Communions
January—Fifth Sabbath, Inverness, Auckland. February—First Sabbath, Dingwall; third, Stornoway; fourth, North Uist, Kyle of Lochalsh. March—First Sabbath, Ullapool; second, Ness, Portree and Tarbert; third, Finsbay, Lochinver; fourth, Kinlochbervie, London and North Tolsta. April—First Sabbath, Breasclete, Portnalong and Fort-William; second, Fearn, Gisborne, N.Z.; third, Greenock; fourth, Glasgow; fifth, Wick. May—First Sabbath, Kames and Oban; second, Scourie; third, Edinburgh and Broadford. June—First Sabbath, Applecross and Auckland; second, Shieldaig; third, Lochcarron, Glendale, Helmsdale, Dornoch and Uig; fourth, Gairloch and Inverness. 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. August—First Sabbath, Dingwall; second, Portree and Stratherrick; third, Bonar, Finsbay and Laide; fourth, Stornoway, Thurso and Vatten. September—First Sabbath, Ullapool, Breasclete; second, Strathy; third, Tarbert, Stoer and Vancouver (Canada); fourth, Applecross. October—First Sabbath, Tolsta, Lochcarron, Fort-William; second, Dumbarton, Gairloch and Ness; fourth, Gisborne, N.Z., Greenock, Lochinver; fifth, Wick. November—First Sabbath, Oban and Raasay; second, Glasgow and Halkirk; third, Edinburgh, Dornoch, Staffin and Uig. December—First Sabbath, London.
Mission Communions.
Zenka: last Sabbath of February and August. Ingwenya: last Sabbath of March and September. Mbuma: last Sabbath of April and October. Donsa Dam: last Sabbath of May. Somakantana: last Sabbath of July.
Theological Conference 1966
This Theological Conference for ministers, office-bearers, etc., was held in Glasgow on Wednesday, 7th, and Thursday, 8th December, 1966, and was well attended, considering the time of year. The following papers were read and followed by discussion:—
“The Marrow Controversy.”—Rev. L. MacLeod, Greenock.
Ecclesiastical Order in the Roman Catholic Church.—Rev. A. MacDonald, M.A., Gairloch.
Points in Church Law and Constitution.—J. P. MacKay, Esq., Q.C.
To Whom should Baptism be Administered?—Rev. D. MacLean, Glasgow.
The Deacon—his appointment, authority and duties.—Rev. A. Cattanach, Finsbay.
The Consistency of the Scripture Representation of Man’s Nature as Two-fold.—Rev. A. MacPherson, Dornoch.
When the matter of having a Theological Conference was raised at the Synod in 1964 and obtained the Synod’s approval, it was pointed out that its purpose was to fulfil the conception of the Presbyterian Exercise which formed such a useful part of meetings of Presbytery in former days in the Church of Scotland. The General Assembly required that some controverted head of doctrine be handled in the Presbytery publicly, and disputed among the brethren, every first Presbytery of the month. The usual practice was to give a portion of Scripture to one of the ministers and he was required to prepare a paper on it dealing with all the difficulties it involved. The paper was then discussed by the members of Presbytery. A typical instance of this exercise is to be seen in Boston’s Works, Vol. IV, page 209, where he gave a paper on the subject “Duties of Husband and Wife,” Text Ephesians v, 33.
Since members of Presbyteries in our Church have to travel such distances, the Presbyterial Exercise is not a practicable possibility and the Theological Conference is an attempt to fulfil its purpose in our present circumstances.
The Conference affords an opportunity for discussing points of interest, refreshing memories on subjects such as Romanism, etc., and generally building up the knowledge of those attending in spiritual and ecclesiastical matters. The study of these themes has also produced an atmosphere of fellowship among the brethren which has been indeed very encouraging.
Student
At a meeting of the Western Presbytery at Kyle of Lochalsh on 14th March, 1967, Mr Douglas Beattie, Ullapool, was received as a student, studying for the Ministry of the Church.—John Colquhoun, Presbyterly Clerk.