THE Half-yearly Meeting of Synod was held in the Free Presbyterian Church at Inverness, on Tuesday the 4th July. The Moderator, the Rev. Donald Graham, Shieldaig, Lochcarron, conducted public worship at 11 a.m., and preached from Isaiah lii. 13-15: “Behold my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: so shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” After public worship was ended, the Moderator constituted the Synod with prayer. The roll was called. There were present: From the Southern Presbytery—Rev. J. S. Sinclair, John Knox’s, Glasgow, minister; with Mr. John Campbell, St. Jude’s, elder. From the Western Presbytery—Revs. D. Graham, Shieldaig (Moderator), and Duncan Mackenzie, Gairloch, ministers; with Mr. John M’Donald, Stornoway, elder. From the Northern Presbytery—Revs. D. Macfarlane, Dingwall, and J. R. Mackay, Inverness, ministers; with Mr. Angus Clunas, Inverness, elder. The Clerk (Rev. J. S. Sinclair) intimated apologies for absence from the Revs. John Robertson, Greenock, Neil Cameron, Glasgow, Alexander Macrae, Portree, and Norman Matheson, Halkirk. Messrs. Cameron and Macrae explained that owing to attendance at two Communions in succession on the West Coast, it was well nigh impossible that they could come so far as Inverness in the short interval, without exceptional fatigue.
Rev. John R. Mackay moved, and Rev. D. Macfarlane, seconded, that the Rev. Walter Scott, late of Australia (who is now on the list of the Church’s ministers though not in a settled charge), be associated with the Synod. The motion was agreed
to, and Mr. Scott sat as thus associated. Mr. William Fraser was appointed officer of Court. The minutes of last meeting were read and approved of. It was agreed on the motion of the Clerk, that all the members of the Synod sit as a Committee on Bills and Overtures, at 4 p.m. at the Manse.
Rev. J. R. Mackay moved, that the Moderator and Clerk be appointed to draw up a loyal and dutiful Address to King George V. The motion was seconded by the Rev. D. Mackenzie, and agreed to.
Rev. J. R. Mackay moved that the following members would be appointed examiners of Presbytery Records:—For Southern Presbytery Records, Rev. D. Macfarlane and Mr. A. Clunas; for Northern Presbytery, Rev. D. Mackenzie and Mr. John Macdonald; for Western Presbytery, Rev. J. S. Sinclair and Mr. John Campbell. The motion was seconded by Rev. D. Mackenzie, and agreed to.
It was moved by the Rev. J. R. Mackay, and seconded by the Rev. D. Macfarlane, that the Moderator be asked to send his sermon for publication in the Magazine. The motion was agreed to, and the Moderator expressed his willingness to do so as soon as he would find it convenient to have it written out.
The Synod adjourned to meet again (God willing) in the evening at 7 o’clock. The meeting was closed with prayer.
Second Sederunt.—The Synod resumed its sitting, according to terms of adjournment, at 7 p.m. The meeting was opened with devotional exercises by the Moderator, the Rev. D. Graham.
The roll was called, and there were present the same members as in the forenoon with the addition of the Rev. D. Beaton, Wick, from the Northern Presbytery, and the Rev. A. Sutherland, Ullapool, from the Western. Rev. J. R. Mackay called attention to the fewness of the elders present, and it was decided to notice the same in the report, in the expectation that a better attendance would be forthcoming in future.
The minutes of the first sederunt were read and approved of.
The Clerk read the report of the Committee on Bills and Overtures as to the order of business, which was adopted.
The order was as follows: (1) Report of Committee on Bills and Overtures; (2) Report of Committee on Loyal Address to the King; (3) Report of Committees appointed by last Synod; (4) Report of Examiners of Presbytery Records; (5) Appointment of Church Committees; (6) Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement; (7) Appointment of Annual Collections; (8) Foreign Mission Report; (9) Canadian Mission Report; (10) Church Magazine Report; (11) Report of Theological Tutor; (12) Remits from Presbyteries; (13) Any Competent Business.
The Clerk, as representing the Committee appointed to prepare a loyal Address to the King, reported that they expected to have the Address ready within a few days, and that a copy of it would appear in the Magazine.
The Clerk reported that the Committee appointed at last Synod to draw up a Protest against the Change in the King’s Protestant Declaration to be entered upon the Records had done so, according to instructions, and he read the same, a copy of which appeared in the May number of the Magazine, and need not now be repeated. He also reported that the same Committee had also been appointed to draw up a Protest against certain provisions of the Shop Bill (No. 2) which was then before Parliament, provisions that legalised serious infringements of the Sabbath, but that owing to various circumstances—the withdrawal of the Bill at the time, the dissolution of Parliament, etc.—they had not been able as yet to forward the Protest. The other member of Committee (Rev. N. Cameron) was unable to be present at the Synod. It was decided in order to expedite matters, if possible, at this meeting, to add two other members to the Committee, Revs. J. R. Mackay and D. Beaton. The Examiners of Presbytery Records delivered favourable reports as to the manner in which the various Records were kept.