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Let us cherish and praise the Free Church of Scotland Let us cherish and praise the Free Church of Scotland
(7 months later)
My most rewarding trip to Edinburgh did not take place at the festival, that increasingly bloated and self-regarding cultural shambles that makes our capital city a place to be avoided in August. It occurred on a quiet Saturday morning a couple of years back when I visited the Free Church of Scotland College on the Mound.My most rewarding trip to Edinburgh did not take place at the festival, that increasingly bloated and self-regarding cultural shambles that makes our capital city a place to be avoided in August. It occurred on a quiet Saturday morning a couple of years back when I visited the Free Church of Scotland College on the Mound.
My friend, a successful metropolitan whose suggestion it was to make this journey, had been nursing a few doubts about the continued relevance of her mother church. Perhaps she wanted to be reacquainted with its treasures by making this little pilgrimage to the heartland of her faith. For a persistent Roman such as me, it was a slightly esoteric departure from my normal activity on a Saturday morning: watching Soccer AM and making optimistic calculations about when I might safely be able to retrieve my car.My friend, a successful metropolitan whose suggestion it was to make this journey, had been nursing a few doubts about the continued relevance of her mother church. Perhaps she wanted to be reacquainted with its treasures by making this little pilgrimage to the heartland of her faith. For a persistent Roman such as me, it was a slightly esoteric departure from my normal activity on a Saturday morning: watching Soccer AM and making optimistic calculations about when I might safely be able to retrieve my car.
By the end of our tour of this, the Free Church's little, unspoilt Vatican, I hoped for her sake that her spiritual turbulence would pass and that this purest of the Christian traditions would continue to prevail in her life. It is impossible not to be affected by the austere beauty of this outstanding Edinburgh townhouse, perched on the Old Town's silver carapace. And, not for the first time, I thought I might have been content to have been born into this faith.By the end of our tour of this, the Free Church's little, unspoilt Vatican, I hoped for her sake that her spiritual turbulence would pass and that this purest of the Christian traditions would continue to prevail in her life. It is impossible not to be affected by the austere beauty of this outstanding Edinburgh townhouse, perched on the Old Town's silver carapace. And, not for the first time, I thought I might have been content to have been born into this faith.
I won't attempt to convey here the splendour of the building but the Presbytery Hall is surely one of Edinburgh's hidden jewels. Mr William S Anderson, the college's curator, in his guide to the Free Church of Scotland, tells us that it is constructed in the 17th-century Jacobean style and that it is believed to be one of the finest remaining intact examples at that. He also tells us that the panelling is made of Oregon pine and that it probably arrived on one of the first shiploads of that wood to enter Britain from North America.I won't attempt to convey here the splendour of the building but the Presbytery Hall is surely one of Edinburgh's hidden jewels. Mr William S Anderson, the college's curator, in his guide to the Free Church of Scotland, tells us that it is constructed in the 17th-century Jacobean style and that it is believed to be one of the finest remaining intact examples at that. He also tells us that the panelling is made of Oregon pine and that it probably arrived on one of the first shiploads of that wood to enter Britain from North America.
We further learn that "the chief glory of the room is, undoubtedly, the ceiling, modelled by hand. There is a heavy cornice with heraldic devices picked out in various colours – predominantly soft green, brown, red and white. The gold leaf is that of 1862 and is as fresh as it was on the day it was applied."We further learn that "the chief glory of the room is, undoubtedly, the ceiling, modelled by hand. There is a heavy cornice with heraldic devices picked out in various colours – predominantly soft green, brown, red and white. The gold leaf is that of 1862 and is as fresh as it was on the day it was applied."
The real attraction of the room, though, is the canvas that hangs on one of the end walls. It is a painting of the First General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland signing the Act of Separation and Deed of Demission in 1843. This was when the Free Church came into being after "the Disruption" of that year when 450 ministers seceded from the Church of Scotland over who was qualified to appoint ministers.The real attraction of the room, though, is the canvas that hangs on one of the end walls. It is a painting of the First General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland signing the Act of Separation and Deed of Demission in 1843. This was when the Free Church came into being after "the Disruption" of that year when 450 ministers seceded from the Church of Scotland over who was qualified to appoint ministers.
