3. The Church Established
Calvin MacKenzie
Rev Walter Scott was inducted to the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation of the Reconstituted Synod on 23 September 1894. Mr Scott was following in the footsteps of two worthy predecessors, in Allan MacIntyre from near Fort William and John Finlayson, who was born in Portree. Like these two men, Mr Scott was a faithful labourer in this branch of the Lord’s vineyard who stood uncompromisingly for the constitutional principles of the 1843 Free Church of Scotland without in any way wavering from the doctrine, worship or practice that Church once held inviolable. Mr Scott spoke approvingly of the actions of Revs Donald Macfarlane and Donald Macdonald when they protested and separated from the Free Church of Scotland in May 1893 over the passing of the Declaratory Act in 1892, to form the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
In a letter to a friend in Halkirk, Caithness, Mr Scott amongst other things said, “I cannot tell you the discouraging effect that the declension in the old country has with us out here. The name of the Free Church of Scotland is often quoted and used in Australia in favour of innovations in worship and doctrine. . . . For my part, I was glad at the secession of the Free Presbyterians from the Free Church. . . . Stumbled as many are by the case of the Free Church, it remains that she has departed from the faith.”2
In November, 1900, Mr Scott, as a delegate from the Reconstituted Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, attended the half-yearly meeting of the Free Presbyterian Synod in St Jude’s Church, Glasgow. In addressing the Synod, Mr Scott mentioned the doctrinal positions and affil-
1The full title of this paper was: The establishment of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in Australia against a background of Presbyterian decline in the mid to late 1800s. The paper was given to the Australia and New Zealand Youth Conference in 2012. The previous article dealt with declension in the nineteenth century in Australia. This article concludes the series.
2Rev Walter Scott, letter to a friend in Halkirk, 15 June 1898. Published in The Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 4, p 336.
iations of the various fragmented Presbyterian Churches in Australia. He outlined the evils that voluntarism had brought with it – as was all too evident in Scotland with the recent union between the Free Church of Scotland majority and the United Presbyterians. Amongst other observations, he noted there was a real need for additional labourers from Scotland to go to Australia to help the cause there.3
In November 1909, Mr Scott visited Scotland again, attending the Free Presbyterian Synod and. On this occasion, he was associated with the Synod. During his address to the Synod, Mr Scott detailed the state of Christianity in Australia as he saw it, and gave an account of his work in the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation and of the difficulties he was encountering from the majority of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA), who were apparently doing all they could to undermine his congregations on the Clarence River at Brushgrove, Grafton and Woodford Dale. Departures from scriptural practice, such as using public transport on the Lord’s Day, churches holding sales of work (bazaars) and socials, permitting uninspired hymns to be used in praise, and omitting sacramental fast days, were all exerting a leavening effect on Presbyterian parishes.
Mr Scott’s only ministerial fellowship in recent years had been with the faithful Rev Arthur Paul of St Kilda, in Melbourne. Over time, Mr Scott believed his position had become increasingly untenable, so after 14 years of faithful service, he resigned his charge in Brushgrove-Grafton and he and Mrs Scott remained in Edinburgh.4
Twelve months later, at its meeting in November 1910, the Synod received an application from Mr Scott seeking admission to the ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Rev J R Mackay moved and Rev Neil Cameron seconded a motion to accept Mr Scott and it was unanimously agreed. On 2 January 1911, at a meeting of the Southern Presbytery of the Church in St Jude’s Hall, Glasgow, with Rev Neil Cameron as Moderator, Mr Scott was admitted to the ministry of the Church.5 He was inducted as Free Presbyterian minister of Chesley, Canada, in October 1912.
At the meeting of the Synod in November 1911 in St Jude’s Church Glasgow, correspondence was received from Mr James D Kidd, an Elder of the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation, petitioning for ministerial aid and a closer relationship. Mr Kidd alleged the undermining of the congregation by
3Rev Walter Scott, “Synod Address”, 13 November 1900, in The Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 5, pp 299-303.
4The Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 15, cited in W MacLean, In the Footsteps of the Flock, pp 57-58.
5The Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 15. The Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 17, p 283.
