appointed—Rev. D. Mackenzie and Mr. John Swanson for the Records of the Southern Presbytery; Rev. D. Macfarlane and Mr. Alexander Maclean for those of the Western Presbytery; and Rev. D. Graham and Mr. Finlay M’Donald for the Records of the Northern Presbytery.
The Court adjourned, to meet again (God willing) at seven o’clock in the evening. The meeting was closed with prayer.
The Synod met in the evening at the hour appointed, and was constituted with devotional exercises by the Rev. John R. Mackay, Moderator. There were present: From the Western Presbytery—Revs. D. Graham and D. M’Kenzie, ministers; with Messrs. Finlay M’Donald, John M’Donald (Gairloch), and John M’Donald (Stornoway), elders. From the Northern Presbytery—Revs. D. Macfarlane and J. R. Mackay (Moderator), ministers; with Messrs. Lachlan Maclean, Alexander Maclean, and John Swanson, elders. From the Southern Presbytery—Revs. Neil Cameron, St. Jude’s, and J. S. Sinclair (Clerk), ministers. The minutes of the former sederunt were read and approved of.
The Clerk read the Report of Committee on Bills and Overtures as to the order of business, which was adopted. The examiners of Presbytery Records then briefly delivered their reports, which were agreed in commending the manner in which the various Records were kept. The Clerk read the Protest against the Deceased Wife’s Sister Act which had been drawn up by a Synod Committee with full powers, and which has already been published in the Magazine. He stated that he had sent the Protest to the Prime Minister, and read a letter in which the Prime Minister acknowledged receipt. It was agreed to ask some member of Parliament to lay the Protest (which contains a prayer for the repeal of the Act) upon the table of the House of Commons.
Mr. Clunas, treasurer, submitted his annual financial statement, which is printed in another part of the Magazine. He stated that the sum total of the funds was as good as the previous year. Rev. D. Macfarlane moved the adoption of the report in the following terms:—”The Synod approve of and adopt the Financial Statement for the year ending 31st March, 1908, now read by the treasurer; acknowledge the divine goodness in supplying the material necessities of the Church’s ministers and missionaries; thank the treasurer and auditors for their pains; and order that the Financial Statement be published as in former years in the August number of the Magazine.” Mr. Macfarlane, in supporting the motion, enlarged upon the Lord’s goodness to His Church in making full provision in the covenant of grace for all their wants, both temporal and spiritual, and that all this was prepared in the divine purpose before His people had a being. He took occasion to refer to the loss that the Church had sustained in the death of Mr. James M’Kenzie, Poolewe, who had showed his sincere and generous interest in the welfare of the Church during his lifetime, and at his death had left legacies to several congregations for their building funds, and also legacies to several of the ministers for their personal benefit. Mr. Lachlan Maclean, elder, in a few well-chosen words, seconded Mr. Macfarlane’s motion adopting the report, which was unanimously agreed to. The Clerk read a letter he had received from the Trustees of the late Mr. Mackenzie stating that he had left £50 for Shieldaig Building Fund, and £20 for the Building Fund of Tarbert, Harris. Rev. Duncan Mackenzie stated that it had been agreed in Committee that the Synod should formally record its sense of the loss sustained by the death of the late Mr. Mackenzie, and he therefore moved accordingly, as follows:—”The Synod desires to record the loss the Church has sustained by the death of Mr. James Mackenzie, Cliffhouse, Poolewe, a man of upright Christian character, a lover of the Lord’s people, and one whose liberality towards the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was most generous.” Rev. Neil Cameron, in seconding the motion, said while he fully recognised and appreciated the late Mr. Mackenzie’s liberality, he felt that they had special ground to mourn his loss as that of a man of genuine integrity and uprightness. Such were few in the present day. The longer he knew Mr. Mackenzie the more he was convinced that he was a man who truly feared God. His removal in this respect was a loss to the cause of truth. The motion was cordially agreed to, and it was further decided that a copy of the resolution be sent to the late Mr. Mackenzie’s sister, Mrs. K. Maclean, Poolewe.
