Breakaway congregation joins the Free 2/10/14
The breakaway congregation of Tarbert Church of Scotland in Harris has joined the Free Church.
About a third of the congregation voted to quit the denomination in protest of the decision to allow gay ministers and the departure from Biblical teaching.
Instead of being absorbed into an existing Free Church congregation, the breakaways will worship as a group to be known as the North Harris Free Church.
In an official ballot, some 94 worshippers at Tarbert Church of Scotland voted to leave while 131 people opted to stay.
A further 87 churchgoers did not take part in the vote but their intentions may become clearer when the breakaway group set up a separate congregation, perhaps within three weeks.
A Free Church spokesman said the Commission of Assembly “wholeheartedly endorsed”the application by the North Harris Free Church.
They follow in the steps of 250 worshippers -
Now known as the High Free Church, their application to come under the wing of the Free was formally endorsed last night (Tues) at the Free Church commission in Edinburgh.
Stornoway High was previously the Church of Scotland’s biggest congregation on the Western Isles.
The Free’s recent decision to drop its traditional ban on music and hymns in worship is seen as a factor in attracting the dissenting worshippers.
Meanwhile, Rev Donald Maclennan has been appointed as locum minister of the Tarbert Church of Scotland.
Tarbert Church has not had a permanent minister since 2011.
Feelings that the national church was growing ever more distant from Biblical teachings have been strong amongst many within the congregation for some years though it was only after Rev Norman Maciver retired in 2011 that the issue came to the fore in Tarbert.
Last month, the presbytery organised a postal ballot of all members and adherents, sending out 312 forms. 225 were returned, a response rate of 72%.
Free Church minister in Inverness and former Moderator Rev David Meredith has been chairing a working group set up to deal with various requests from congregations seeking to join the Free Church.