Rev James Henry, a delegate of the Free Church of Scotland, and PCEA ministerial student Mr Herbert Ramsay, “doing all they can to turn away the people”. Mr Kidd’s correspondence was warmly received; so the crave of the congregation’s petition was granted on the motion of Rev Neil Cameron, seconded by Rev Donald Beaton.6
The majority party in the PCEA, in close fellowship with the Free Church of Scotland, had moved to deprive Mr Scott’s people of the church building at Woodford Dale and, later, the church at Brushgrove. They had, in the words of Mr Scott, “compassed sea and land in order to weaken our separate position, and to scatter our people”.7 It would appear that relationships were not good when it was apparently reported that local representatives of the PCEA had pressed an allegedly spurious claim over a £100 bequest left to the congregation by the late Josiah Carter. An election of trustees for the Brushgrove church and manse and Woodford Dale property was held by the majority party on Wednesday, 26 June 1911, in the Temperance Hall, Cowper, and was presided over by Rev William MacDonald, Moderator of the Interim Kirk Session. The property was accordingly appropriated, the locks changed and the congregation locked out of their own places of worship. Until, 30 years later, a suitable church building was erected in Fitzroy Street, Grafton – which is used to this day – the congregation had to worship in a local hall.
Having been without a settled minister since 1909, the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation was delighted to receive a visit from the first Free Presbyterian Deputy, Rev Duncan MacKenzie of Gairloch, who arrived in May 1914. Congregation records indicate the first meeting of the Kirk Session since 1909 took place on 25 May 1914. Mr MacKenzie ministered to the flock there, preaching in both Gaelic and English in districts like Lawrence, Southgate, Woodford Dale, Brushgrove and Grafton.
During this time, two communion seasons were enjoyed by minister and people alike and a special meeting for prayer concerning the onset of World War I was held in the home of Mr Thomas Kidd at Iona, Lawrence, on August 17, while Wednesday, August 19, was appointed as a special day of humiliation and prayer for the same purpose. An election for deacons was also held during August, resulting in the ordination and induction of Messrs L S MacLachlan and J M Grant on Sabbath, September 13, at the Brushgrove School of Arts. One of the communion seasons was held around the first Sabbath of November in Brushgrove with services scheduled to take place
6W MacLean, In the Footsteps of the Flock, pp 58-59.
7Rev Walter Scott, Pastoral letter to his congregation, 14 May 1909, en route to Scotland aboard the Carpenteria. Cited by W MacLean, In the Footsteps of the Flock, pp 58-59.
in Brushgrove, Woodford Dale, Lower Southgate and Lawrence. At this time there were three elders in the congregation; Hugh Grant, Woodfordleigh, Alex Kidd and James D Kidd of Lawrence. These faithful men held regular Sabbath services and prayer meetings at Brushgrove and King’s Creek for many years.
We should note, however, something of the history of these men, considering the stalwart nature of their contribution to the cause of Christ on the Northern Rivers.8 Hugh Grant was originally from Swordale, Sutherland, Scotland and he attended the old Creich Free Church near Bonar Bridge. In Australia, Mr Grant joined with the ministers from the Synod of Eastern Australia who were expelled under the infamous Expulsion Act of 1884. He was a faithful and uncompromising Elder, who was greatly attached to the principles of the Free Presbyterian Church. Mr Grant passed away in January 1942.9
Alexander and James D Kidd (Jim) were born to Thomas and Flora Kidd at Woodfordleigh, in the Clarence River district, and resided there for around the first 16 years of their lives. In 1886 the Kidd family moved from the Clarence River district to the Richmond River district, residing in Boat Harbour, in the vicinity of Lismore. While in their early twenties, the two brothers returned to live on the outskirts of Grafton, where they enjoyed the ministry of Rev Walter Scott. They were faithful members and subsequently ruling elders of the congregation. In 1923, sympathisers of the Free Presbyterian Church in Ballina applied to the Synod and were received.
At this point, the Kidd brothers removed to Ballina, where they conducted the services, although returning periodically to Grafton to assist with services and communion seasons. Alexander was appointed a lay Missionary by the Synod and he laboured faithfully in Ballina until his death on 18 January 1955. About 1895, James Kidd, who was apparently a most able speaker, commenced studies at Sydney University with a view to entering the ministry; however, in his third year he suffered a serious breakdown of his health from which he never fully recovered, and his studies were discontinued. James Kidd passed away on 16 October, 1959. A third brother, Richmond, the youngest of the 14 children, was also an elder in the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation until his death in June 1974.
8For the details of the various personalities mentioned in connection with the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation I am indebted to Mrs Christine Thomson, formerly of Ness, Isle of Lewis, for a very useful compilation of Australian obituaries that appeared in The Free Presbyterian Magazine over the years: Australia and New Zealand – The Lord’s Witnesses in This Part of His Vineyard in Days Gone by, 2011, pp 2-76.
9His obituary, written by Rev Donald Beaton, appeared in The Free Presbyterian Magazine, vol 46.
