Our Current Situation

LOCH A TUATH NEWS November 2001

Back is one of the few districts of Lewis where there is only one church building. Ever since Rev Hector Cameron remained loyal to the Free Church of Scotland in 1900, the denomination has been supported by members and adherents, and the church building has commanded a prominent place on the Vatisker ridge.

But the solitariness of the building is not just physical: it represents one of the major strengths of the community. Although other denominations are represented in the district, the trinity of one school, one community hall and one church building undergirds the life of this area. We are not free from problems -- which community in the British Isles is? -- but at least we have a solid foundation for community life which few other areas enjoy.

Our church, however, and our manse, are now the subject of a lawsuit which threatens to rob the congregation, loyal to the Free Church of Scotland, of its property. A small group, who walked out of the Free Church General Assembly, and who gladly accepted disjunction certificates stating that they were leaving Free Church of Scotland congregations, now claim ownership of the property they vacated.

This is hardly the place to rehearse the arguments. Most decent members and adherents of the Free Church simply want to get on with their life, work and witness. It is with great disappointment that they have learned of this move to take their church buldings from them, and to throw their minister and his family out onto the street.

A statement from the Commission of the Free Church Assembly is available for anyone who wishes to know the truth of the matter regarding our Church's constitutional position and the position regarding property. This threat of legal action is just another of Satan's attempts to hinder the work of the Gospel and the proclamation of the Word of God.

To those who continue to worship faithfully in Back Free Church, I say: you are worthy successors of Hector Cameron and his colleagues of 1900. 'Hold fast that which you have, and let no man steal your crown'.

To those of you who worship in other denominations, I say: pray for us, and pray that the work of the Gospel will go on in spite of all obstacles.

To those of you who worship nowhere, yet who are confronted everywhere with the reality of inter-church wars, I say: this is what religion does -- it produces confrontation in the Middle East, in New York, in Scotland, in Back. But it is not what Jesus does: he came to give us life more abundantly. There are faults with his followers, but none with him. To know him is to have eternal life.