Exclusive report by
JOHN MACLEOD
THE Free Presbyterian Synod opened last night in the plain,
stone-built church on Chapel Street, Inverness, where it meets every
second year. A large congregation enjoined 80 ministers from around
Scotland and the dominions in opening worship conducted by the retiring
Moderator.
Unaccompanied psalms were sung, all stood for prayer and a long,
extempore sermon was preached. The synod began as it always has since
the 1890s.
But last night there was a vague sense of unreality about the
proceedings. For one thing, the retiring Moderator was an African: the
Rev. Aaron Ndebele of Zimbabwe, where the Free Presbyterians have a
substantial mission. He was replaced last night by the Rev. Lachlan
Macleod of Greenock -- but the latter is a member of the Southern
Presbytery. He will be at the Bar with his colleagues when Mr Ndebele
resumes the chair today for the most dramatic debate in the Church's
history.
Last November Edinburgh elder Lord Mackay of Clashfern, Lord High
Chancellor of Great Britain, was suspended by the Southern Presbytery
for six months for attending a requiem mass. Lord Mackay had gone to a
memorial service for Lord Russell of Killowan, a colleague and Roman
Catholic Judge, in July 1986. It was argued that the Free Presbyterian
Church has always regarded the mass as idolatrous therefore Lord Mackay
had to be disciplined. This afternoon the Synod will hear an appeal on
his behalf by the Edinburgh kirk session.
The case has aroused great fury and bitterness among the Free
Presbyterians. Hardliners argue that the Church must maintain a clear
witness against Romanism, and even its most important members have to
obey the law. But moderates are angry at the whole handling of the case.
In the entire history of the Free Presbyterians not one member has ever
been disciplined for going to mass. Why now, and why this elder of all
people?
On one side are the ''new right'' of the Free Presbyterian Church.
There are the two men who raised the Mackay case in the first instance.
Initiating the complaint to the Edinburgh kirk session was Mr Roy
Middleton, elder of the Barnoldswick congregation in Lancashire.
Originally a group composed of English non-conformists, the
''Barnoldswick Presbyterian Church'' joined the Free Presbyterians at
the 1977 Synod, attracted by their reformed tradition and sound
scriptural logic. Mr Middleton, an intense librarian, cultivated the
friendship of such influential ministers as the Rev. Donald Maclean of
Glasgow.
When Mr Middleton came across press reports of the Lord Russell
memorial service, he swiftly spread the news around the Church -- aided
by another Englishman, Gairloch elder Mr Tom Maton. Mr Middleton claimed
that Lord Mackay's attendance at mass had become a ''fama'' or scandal
in the Church.
With the support of Perth minister the Rev. Donald MacDonald -- an
educated Lewis man who was born in the Church of Scotland -- Mr
Middleton petitioned the Edinburgh kirk session in June, 1988. The case
was unanimously thrown out and they were told there was no proof Lord
Mackay had broken his ordination vows. They appealed to the Southern
Presbytery.
Enter the Rev. Donald Maclean, perhaps the most powerful man in the
Free Presbyterian Church. As assistant clerk to the synod in the 1960s
and 70s Lord Mackay's legal skill at drafting compromise motions often
frustrated plots by the Church right wing to remove unco-operative
ministers.
In 1978 his diplomacy prevented the almost-certain suspension of the
Rev. Fraser Tallach who had been quietly campaigning for change on the
Church's ban of ''protest'' at synod. In 1980 two ministers unwise
enough to table a synod protest were suspended and Mr Maclean ignored
Lord Mackay's advice in subsequent procedure. In the ensuing lawsuit the
Rev. John Brentnall and the Rev. Moshe Radcliffe won subtantial damages.
An embittered Mr Brentnall, who had been closely involved with Mr
Maclean for years, published a typescript of all the jibes and
criticisms he had heard the synod clerk utter about fellow Free
Presbyterians. One was: ''Lord Mackay? We can do without him.''
The Southern Presbytery met in Glasgow on November 4. By that time the
story had broken and the Church was besieged by reporters. Mr Maclean
insisted that the court meet in private. He also moved for the
appointment of a temporary clerk because Mr MacDonald of Perth would be
at the Bar.
The Rev. Fraser Tallach had arrived to give Lord Mackay moral support:
in a startling break with presbyterian courtesy, Mr Maclean prevented
his association with the presbytery.
The minutes of the debate show clearly Mr Maclean's control of the
situation but also that he was hard-pressed by hostile moderates. He was
embarrassed by questions about his comments to the press the previous
day, and strongly denied claims by the Rev. George MacAskill of
Dumbarton that he himself had previously sanctioned Church
office-bearers attending Roman Catholic funerals.
Mr Maclean moved the vital motion for Lord Mackay's suspension.
