Communions.
January—Fifth Sabbath, Inverness. February—First Sabbath, Dingwall; third, Stornoway; fourth, North Uist. March—First Sabbath, Ullapool; second, Ness and Portree; third, Finsbay and Lochinver; fourth, Kinlochbervie and North Tolsta. April—First Sabbath, Breasclete and Portnalong; second, Fort William and London; third, Greenock; fourth, Glasgow and Wick. May—First Sabbath, Kames and Oban; second, Securie and Broadford; third, Edinburgh.
June—First Sabbath, Tarbert, Applecross, Coigach; second, Shieldaig; third, Lochearron, Glendale, Helmsdale, Dornoch and Uig; fourth, Inverness and Gairloch. July—First Sabbath, Lairg, Raasay and Beauly; second, Staffin, Tomatin and Tain; third, Halkirk, Rogart, Flashadder and Daviot; fourth, Bracadale, North Uist and Plockton; fifth, Achmore and Thurso. August—First Sabbath, Dingwall; second, Portree and Stratherrick; third, Bonar, Finsbay and Laide; fourth, Vatten and Stornoway. September—First Sabbath, Ullapool and Breaselete; second, Strathy; third, Tarbert and Stoer; fourth, Kinlochbervie. October—First Sabbath, Tolsta and Lochearron; second, Gairloch and Ness; third, Applecross; fourth, Greenock, Lochinver; and fifth, Wick. November—First Sabbath, Oban and Raasay; second, Glasgow and Halkirk; third, Edinburgh, Dornoch and Uig. December—First Sabbath, London.
Special Notice.
We have published above all the Communion dates for the year 1955. Will ministers kindly check the list and forward a note of omissions or corrections to the Editor.
Services by Church Deputy in Australia and New Zealand.
Rev. Finlay MacLeod, our Church deputy to Australia and New Zealand, has written to indicate some of the places where he will (the Lord willing) hold services during the latter part of his stay abroad. This is for the benefit of friends who may be interested and may receive the Magazine in time. He is to be at Sydney, Australia, on the first Sabbath of August. It has not yet been arranged where these services will be held, but probably at Hurstville, ten miles from Sydney, or at Wollongong. At present Rev. and Mrs. MacLeod have arranged to cross the Tasman Sea to New Zealand on the 12th day of August. Then he expects to be in Auckland at the end of August; and at Matiere during the month of September, and in Gisborne during the month of October (D.V.). Mr. MacLeod and his wife are thereafter due to sail from Wellington on the 28th October for Southampton, England, in the ship “Southern Cross.” Mr. MacLeod regrets that his information about services in New Zealand is not as full as he would like. Mr. MacLeod and his wife are both in health and welcome the cooler weather in Australia at the time of writing. May the God of all grace visit needy souls with the power of His Holy Spirit during and following upon the preaching of the truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus in the aforesaid places.—Editor.
The Opening of New Church at Plockton.
The small but faithful group of Free Presbyterians at Plockton is now in possession of a building of their own to worship God in. After repeated refusals of a site to build on by former landowners, now at the end of 62 years the Lord has put the site and the building in their possession.
The Church, which is a substantial building, is seated for about 200, and is attractively finished inside and outside, and is electrically heated and lighted. It is situated in a very convenient part of the village and sufficiently near the railway station for the convenience of worshippers who travel by train at communion times.
It was opened on Thursday, 26th May. An able sermon, doctrinal and experimental, was preached by the Rev. A. F. Mackay, M.A., Inverness, from Psalm cxviii. verses 22-25. After which short addresses were given by the Rev. D. MacLean, Portree, and by the Interim Moderator of the congregation. There was a good gathering of friends from the surrounding congregations. The door collection amounted to £52 1s. 6d., and was added to the Building Fund of the Church. There is still a considerable amount of debt on the building, though at the time of writing we cannot state the figure, as all accounts are not yet in. We trust, however, that He who says, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,” will still open the hearts of kind friends to contribute to wipe out the debt. We take this opportunity of thanking all, at home and abroad, who already contributed. May the Lord strengthen His own cause at Plockton, and may this Church be the birthplace of many souls.—A. BEATON, Interim Moderator.
A Day of Prayer Throughout the Church.
It was decided at the Synod in May that Wednesday, 21st September, or Thursday, 22nd, be observed as a Day of Humiliation and Prayer throughout the Church on account of the low state of vital godliness in the Land.—Clerk of Synod.
Protest by the Synod anent Disregard of the Sabbath.
(This Protest was adopted at Synod Meeting in May.)
WE, the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, met at Glasgow on the 17th day of May, 1955, do hereby register our strong protest against the participating by Her Majesty’s Government in conferences with Governments of other nations on the Sabbath Day.
During the last 12 months representatives of the Government took part in several such conferences on the Lord’s Day, notable among these being:—
(a) The signing in Vienna on 15th May, 1955, of the Austrian Peace Treaty by the Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, the U.S.A., Soviet Russia and France; and
(b) The signing by the London Conference of Nine Powers agreements accepting in principle the ending of the occupation regime in Germany on 3rd October, 1954.
While the Synod is in full agreement with the terms and purposes of these treaties, inasmuch as their purpose is to set people free from bondage, it deprecates the action of the Powers concerned in selecting the Sabbath Day for signing them.
The Sabbath is a Divine institution, the observance of which is morally and universally binding. The Fourth Commandment says: “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy . . . the Sabbath is the Lord thy God’s: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy maidservant.”
Actions in violation of this Commandment are a breach of the Divine Law and the signing of the treaties referred to are, we assert, struck at thereby.
The Synod is concerned that any Government which disregards the claims of the Fourth Commandment will fail to establish peace or bring prosperity nationally or internationally. We, therefore, in name of Almighty God appeal to the Government of this nation to set a better example before other Governments in this supremely important matter of Sabbath Observance.”
The Recent Synod Meeting.
The Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland met in May last and began proceedings on the evening of Tuesday, the 17th day of May. The retiring Moderator, Rev. James MacLeod, Greenock, preached an appropriate sermon from Isaiah viii. 19 and 20. The new Moderator appointed for the ensuing year is Rev. Arch. Beaton, Gairloch. We trust that the retiring Moderator’s sermon will soon be published in the Magazine. Much business was dealt with daily until the afternoon of Friday, the 20th May. The usual Report of Synod Proceedings will (D.V.) be published in due course.