Mr MacIntyre was born at Lochyside, Fort William on 15th February 1867, and was the youngest son of James MacIntyre and Mary MacMaster. His mother was a sister of Donald MacMaster, Kilmallie, who was well-known and respected as a bright and shining Christian in his day, and one who, whole-heartedly, cast in his lot with the Free Presbyterian Church in 1893. Mr MacIntyre often spoke with tenderness of his uncle, and, from his references to him, one could easily gather that they were knit together in a union which is more lasting than an earthly relationship. In early manhood the subject of this sketch left his home to lead a sea-faring life, but prior to this he must have been exemplary in his life, and of good report among those who were lovers of Zion, for he would often be asked to lead the singing in the Free Church, Kilmallie, in the absence of the regular precentor. The steamers on which he served were sailing to and from Glasgow, and, as his sister had a house there, he made his home with her. About this time he began attending Hope Street Free Gaelic Church when the memory of the Rev. Alexander Urquhart who died in 1886 was still green in the congregation, and when not a few were there of the seals of his ministry. It was there that he became a member in full communion. We are not in a position to state with certainty what were the means in the hand of the Holy Spirit in bringing about a saving change, but that that change took place was amply evident during a long and consistent life.
At the time of the passing of the Declaratory Act of 1892 which changed the relationship of the once-glorious Free Church of Scotland to her Creed and Constitution, he was a student in Arts, studying with a view to the ministry, and took an active and intelligent interest in those matters which led to the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. At the time when the Assembly of 1893 refused by an overwhelming majority to rescind that notorious Act he was acting as supply in the Free Church Congregation of Millhouse, now known as Kames, and, being present at the Assembly as a spectator, he was an eye-witness to Rev. Donald Macfarlane tabling his Protest against the action of the Assembly and thus separating himself in a public manner from a Church which had accepted the Declaratory Act. There are many yet living, who often heard Mr MacIntyre give a detailed account, both in the pulpit and in private conversation, of what took place at the Assembly, and what was Mr Macfarlane’s own understanding of what took place, and what was his position now. When Mr Macfarlane walked out of the Assembly Mr MacIntyre followed him, and arranged with him to go to Millhouse for the weekend. What followed has often been told and is only referred to here in order to show the part Mr MacIntyre had in bringing out the first congregation which joined the Free Presbyterian movement. He, and those like-minded with him, were under no illusion as to the meaning of the Declaratory Act and the effect it had on the relationship of the Church to its Constitution as the following Bond, to which his name is appended, shows:— “A meeting of Divinity and Arts students opposed to the Declaratory Act was held in Glasgow on the evening of Wednesday, 2nd November. The finding of the meeting was as follows:— Seeing the Declaratory Act is now an integral part of the Constitution of the Free Church of Scotland we, the undersigned, have ceased to prosecute our studies with a view to the ministry of that Church as now constituted.” Some of the men whose names are appended to this document proved afterwards to be modern examples of the sons of Ephraim, but to Mr MacIntyre and others it was given to be faithful to the end, and in an uncompromising manner to hold up the testimony then raised. After the Free Presbyterian Church was organised and theological tutors appointed, Mr MacIntyre studied Divinity at Gairloch under Rev. John R. Mackay, M.A. (afterwards Professor Mackay), and Rev. Donald Beaton, and was licensed by the Northern Presbytery at Portree on 9th August 1899.
On 11th October 1899, Mr MacIntyre was ordained at Glendale, Isle of Skye. The Call was signed by 1,100, and the parish which is a large one, was difficult to work, there being none, at that time, of the modern facilities for travelling to which we are now accustomed. He had other trials, which are incident to the life of a godly minister, but over which we must draw a veil here. He was, however, supported by the whole congregation, and encouraged by the presence in public and the prayers in secret at a Throne of Grace of a godly band of praying men and women, between whom and their minister there existed a bond of union which had its spring in a spiritual relish for the doctrines of grace and an unswerving faithfulness to a Scriptural Creed. Some time after being ordained at Glendale he was married to Miss Annie Mackay from Fearn, who survived him, and who proved a faithful and efficient help-meet to him during a long married life.
After labouring for nine years in Glendale, Mr MacIntyre saw it as his duty to accept a Call to Stornoway where he was inducted on 17th June 1908 and remained for fifteen years. On 31st May 1923 he was inducted to the Free Presbyterian Congregation of Edinburgh which charge he held until his retiral, owing to advancing years, in January 1950. In both Stornoway and Edinburgh, as well as in Glendale, he was loved and respected as a Christian minister, and he performed the duties of a pastor in a faithful and zealous manner, manifesting that he had the glory of God and the good of immortal souls in view, and there are not a few in the Church triumphant and some yet in the Church militant who have acknowledged that they heard the Gospel as the Gospel of their salvation, for the first time, from his lips.
The whole of Mr MacIntyre’s ministerial life was characterised by usefulness to the Cause of Christ in connection with the Free Presbyterian Church, in one form or another. He was greatly in demand at Communion Services throughout the Church, not merely in the early days of the Church when ministers were comparatively few, but throughout a long life until increasing infirmities caused him to curtail his activities. From 1905 till 1923 he acted as Clerk of the Western Presbytery and for a number of years afterwards as Clerk of the Southern Presbytery. In 1911, as the Church’s Deputy, he visited Canada and the United States, of which he supplied an interesting account to the Synod. When Rev. N. Cameron passed away Mr MacIntyre was appointed as Convener of the Jewish and Foreign Mission Committee. This office he ably filled until he found his strength not equal to the strain which it involved along with the oversight of his own congregation. He also took an active interest in the education of the young and at School Board elections, both in Duirinish, Skye, and in Stornoway, he “topped the poll” and for a considerable time in both places he acted as Chairman of the Board.
