Yesterday I had the pleasure of observing the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) as they met in their first full day of business. This is a group that knows what they believe and are very forthright and clear about that in their conversations, their business, and their preaching.

I think a bit of context is helpful before I start discussing the Assembly itself. The Presbyterian Church in Scotland has almost as many splits and reunions as the American Presbyterians do. Focusing specifically on the Free Church of Scotland, the denomination was formed in The Disruption of 1843 when just over a third of the pastors walked out of the Church of Scotland General Assembly and a few days later constituted their own GA. After the Free Church went through a couple of unions it then, in 1929, reunited with the Church of Scotland. But there were a number of congregations that resisted the union with the United Presbyterian Church and continued as the Free Church of Scotland, essentially the Free Church body that is present today.

Then, in January 2000, in the midst of a church discipline case, a group within the Free Church walked out of the Commission of Assembly meeting when they regarded that church discipline was not properly exercised in the case of a leader in the church. This was the causative incident but differences had been building for a number of years. (And as expressed to me yesterday, the doctrinal gap between the two groups has been widening in the 18 years since.) As the Moderator put it in his address yesterday, they consider themselves the branch that represents “Truly unqualified subscription to the Westminster Confession.” For a bit more you can see the the History page on the web site and for the whole story from their perspective there is a recently released book, A Divided Church. (I picked up a copy yesterday and look forward to reading it.)

So yesterday I caught the bus to the LIberton section of Edinburgh, about three miles south of the Town Centre. The Assembly meets in the Liberton Kirk, the building of a Church of Scotland congregation which works very well for their Assembly.

I want to thank the Moderator, the Principal Clerk, and the whole assembly for their warm welcome. I have worked on press credentials at a few different assemblies now and their level of hospitality is second to none. The press are invited to join them for their group meals at their expense and the press seating is in the first row. Here was the view from my seat.

Throughout the day there was Psalm singing from the volume on the right in the picture, which is a modern printing of the Scottish Psalter of 1650. While I was there we sang one song in Gaelic. Can’t say I did well but I tried. For that one, it was helpful that the precentor lined the psalm for us as we sang. (And I would note that occasionally I would hear conversations around me being held in Gaelic.)

Following the opening singing the Moderator, the Rev. David Blunt, read the scripture for the day, the Book of Jude, and then gave his Moderatorial Address from the book, focusing on Jude 3 and “Contending for the faith today.” While I won’t try to summarize his address here (you can read it at the link above) I will say that he spoke of the need for zeal in contending for the faith and that all in the church – pastors, elders, deacons, and members – have a role to play. It would be easy to read into the address the message that the Free Church (Continuing) is the inheritor of the true Presbyterian heritage of Scotland, and in a conversation with him and the Principal Clerk later in the day I confirmed that I was not reading too much into the address.

In fact, throughout the day in subtle, and sometimes not so subtle ways, this was woven into the fabric of the Assembly.

From the Address they moved into business and the first item of business was the Loyal and Dutiful Address. (A formal letter to the monarch, for those who might not be familiar with it. Each GA produces one.) There were a couple changes accepted from the floor. There was a question about why the recent Royal Wedding was not included in the letter along with other congratulations, and the Moderator confirmed it was related to fact that the bride’s previous marriage had ended in a divorce on other than biblical grounds. The body was content with that answer and no move was made to add that to the congratulations. Another interesting feature is that, where applicable, members of the royal family were addressed by their Scottish-related titles.

The most substantive debate of the day came in the report of the Committee on Ecumenical Relations. (Starting on page 10 of the reports.) The positive news for the denomination is that the Free Church (Continuing) is back in full Ecclesiastical Fellowship with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. On the other side the committee expressed concern about the path of the  Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (liberated), or GKN(v). Last year the Synod began the process of admitting women to ordained office and in response the International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) suspended their fellowship with the denomination with a final decision on their membership to be made when the GKN(v) makes the decision final. The Free Church (Continuing) was asked to follow the lead of the ICRC and suspend the church-to-church level relationship. The Assembly concurred with the recommendation.

There was an addendum proposed to the report that as an aid to evaluating ecumenical relationships the church should “draw up a comprehensive statement of Free Church principles” and doing the same for other Scottish denominations for the next GA. There was some reasoned discussion of this and there were questions as to whether this is a needed document. In the end the addendum was defeated by a wide margin, but it brought some important issues to light.

This discussion reminded me of a proposal, also defeated, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a few years back to define what the phrase “essential tenets of the Reformed faith” in the Book of Order meant. The argument for the proposal was similar – how do we evaluate standards of discipline if there is no standard? The argument against was the there are confessional standards and how do you condense a confession down to a few bullet points while still doing justice to the subordinate standard? And would the summary be held, or used, in place of a full, recognized, subordinate standard? And while the proposal did not get traction in the PC(USA) when the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO) was formed they did create such a document.

Most of the rest of the day was made up of fairly routine reports. The Committee on Finance and Sustentation was presented on ministerial pay and new proposals that were being worked on for life insurance coverage coverage for pastors to assist families if the need arises. The General Trustees reported that the church budget was in good shape but spoke of seeking creative ways to help with capital needs of church planting. The Special Committee on Psalmody reported that the new Psalmody was now in its third printing due in large part to the hard work of some dedicated member of the church. And the Welfare of Youth and Education Committee distributed the annual Sunday School prizes as well as reporting on the holiday camps. Attendance has been an issue and a challenge to their viability. One in particular, the All-Ages Holiday Camp has been canceled this year and they are looking for a more affordable venue for future years.

Finally, there were several ecumenical delegates that were invited to speak. Two in particular caught my attention. The Rev. Josh Rieger from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales spoke of the context of his own church in Northumberland. This is an area that a centenary ago had ninety Presbyterian churches. Today his is the only one. And the Rev. Dr. John P Wilson brought greetings from the Presbyterian Church in Australia, of which he is the Moderator. He briefly outlined the history of the Presbyterians in Australia and commented on the formation of the Uniting Church 41 years ago. For him, this was a very positive event in the church as the progressive side of the church departed leaving a group more dedicated to the confessional tradition. He spoke positively of the trajectory of the church and what the future holds. (I would add that having read much of the book issued for the 40th anniversary last year, Burning or Bushed, that more comprehensive evaluation give a much more nuanced view of the state of the church at this time.)

Three quick notes:

For those tracking minister/elder participation the elder numbers are just about two-thirds the number of pastors – 38 pastors to 24 elders

It was an interesting juxtaposition to be in the session on Ecumenical Relations discussing the concerns over a partner denomination moving towards ordination of women at exactly the same time the Church of Scotland had their celebration of the 50th anniversary of the GA vote to ordain women.

And finally, I have been trying to characterize this GA and what struck me was the tight focus in doctrinal standards I saw. While the Assembly discussed matters tied to doctrine, doctrine itself was not really on the table. Unlike many other GA where commissioners with broad, or at lease broader, doctrinal interpretations where business is discussed through those filters, at this GA I found in neither the floor discussions or the many personal conversations I had with commissioners, did I find much variation in doctrine.

So again, my sincere thanks to the Free Church (Continuing) General Assembly and its officers for the stimulating day, enlightening conversations, and warm welcome. Best wishes and prayers for the conclusion of your Assembly and I hope to visit again at some time in the future.

[Update 26 May 2018: The text regarding the royal wedding and the bride’s earlier divorce and the spelling of Northumberland were corrected. Thanks to Mr. Blunt, the Moderator, for bringing it to my attention. We regret the errors.]