We continue to maintain that all the ministers and office-bearers who seceded in 1989 to form that ecclesiastical body known as the Associated Presbyterian Churches were guilty of the sin of schism. To a man, they were in breach of their solemn ordination vows and one of the saddest aspects of the whole affair was the departure of so many members and adherents who blindly followed them under the misapprehension that they were the true guardians of the constitution of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the body of men who, now that they were rid of their shackles and enjoyed “liberty of conscience”, were going to do great and wonderful things. The tide of euphoria which appeared to reach such a height at the time has long since receded, mass media interest has waned, and one cannot now but wonder what the deep-down feelings of those men and women are — especially the God-fearing — who, at the time, so hastily took leave of the Church of their parents and grandparents? Not long ago, an APC office-bearer told the writer that in his case it all happened within ten minutes. The ministers returned from the Synod meeting, a congregational meeting was called, certain women tearfully declared that they were going to follow their minister whatever the outcome, and in an emotionally-charged atmosphere all present agreed to do likewise. We have no doubt that many others could tell us of how they also were carried away in somewhat similar circumstances.
There must be some if not many, who, now that their eyes have been opened, regret their action, and who would fain return. They are, however, finding out that the step back is not as easy a step to take as the one which they took in leaving but whatever the difficulties it is a step which they should take in their own spiritual interest and without delay. They must surely know that the doors of our Church are open to them and that — as those who have already returned will testify — a welcome awaits them.
None in his or her right mind now believes that the APCs adhere faithfully to Free Presbyterian principles. Away back in 1975 many of those ministers and elders who left in 1989 solemnly subscribed to the terms of a Resolution which was moved by Mr J. P. H. Mackay, seconded by the Rev. R. R. Sinclair, and unanimously agreed to, and which stated, among other things, that “conduct giving the impression that there is no obstacle to association with other churches, undermines the necessity for a separate position and is therefore inconsistent with loyal adherence to the Free Presbyterian Church, and is consequently disapproved of by this Church.” The ink was hardly dry on the APC Deed of Separation when these forementioned ministers and elders were happy to have Free Church and Church of Scotland men taking their services and they themselves were turning up in all sorts of places and ecumenical situations! In recent times the Rev. Norman MacIver, the Tarbert Church of Scotland minister was preaching to the Stornoway APCs on the Thursday evening of their communion and the Rev. Donald A. MacLennan, the Kinloch Church of Scotland minister, on the Monday. The Church of Scotland is the Church whose General Assembly refused to endorse the doctrine that Christ is the only Saviour for lost and ruined sinners and which did not discipline its Moderator when he maintained that the virgin birth of Christ need not be regarded as a reality. It is a Church which is to all appearances fast becoming apostate. The ministers mentioned may not be of the same mind as the General Assembly of their Church but they remain within its communion and fellowship. The Tarbert minister may feel that he owes a debt to the APCs. It was to his congregation that most of the North Harris people who left us in 1989 joined themselves. It is amazing how soon they settled in to be at home in a congregation where Christmas eve watchnight services are now the rule.
As for the mover of the forementioned motion the following report of a meeting which he attended shows where he now stands. It pained us to read in a recent issue of the “English Churchman”:
“The chapel of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, once styled a ‘Puritan College’ was the scene on a recent Sunday of a service to mark the 30 years at Westminster, and three years at Emmanuel, as Master, of Lord St. John of Fawsley. As Mr St John Stevas he served for a long period as MP for Chelmsford. He is well-known as a leading Roman Catholic. The service brought together Prince Michael of Kent; with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Runcie, High Steward of the University, robed, and ‘in the sanctuary’, together with the Roman Catholic Bishop M. Fisher (of Brentwood). The Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire was present, as also was the former Free Presbyterian, Lord Mackay of Clashfern (Lord Chancellor), and Lady Mackay, several ambassadors, and people of note attended the luncheon which followed.”
When, in 1989, the Synod upheld the decision of the Southern Presbytery to discipline the Lord Chancellor for attending a requiem mass, Lord St. John Stevas, speaking on a BBC Television News programme, referred to our Church as being no more than “a bunch of bigots”. He expressed the view that Lord Mackay should now dissociate himself from us. It must thus have given him no small satisfaction to have Lord Mackay present on this occasion when he, himself, was the centre of attraction. Apart altogether from the harm which the Lord Chancellor’s action would do to the cause of Protestantism there is the question, as we see it, of Sabbath desecration. In times past we know where Lord Mackay stood and it now grieves us exceedingly that he should take part in such activities on God’s holy day and find this a congenial company in which to spend so many of its precious hours. If he had not placed himself outside the Church’s pale and pastoral oversight, would not those whose duty it would be to watch for his soul consider it proper to look into his conduct on this occasion, and do so in the light of these very standards to which he himself willingly and solemnly subscribed? At the end of the day there is no respect of persons with God and the small and the great shall be on the same level when they stand before the great, white throne. Lord Mackay’s enemies are not those that tell him the truth. On the contrary, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.”
