Category: General

Introduction to Dr Robert Gordon, Minister of St Giles, Edinburgh; Disruption leader; Mathematics master and tutor; Estate Manager; Writer, Scientist and Inventor

One might well ask: how does an article with such a title find a place in a web-site that is dedicated to Scottish Presbyterian ministers, especially in their family relationship? I’ll tell you.

At the first General Assembly of the Free Church a list was presented of 192 Church of Scotland probationers who wished to adhere to the Free Church. What became of these men? Did they continue in the Free Church or go back to the Church of Scotland? Did they take up ministry or turn to secular employment?

Tolga Unker, a Turkish based artist with a keen interest in Scottish church history, has used his talents to bring to life a black and white photograph of Free Church of Scotland Moderators

Only those who are particularly perceptive or who use this web-site frequently will have noticed that some of the indexes on this site have been improved recently. This was done in three areas

The seven volumes of the Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae are a great resource for the researcher; and they are readily available on line. But, as far as I know, up till now, there has been no digital index available.

I thought I had noticed in Ewing’s Annals that, as the 19th century progressed, the rate of ministers resigning seemed to increase. I wondered if this was because of the theological liberalism which was creeping into the Free Church at that time.

A good question! When I started this web-site about a year ago, I didn’t see any need to have a blog. Now I’m not entirely convinced that I need one, but we are going to try it for a while at least.