Technically this was illegal. The presbytery was handling a complaint
arising from a petition, not a formal ''libel'' of sin based on
scripture. But the resolution carried. Lord Mackay was suspended by
seven votes to five.
His minister, the Rev. Angus Morrison, promptly appealed to the synod.
Three other ministers dissented. Mr Maclean overruled Mr MacDonald's
plea for an interim suspension: it could not take effect until after the
synod appeal.
Mr Maclean's role since the presbytery meeting is likely to come under
angry examination by moderates today. He has appeared on television in
connection with the case, and written to the press defending the
suspension. As virtual Church spokesman, he has also been accused of
spreading ''misinformation''.
Mr Maclean has repeatedly told the media there are more than 7000 Free
Presbyterians in an effort to minimise a pro-Lord Mackay petition signed
by more than 1000 adherents. But the Free Presbyterian Year Book --
published ironically by Maclean loyalist the Rev. Donald Boyd of Daviot
-- paints a different picture. Detailed attendance records show that
only 2700 adults regularly gather in the Free Presbyterian Church each
Sabbath.
In two large congregations -- Glasgow and Stornoway -- the petition
was banned. In several others there was no-one to organise it. Synod
members themselves were ineligible to sign. A detailed breakdown of
those figures suggest that as many as 60% of active Free Presbyterians
may have signed the petition -- in which case the Church is divided from
top to bottom.
The petition was the first sign of reaction from the Lord Mackay camp
-- the Southern Presbytery minority, ministers of the large moderate
Northern Presbytery, and a small group of Inverness businessmen. But it
attracted great hostility from the right wing.
Stornoway minister the Rev. John Macleod has tried to have the
petition organiser, Mr William Fraser, suspended. The Rev. Donald
Maclean has preached against it. Dingwall minister the Rev. Donald B.
Macleod wrote to petitioners in his congregation demanding that they
withdraw their names.
Mr Macleod is the editor of the Free Presbyterian magazine. Moderates
were demanding an explanation today for his conduct in publishing a
series of ill-timed articles on the mass, Church discipline, and liberty
of conscience. It was this one-sided campaign that provoked the pamphlet
war.
In fact the first pamphlet to appear was strongly anti-Lord Mackay --
the expensively-produced Free Presbyterians and the Requiem Mass. This
took the Church by surprise when it arrived anonymously at dozens of
Free Presbyterian households in mid-March. Moderates were furious to see
that further copies were on sale at the Free Presbyterian bookshop in
Glasgow: was this any longer a sub-judice case?
Mr Middleton and Mr MacDonald were joined in the preparation of the
book by the Rev. Donald Boyd, who may well be the man to watch today.
Like them Mr Boyd is not a Free Presbyterian by birth but comes from a
Church of Scotland background in Kelvinside.
A doctor by training, he is widely disliked by many in the church who
nickname him ''Donald MacClone''. It is unlikely to trouble him.
Passionately committed to preserving Free Presbsyterian purity and not a
member of the Southern Presbytery, he will play a key role in the Lord
Mackay debate.
But the Mackay campaign, meanwhile, had already written their first
tract in the pamphlet war. The Rev. John Tallach's A Plea Against
Extremism came out early in May and was something of a disappointment --
short, abstruse, and shoddily-edited. The racy One is Your Master by his
brother, Fraser, published last week, has been well received.
For 20 years the Free Presbyterian Church has been ruled by a small,
right-wing oligarchy. It controls the large congregations, the
magazines, the synod clerkships, the theology training, and the Church's
standing committees. But that oligarchy has been increasingly under
retreat.
The vacancy of the huge Free Presbyterian congregation in Inverness is
a threat to it: the majority of the membership seek popular moderate the
Rev. Malcolm Macinnes as their minister and have been repeatedly
frustrated. Hard-liners were alarmed when the Edinburgh congregation
called the able and likeable Rev. Angus Morrison in 1986. And the
restoration of the Rev. Angus Cattenach -- suspended in 1979 in chaotic
circumstances by the Outer Isles Presbytery -- at the 1987 synod was a
clear sign that the right was losing its grip.
Many Free Presbyterians believe that the right has seized on Lord
Mackay in a bid to reassert its authority. It has brought down the
tallest poppy. And by unscrupulous manipulation of Church procedure, the
magazines and the media it has brought the Free Presbyterian Church
almost to the verge of disintegration.
Some may protest that hard-line Free Presbyterians are merely standing
where the Church has always stood, that there has always been a witness
against attending mass. That may be so. Perhaps they should speak to the
Rev. Duncan Maclean, former minister of South Harris. Mr MacLean's wife
is a converted Roman Catholic, and when his mother-in-law died, he was
asked if he should attend the requiem mass. He called a senior minister
for advice.
''No problem at all,'' said the Rev. Donald Maclean.
Leader Comment10
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article