The Stornoway APCs have launched a “national and international appeal” for money to help them in building a new church. In the advertisement which appeared in the “Christian Herald” they seem to think it advantageous to ‘drop’ the name of the Lord Chancellor and inform prospective donors that it was in connection with the controversy stirred up by his case that they came into being. If this brings in donations they will not, in our view, come from any truly Protestant readers of the “Christian Herald”. Some of the leading APCs were at pains in 1989 to emphasise that the secession took place, not on account of the disciplining of Lord Mackay, but on account of the Free Presbyterian Church’s interference with their so-called liberty of conscience. Perhaps the Stornoway brethren have forgotten this. Some of them left us declaring that the Free Presbyterian Church in 1989 was not the Church of their youth. If it was not, then the body within which they now find themselves cannot by any stretch of the imagination be identified with it. The late Rev. Malcolm Gillies would surely have had no truck with those ecumenical activities and gimmicks to which the APCs are so attached. Clinging on to them is one means of keeping afloat.
In Aberdeen our Alford Place Church has, since 1989, hosted a wide variety of speakers and organisations. In fact it would seem that the only persona non grata body in the place is the one which happens to own the building, namely, the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The doors are wide open to others but the locks were quickly changed when we began to take services there again! Now we have to rent a room in the University for our services and pay a boarding-house to keep the supply while the APCs continue to occupy unlawfully our Church and Manse. On 27th November, 1993, an Elaine Storkey was due to speak at a meeting for senior school pupils which was to be held in the Alford Place Church. The lady appears to be very prominent in ecclesiastical circles and, among other things, is the Director of The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, and the writer of “Mary’s Story, Mary’s Song”, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book for 1994. Prior to this, on Sabbath, 17th October, at 11 a.m., the “All Russian Praise Group” was due to put in an appearance! If the pattern of service indicated in the advertising leaflet was followed then those present were taking part in activities which were billed as “music” — “singing” — “testimony”. Free Presbyterian activities?
In Applecross the APC congregation has evaporated except for the minister and his family and it is reported that he is shortly to take a trip overseas. Now that there are no APC services being held in the locality, what can possibly justify the continued occupancy of our manse — and its use for commercial purposes — by the APC minister? It is well known that he owns a house of his own but it has now become the rented abode of the Portree APC minister. (We hear that he, also, has recently been seen exercising his gifts in Free Church and Church of Scotland circles in Skye). Such arrangements may be very convenient and cost-efficient for the APCs but are they really lawful or moral? Do they not reflect on the integrity of those concerned? Does conscience not speak at all? In Lochinver our manse continues to be occupied by the minister of the joint APC/Free Church congregation. The Free Church meanwhile rent out their own manse but what they do with the money paid to them by the tenant is not known to us. We think it is time the Free Church also engaged in some conscience-searching.
People living in the Fearn area were recently made aware of a poster which was on display among them. Members of the public were invited to come to a certain prominent APC couple’s home on ‘Sunday’ evening at 8.30 p.m. in order to ‘have fun’. The entertainment laid on included video-watching and miming. Reports appearing in the APC News from time to time have indicated the extent to which they have resorted to gimmickry as a means of bolstering their image so the Fearn poster report came as no great surprise. What is surprising is that the APCs do not seem to be sensitive to criticism any more. Gone are the days when charges that they had departed from the practices and the doctrines of the true Free Presbyterian Church were immediately rebutted. Such rebuttals were never very convincing; now they would sound very hollow indeed. The Fearn APCs may be going their own way but they still continue illegally to hold on to, not one, but two of our churches, as well as our manse. It may not yet be a case of every man doing what is right in his own eyes but it does seem to be getting near the stage where every APC congregation is to do what is right in its own eyes. This is akin to the situation in the Free Church where in one congregation orthodoxy is the rule and in another a woman prays in public in the course of the Sabbath evening service with the minister present as a silent onlooker! We need not be surprised that these two bodies exchange fraternal greetings. — J. McL.