The Northern Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, met at Inverness on Monday, 28th day of January, 1957, have learned with profound grief that on the Sabbath afternoon of 13th January, 1957, you had an interview with Her Majesty, the Queen, for the purpose of presenting to Her Majesty the names of your new Cabinet, thereby necessitating Her Majesty’s travelling down from Sandringham on the Sabbath.
This public disregard for the sanctity of the Lord’s Day in high places of Government is calculated, we firmly believe, to bring the divine displeasure upon our nation, besides disheartening and saddening the most loyal and prayerful of our people; as being the first official act of the newly elected Prime Minister of the nation, such conduct augurs ill for our nation in our present difficult and highly critical position.
The divine warning—”The nation that will not serve me shall perish”—is intended to deter nations and governments from pursuing just such a course of conduct as you now seem to have embarked upon; the Lord’s Day being a day of special sanctity and blessing tests our country’s title to be regarded as a Christian Nation.
In accordance with the Lord’s command to pray for “kings and for all that are in authority,” we are resolved to remember in our prayers at a Throne of Grace the Prime Minister and Cabinet at this critical period of our nation’s history, but at the same time we respectfully but earnestly represent to you the tragic mistake you have made, and hope and pray that your future actions may be marked by more reverence for the 4th Commandment—”Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.”
Yours most respectfully, A. F. MACKAY, Clerk.
S. E. Raymond, Esq.,
Chief Commercial Manager,
Central Station,
Glasgow.
Free Presbyterian Manse,
11 Auldcastle Road,
Inverness.
4th February, 1957.
Sir,
SPECIAL TRAIN SERVICE TO DALNASPIDAL ON SABBATH.
The Northern Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, met at Inverness on Monday, 28th day of January, 1957, desire to protest to the officials responsible, against the introduction of a special train service on the Lord’s Day from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Dalnaspidal, for the purpose of catering for the traffic in the Sabbath sport of skiing at Dalnaspidal, which we understand was begun on Sabbath, 27th January, and is to continue until Sabbath, 28th April, 1957.
British Railways, as an organisation, have never in recent years paid much attention to representations made by religious bodies against the British Railways’ policy respecting the Sabbath, no matter how offensive their actions might be to the public feeling. This latest instance of flagrant disregard for the sacred character of the Lord’s Day is in keeping with their usual practice.
We wish to express to you our strong feelings of grief and indignation at this latest defiant breach of the Lord’s command: “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.” The employment of the hallowed hours of the Sabbath for the purpose of making profits and increasing revenue will not pass unnoticed by the Most High, who in His own time and way will yet, we are confident, be avenged upon His enemies who hate and trample under foot His Holy Sabbath. Your conduct of this quite unnecessary train service to Dalnaspidal should be repented of and the service itself cancelled altogether.
Most respectfully and earnestly we ask you to reconsider your whole policy of running trains on the Sabbath, and in particular cancel the Sabbath train service to Dalnaspidal, for the Most High has said: “Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
Yours sincerely, A. F. MACKAY, Clerk.
The Convener,
Moray and Nairn Education Committee,
County Buildings,
Elgin.
Free Presbyterian Manse,
11 Auldcastle Road,
Inverness.
4th February, 1957.
Sir, SABBATH OPENING OF ALVES’ PLAYING FIELDS.
The Northern Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, met at Inverness on Monday, 28th day of January, 1957, have read with feelings of keen disappointment and indignation the decision of the Moray and Nairn Education Committee to approve the six months experiment of opening the Alves’ Playing Fields for football on the Lord’s Day.
This shocking disregard for the sanctity of the Lord’s Day reflects the tragic declension in vital religion which has today set in throughout the nation, when such a proposal can be adopted by an Education Committee in a Highland community. We respectfully and sternly protest against this short-sighted action on the part of your Committee as being quite unjustified by the reasons advanced to support it; as being detrimental to the religious and spiritual interests of the youth of Alves; as harmful to the religious life of the community as a whole; and above all as constituting flagrant and public defiance of the Lord of the Sabbath who requires of public bodies and people alike observance of the Command: ‘Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.’
We respectfully and sincerely hope that the Education Committee of Moray and Nairn will reconsider their decision and keep the playing fields in the Alves district closed to sport on the Lord’s Day.
Yours sincerely, A. F. MACKAY, Clerk.