3. A Rich Harvest of Souls (continued)
Rev. K.D. Macleod
WE have already noticed Welsh’s efforts to civilise the town of Ayr, but what of more directly spiritual fruits? David Dickson, who was inducted to the neighbouring parish of Irvine in 1618, reaped a rich harvest of souls during his ministry there. But he bore the humble testimony that the grape-gleanings of Welsh’s time in Ayr were far above the vintage of Irvine in his own. And Kirkton declared of Welsh, “If either his spiritual experiences in seeking the Lord, or his fruitfulness in converting souls, be considered, they will be found unparalleled in Scotland”, though Welsh’s biographer warns us not to overlook Robert Bruce, minister of Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Church, who was said by the eighteenth-century historian Robert Wodrow to have gained to Christ many thousands of souls. It is significant too how, in a letter from the loneliness of his exile in France, Welsh wrote of the latter part of his time in Ayr, when the population was only around 3000, “I had my choice of many hundreds unto whom I might have been bold to communicate both the desolations and comforts of my soul”. And one suspects that it was not every believer to whom Welsh would thus have opened his heart. But these days of great spiritual blessing were to come to a sudden conclusion.
From London King James pursued even more earnestly his policy of removing the Presbyterianism of the Church of Scotland, and likewise his vendetta against those who were most prominent in protecting the purity of the Church. The General Assembly of November 1602 had agreed, with the King’s consent, that they should meet at least once every year. However, only three weeks before the Assembly appointed for July 1604 in Aberdeen, the King ordered that it be postponed till July of the following year. In the interval he made a second round of appointments to bishoprics. Welsh made his position plain from the pulpit: “I know there will come a shaking time, and the glory of the world will bewitch many; but tell me, received ye the Spirit of God by this lordly ministry of the prelates, or by the pure ministry of His servants?” And he went on to speak of the new hierarchy: “It could not be from heaven, having no Scripture warrant; its lordly titles were expressly prohibited by Christ, who said to His disciples, ‘Ye shall not be called such; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister’.” So he warned his people, “Prepare you for crosses; you cannot tell how soon they will come, for I am thinking there is something to follow on the back of this that stars are falling from heaven to earth (see Rev 12:3,4) and that these golden apples (the revenues of the bishoprics) are offered to ministers, and men are become earthly-minded that were wont to be capable of spiritual things. As the Lord lives, I think there must be a fiery trial to follow.”
At short notice it was made known that the King wished the 1605 Assembly also not to meet. Welsh, however, and two fellow-commissioners from Ayrshire made their way to Aberdeen, five others arriving with them on July 4. Having reached Aberdeen, they discovered that some of their northern brethren had met two days before, and in their own words, “sanctified the meeting with prayer”. The two different dates were given deliberately by the authorities to cause confusion and minimise the effect of any meeting. With John Forbes as moderator, the Assembly transacted no business except to appoint another meeting for the end of September.
Up to this point Straiton, the King’s commissioner for Church affairs, had offered no opposition, but he now ordered them to dissolve the Assembly on pain of being put to the horn. After prayer the 18 members present obeyed. They had made their point, which was no more than to ensure that the meeting of Assembly was actually held. Those who arrived late took steps to identify themselves with what had been done. Straiton, however, afraid for his own position, made his way to Edinburgh and falsely claimed that he had caused a proclamation to be made at the market cross in Aberdeen forbidding, the day before they gathered, the meeting of Assembly. And he persuaded the Privy Council to denounce as rebels all who had been present at the Assembly, Welsh among them.
(To be continued)