His Character
As a man, Mr MacIntyre was greatly beloved by those who had the privilege of knowing him. Dignity, consistency to his profession, and humility, blended beautifully in him, so that when in the company of people who had no sympathy with his religious views or ecclesiastical position, as on many an occasion he had to be, he was always the Christian minister, while in his intercourses with his own congregation in the various places where he laboured, he was the personification of friendliness and sympathy, encouraging where that was necessary, and administering reproof where he saw occasion for it. Thus he earned for himself, without ever soliciting it, the verdict given by not a few in our hearing — “A Christian and a gentleman.”
His Preaching
As a preacher, he was doctrinal, experimental and practical. He had a logical mind and a keen insight into the truth, thus enabling him with accuracy to divide a text, present its doctrines, its relationship to the context, and its inferences; while, as he proceeded, he made application; and the whole, delivered with a clear well-modulated voice, never striving after effect, made even careless hearers listen. His sermons carried the conviction that he was, by no means, a stranger to the desperate wickedness of the heart or the temptations of Satan, but could say with the Apostle, “We are not ignorant of his devices;” yet, he knew the Refuge and the rich consolations of the everlasting Gospel. While all the doctrines revealed in the Scriptures got their due place in his preaching, yet one would notice a special emphasis laid on the Fall of man, the glory of the Person of Christ, His Priesthood, the work of the Holy Spirit, and Justification by Faith.
His Stand for Truth
That he had a clear grasp of the doctrines of the Bible and of the reason why the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland took up a separate position he himself has often proved by his statements and his conduct, and many incidents could be related to show how he could defend its position. One such incident must suffice just now. Mr MacIntyre, as a student was travelling to Inverness on board a steamer plying on the Caledonian Canal when he was accosted by a gentleman who had evidently swallowed the “assured results” of the Higher Critics. From casual remarks the conversation developed into a keen argument on the veracity of the Bible and on the merits or demerits of the Declaratory Act which caused Mr MacIntyre to be oblivious to the crowd of listeners which gathered round them on the deck, till his opponent, with all his show of learning, finding himself no match for the arguments presented by Mr MacIntyre with such logical precision, thought discretion the better part of valour, and removed himself to another part of the steamer. When the crowd was dispersing a tall good-looking gentleman stepped up to Mr MacIntyre and congratulated him on the able way in which he stood up for the Scriptures as the Word of God. The gentleman made himself known as Bishop Ryle of Liverpool, and on discovering that Mr MacIntyre was studying for the ministry, he, on parting with him, gave him a monetary token of his appreciation of his stand for the Word of God. In all the conflicts in which the Free Presbyterian Church was involved he stood firm as a rock, being swayed neither to the right hand nor to the left by the sophistries of men, whether they were within or without the Church, who endeavoured by pleasing visions of the benefits of an outward union, or by pretence of a keener insight into the position of the Church, to drag it from its moorings, and, perhaps, little realising the catastrophe which their conduct, if followed, would involve. Mr MacIntyre had many experiences of this nature, but whenever one met him, or whatever troubles the Church was harassed with, one could count on finding him, what he was from the early days of the Church — a genuine Free Presbyterian, faithful to the position of his Church, and faithful to his ordination vows.
His Literary Work
He was equally at home in English and Gaelic, and he also had a gift for writing, though, to the great regret of his friends, it was not used as often as one would wish. His published pieces consist of a large number of obituaries in various issues of the Free Presbyterian Magazine, thirteen sermons published in the same periodical, and “Lectures on the Bible”, originally given to his congregation in Glendale, and subsequently published in Volume IX of The Free Presbyterian Magazine. He also read a most interesting paper on “The Free Presbyterian Church” at the Commemoration Meetings of the Synod in 1943. This was afterwards published in a volume entitled “Commemoration Papers.”
The writer visited him frequently during the last few years of his life and was much struck with his cheerful demeanour, together with his resignation to the will of the Lord, and the calmness with which he awaited the Lord’s appointed time. On one occasion, when listening to his exercises, we had the impression that it would be the last time we would see him. In this we were mistaken as we had the privilege of calling on him once again, but one could discern that his affections were set on things above where Christ is, and that the soul was about ready to take its flight to the house of many mansions. Though in a frail condition for some years, the end came rather suddenly. A few days of utter physical helplessness, together with loss of speech, but apparently conscious of what took place around him, he continued till Friday night, 11th September 1953. While family worship was being conducted in his room, he quietly breathed his last, and entered, we fully believe, into the joy of his Lord, there to take part in the worship of the Upper Sanctuary.
It is worthy of note that there was a warm friendship of over sixty years between Mr MacIntyre and Rev. D. Beaton. The latter survived him by two months, and, from the point of view of usefulness and faithfulness to the Cause of Christ, it may be said of them that they were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; and the faithful fail from among the children of men.” — J.C.
(Rev Neil MacIntyre’s obituary, written by Rev. Donald Campbell, his successor as minister of the Edinburgh Congregation, will be found in the Free Presbyterian Magazine Volume 59, pp 1-9).