When you consider that issue – the proper use of power – and look at the faces of the men and women in the painting you feel as though you are peering into the very soul of Scotland itself. And you come to an understanding – or begin to come to an understanding – of why the Free Church of Scotland represents much of what we consider to be good about our country. The Church of Scotland represents the mainstream of established Presbyterianism, but it's really the Free Church, more than any other, which has remained steadfast and true to the values of God's gospel in a world that has largely rejected Jesus Christ. As such, the Free Church of Scotland should be held in respect and be cherished by this country. Instead, it is an object of derision and scorn; it's very name a byword for intolerance and intransigence much favoured by Saturday night dinner bores who want to appear sophisticated and worldly.When you consider that issue – the proper use of power – and look at the faces of the men and women in the painting you feel as though you are peering into the very soul of Scotland itself. And you come to an understanding – or begin to come to an understanding – of why the Free Church of Scotland represents much of what we consider to be good about our country. The Church of Scotland represents the mainstream of established Presbyterianism, but it's really the Free Church, more than any other, which has remained steadfast and true to the values of God's gospel in a world that has largely rejected Jesus Christ. As such, the Free Church of Scotland should be held in respect and be cherished by this country. Instead, it is an object of derision and scorn; it's very name a byword for intolerance and intransigence much favoured by Saturday night dinner bores who want to appear sophisticated and worldly.
We all know, though, the real reason why we like to throw rotten fruit and to ridicule this most thrawn and implacable of institutions and shout "leper" at it and make it wear bells and rags. For its very existence is an eternal rebuke to the world of excess, greed and unfettered consumerism and to the adherents of the other Christian faiths who, each day, feel compelled to make little compromises with an unbelieving world just to have a quiet and easy life.We all know, though, the real reason why we like to throw rotten fruit and to ridicule this most thrawn and implacable of institutions and shout "leper" at it and make it wear bells and rags. For its very existence is an eternal rebuke to the world of excess, greed and unfettered consumerism and to the adherents of the other Christian faiths who, each day, feel compelled to make little compromises with an unbelieving world just to have a quiet and easy life.
Presumably, it has so relatively few adherents because it brooks no such dirty compromises in its own membership. It takes the unremitting abuse and hatred from those wretched few who hold sway in our political life and who preach equality, inclusion and freedom of worship… unless you subscribe to biblical Christianity.Presumably, it has so relatively few adherents because it brooks no such dirty compromises in its own membership. It takes the unremitting abuse and hatred from those wretched few who hold sway in our political life and who preach equality, inclusion and freedom of worship… unless you subscribe to biblical Christianity.
Last week, the Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, the Reverend Dr Iain D Campbell, complained publicly and reasonably about the pejorative and mocking use of the term "wee Free" to describe anyone who is a member of the Free Church. "It seems that once you put the label 'Wee Free' on to something," he observed, "it can justifiably be the butt of any joke."Last week, the Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, the Reverend Dr Iain D Campbell, complained publicly and reasonably about the pejorative and mocking use of the term "wee Free" to describe anyone who is a member of the Free Church. "It seems that once you put the label 'Wee Free' on to something," he observed, "it can justifiably be the butt of any joke."
The Free Church heartlands are in the Highlands and Islands and its influence on Scottish culture, politics and faith is memorably and beautifully chronicled in a book by the brilliant John MacLeod, an underrated historian and the best columnist writing in any Scottish newspaper. MacLeod is himself a member of the Free Church of Scotland. For that fact alone, he has endured catcalls and taunting from the middle class Hemingways and Nietzsches who make up what is known, laughably, as Scotland's media intelligentsia.The Free Church heartlands are in the Highlands and Islands and its influence on Scottish culture, politics and faith is memorably and beautifully chronicled in a book by the brilliant John MacLeod, an underrated historian and the best columnist writing in any Scottish newspaper. MacLeod is himself a member of the Free Church of Scotland. For that fact alone, he has endured catcalls and taunting from the middle class Hemingways and Nietzsches who make up what is known, laughably, as Scotland's media intelligentsia.
Macleod was a newspaper colleague of mine and had once seriously entertained the notion of entering the ministry of his beloved Free Church. "Would you be happy be stand as a referee to support my application?" he asked me. "I'd be honoured to, John," I replied, in what I hoped was a tone that conveyed the sense that I had been accustomed to this sort of inquiry. "Do you really think, though, that having someone called Kevin Joseph Patrick Aloysius McKenna as a referee will help your cause?"Macleod was a newspaper colleague of mine and had once seriously entertained the notion of entering the ministry of his beloved Free Church. "Would you be happy be stand as a referee to support my application?" he asked me. "I'd be honoured to, John," I replied, in what I hoped was a tone that conveyed the sense that I had been accustomed to this sort of inquiry. "Do you really think, though, that having someone called Kevin Joseph Patrick Aloysius McKenna as a referee will help your cause?"
"Och, don't worry about that," he replied, with a glint in his voice. "At least you're not in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).""Och, don't worry about that," he replied, with a glint in his voice. "At least you're not in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)."
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