PRESBYTERIAN church members have "repudiated" the celebration of Christmas as paganism and superstition.

The Outer Isles Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, known for its strict observance of the Sabbath, also declared its opposition to its ministers participating in Christian ecumenical services.

A spokesman for the presbytery said: "There is no authority in the Word of God for the religious observance of Christmas or any other so-called holy day. In the main, these celebrations are worldly and contrary to the religion of the Bible, being derived from paganism and superstition."

The presbytery said it did not agree with an ecumenical service at the Royal National Mod as well as a similar service shown by Gaelic TV channel BBC Alba on Christmas Eve which involved ministers from the Church of Scotland and the Free Church, as well as a Catholic priest.