Late in 1928, 14 years after the extended visit of Rev Duncan MacKenzie, a second Church deputy visited Australia. Rev Roderick Mackenzie spent eight months in Grafton ministering to the congregation’s needs and left Sydney to return home on the SS Russie on 10 July 1929. It appears from records kept at the time, that he spent the majority, if not all, of his time in the Ballina district. A communion service was held there on 17 February 1929, but I have found no evidence that he held a communion in the Brushgrove-Grafton district.
The third Deputy to visit was Rev J P MacQueen, who arrived in April 1935 for a visit of eight and a half months. Mr MacQueen had been ordained as a Missionary to the Canadian and Australian Mission field after completing his theological studies. Before then the cause in Grafton had become so small that public worship had been discontinued for some years. During this visit, these services were recommenced, children were baptised, new communicants were received, and a communion season with the usual services was held in Grafton around Sabbath, September 15. Mr Donald Shaw, who had also been privileged to sit under the ministry of Rev Walter Scott was appointed by Mr MacQueen to hold the services in Grafton, which he did for 20 years on his own – so far as this writer knows – before Mr Aird Grant, a son of the worthy late elder Hugh Grant, was elected to the eldership in 1955.
On Wednesday, 16 April 1941, the new church building in Fitzroy Street was officially opened by the fourth Church Deputy, Rev Donald Beaton, and one week later, on the 23rd, Mr Donald Shaw was ordained and inducted as an Elder in the Brushgrove-Grafton congregation. Mr Shaw faithfully discharged his duties in the congregation for a period of 41 years.
It was not until 1973 that the much-loved Rev William MacLean, previously of Ness, Isle of Lewis, and Gisborne, New Zealand, was inducted to the Grafton congregation. Thus ended 38 years during which Donald (Don) Shaw kept the services in Grafton almost single handedly. On 24 November 1976, with the arrival of the Rev E A Rayner (pastor of the Grafton congregation until 31 October, 2012), a Bible inscribed by the three ministers within the Australia and New Zealand Presbytery was presented to Mr Shaw for 40 years of faithful service to the cause of Christ in Grafton.10 Don Shaw passed away on 3 March, 1983. At that time, Rev John MacLeod of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, and now in London, was in Sydney as a Church Deputy, so was able to attend the funeral of this faithful Christian.11
There have been other worthy and fondly-remembered men associated with the Grafton congregation since the 1970s, including Ritchie and Ron
10 Revs D M MacLeod, Auckland, J A T van Dorp, Gisborne, E A Rayner, Grafton.
11 The author also attended, and his wife Gai – a granddaughter of Mr Shaw.
Kidd, and right up to the present day. However, it was my purpose only to highlight those who were associated with the earlier days and the establishment of the congregation and I have not at all noticed here the origins of the Sydney congregation, which was established more recently.
We have seen, in brief, that the latter half of the nineteenth century brought with it a swelling tide of departures from orthodox doctrine, worship and practice in the Presbyterian churches of NSW, as the influence and example of the Established Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland had a leavening and winnowing effect. The constant movements for union into ever-larger Presbyterian bodies brought with them compromises that weakened the testimony of the staunch Evangelicals that seemed always to become minorities, despised for their strict adherence to scriptural principles. But the Saviour says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32). The true Israel in days past and in days to come, before the millennial period of spiritual renewal and prosperity, has never been the majority. “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Rom 9:6).
The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in Australia today, stands, we believe, by the grace and keeping of God, for the sound principles espoused by the faithful flock that went before. This is a precious heritage, and we must be watchful to keep it inviolate as we seek to follow the same Saviour and scriptural beliefs and the example of faithful men like Rev William MacIntyre, his brother Allan, Rev Alexander MacIntyre, Rev Arthur Paul, Rev Walter Scott, eminent ruling elders like Samuel Porter, Alexander, Jim and Richmond Kidd, Hugh and Aird Grant, Don Shaw; and faithful mothers in Israel like Mrs Catherine Grant, Mrs Thomas Kidd, Mrs Jessie Scott and Mrs Janet Shaw, to name just a few. There are others too numerous to name here. These all, we have good reason to believe, have entered into the joy of their Lord. May we and the rising generation be likewise found faithful in our day, holding fast to “the form of sound words” and the “faith which was once delivered unto the saints”.
If we desire to end our days in joy and comfort, let us lay the foundation of a comfortable death now, often. To die well is not a thing of that light moment as some imagine: it is no easy matter. But to die well is a matter of every day. Let us daily do some good that may help us at the time of our death. Every day by repentance pull out the sting of some sin, that so when death comes, we may have nothing to do but to die. To die well is the action of the whole life.
He that is much in heaven in his thoughts is free from being tossed with tempests here below.
Heaven is not heaven without Christ.
Richard Sibbes