| History of the F.P. Church – Part 1 (1893 -1933) Rev. Donald Macfarlane, Raasay, afterwards advanced to the table and read the following protest: ”Whereas by the action of the General Assembly of 1892 in passing the Declaratory Act into a law of the Church, and by that Act being retained in her constitution, the Church, in our opinion, ceases to be the true representative of the Free Church of Scotland; and whereas by our ordination vows we are bound by the most solemn obligations to assert, maintain, and defend the doctrines and constitution of the said Church, and to follow no divisive courses from the doctrine, worship, discipline, government, and exclusive-jurisdiction of the same, I, the undersigned minister of the Free Church, in my own name, and in the name of all who may adhere to me, declare that, whatever I may subsequently do, neither my conscience nor my ordination vows allow me to act under what has now been made law in this Church. ”I also protest against the despotic power exercised by a majority of the office-bearers of this Church in making changes in her creed and constitution, which are ultra vires of any majority in the face of any protesting minority, and I declare that I claim my sacred and civil rights according to the terms of contract agreed upon between me and the Free Church at my ordination, and in accordance with the creed and constitution of the Free Church in the year 1843. – (Signed) Donald Macfarlane, Minister at Raasay” (Records of the Free Church Presbytery of Scotland). |
| History of the F.P. Church – Part 2, Chapters 1 & 2 (1932 – 1948) This is a time when a man must stand, not in his own strength, for we are told by the Psalmist that the Lord does not regard such as can stand on his own legs, but at the same time we must stand. There is no going back, my friends. There is no going back for the believer. There is no going back my friends, for the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. So far as I understand things, it was not nearly so necessary in 1893 for the Church to make the stand she did, as it is now. Things have gone from bad to worse every day. This age, yes, and this land, are full of traitors to the Lord Jesus Christ, and there are many here who know more about that class of persons than I do. But I know this much, that they are persons who are never relied on and never trusted, and of whom others are always afraid, and we have every reason to be afraid of them. And this land is just swarming with traitors to the Lord Jesus Christ, whose names, sad to say, are on many communion rolls, for there is a great forsaking of the true faith in this land as well as throughout the world in this sad day of ours. It is indeed .a cloudy and dark day, so dark and cloudy that whosoever will get through safely and be accounted worthy of the Lord, will have reason to praise God throughout eternity……Rev. D.N. Macleod |
| Memoir of Rev. Donald Macdonald (Chapters 1 – 6 ) THIS volume is issued with a view to perpetuate the worthy memory of the late godly minister of the Free Presbyterian Church at Shieldaig, Ross-shire. It is hoped that the perusal of it may be the means of stimulating the Lord’s people to greater devotedness to their Lord and Master, and that it may be also blessed by the Holy Spirit to the bringing of precious souls, who are still wandering on the hills of sin and vanity, to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of ”that which was lost.” |
| Memoir of Rev. Donald Macfarlane (Chapters 1 – 6) When the Assembly met, those who had been making rousing speeches and threatening drastic action if the Declaratory Act became the law of the Free Church, remained silent, and it was left to Mr Macfarlane, a man of a quiet, retiring, and timid disposition, who had not been heard boasting on the housetops what great things he intended to do, to step forward and, in the face of a hostile Assembly, table his protest. |
| Memoir of Rev. Neil Cameron (Chapters 1-5) In his death the Free Presbyterian Church lost its most outstanding minister, and the Church of Christ a faithful and true witness. |
| The Deed of Separation 1893 Deed of Separation of 14th August 1893, by which the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was formed |