Rev. D. Mackenzie called attention to the desirability of impressing upon the people the necessity of further liberality to the Sustentation Fund, and it was pointed out by the Rev. Neil Cameron that it was owing to substantial donations of £50 and £100 by two gentlemen, elders of the Church, that the Sustentation Fund was maintained at the usual point (£140 for each minister) during the past year. The Clerk moved that the thanks of the Synod be recorded to the gentlemen mentioned for their generous donations, and that the Synod hereby impress upon their people the duty and privilege of substantially supporting the Sustentation Fund, which, notwithstanding help, still afforded room for the exercise of their liberality. Mr. Clunas, treasurer, in answer to questions, stated that if the payments to ministers and missionaries had been made at the end of the financial year—31st March instead of at 15th May (the usual date), six weeks or so later—the balance to credit would not have been £987 but only £21. He also said that at the present date the receipts were less than at the same time last year. The Clerk’s motion was agreed to, and it was also decided to call attention to the fact that the balance to credit at 31st March, as appearing in the printed financial statement, was largely taken up by payments at 15th May.
The Clerk reported that since the close of the financial year a legacy had been received from Geelong, Australia, of £59 odds, for “The Jewish and Foreign Missions of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.” The deceased donor was a Mr. Archibald Hutchinson, Geelong, of whom they had no personal knowledge, but with regard to whom they had learnt that he was an adherent of “the old paths,” and an elder of the Free Church in Geelong. Mr. Hutchinson had, no doubt, been a reader of the Free Presbyterian Magazine, and desired that the old doctrines of the gospel of salvation should be preached to the heathen.
The next business was the appointment of the Annual Collections. It was agreed that the order of collections, on the first Sabbath of each month mentioned, be as follows:—
- Organisation Fund—August.
- Missionaries and Catechists—October.
- Students’ Aid—December.
- Church Building—February.
- Aged and Infirm Ministers, and Ministers’ Widows and Orphans—June.
Last year the Raasay Church Debt Collection was fixed for April, and the treasurer was asked as to what response was given. He said that up to date £52 had been received from half the places, and that £48 were yet needed to clear off the debt. The Synod decided that notice by circular should be given a second time to those places which had not as yet contributed, and that any further steps, if necessary, be left to next Meeting of Synod. The Clerk suggested that, if the Raasay Collection was not to be taken again, an additional collection annually should be made for the Missionaries and Catechists, as that fund was very inadequately supported, and had to be supplemented so largely from the Sustentation Fund. The matter was left over until next Meeting.
Rev. Neil Cameron gave a brief report of the Foreign Mission, in the course of which he read an interesting letter from the Rev. John B. Radasi, which is printed elsewhere. He stated he had sent £6 worth of Bibles and Catechisms to Mr. Radasi, and that he had £6 still in hand for these purposes. He recommended therefore that those who desired to give donations at present should subscribe for the translation of the Psalms into Kaffir metre—a desirable object that they were endeavouring to attain, and which would cost considerable outlay. Mr. Cameron concluded by moving that the Synod record their thankfulness to the Most High for the favourable progress the Mission was making in Rhodesia under the care of the Rev. John B. Radasi, urge upon all their praying people to remember the Mission at a throne of grace, and recommend to the consideration of friends interested in the Mission the fund for translating the Book of Psalms into metre in the Kaffir tongue. The motion was seconded by Mr. John M’Donald, Stornoway, and unanimously agreed to.
The Clerk, as editor and treasurer of the Magazine, gave a statement of the intromissions for the past year. He stated that there had been an increase in the circulation, which now amounted to 2,040 or so per month. There were some decreases in parcels sent to agents, but the single copies were increasing. Subscriptions were, on the whole, very promptly paid. A sum of £16 8s. for the past year was still unpaid, but the greater part of this, he believed, was entirely good. He had received £6 15s. 9d. in donations, and there was a considerable number of prepayments. The donations, which formed the basis of a Magazine Fund, amounted up to date to £16 os. 11d. He had also received some small sums for free circulation. While it was possible that the circulation could be much increased, they had reason for thankfulness at the progress made. Rev. Duncan Mackenzie moved that the thanks of the Synod be given to the editor and treasurer for his services. Mr. Mackenzie made an earnest appeal for an increase in the circulation of the Magazine, and said that they did not know how much good might result, under the blessing of God, from a few pence spent in its circulation. Mr. Mackenzie’s motion was seconded by Mr. Macfarlane, who said that their Record was a witnessing Magazine which testified against error as well as for truth, and that this was much needed in the present day. The motion was cordially agreed to.