Formation
In 1996, Professor Donald Macleod, principal of the Free Church College in Edinburgh was acquitted of charges of sexual assault when a sheriff ruled there had been a conspiracy against him. An organisation called the Free Church Defence Association believed that "it was wrong not to put Professor Macleod on trial in the General Assembly and that the majority has therefore departed from the principle that allegations of misconduct must be investigated not by a Committee of the General Assembly but by the whole General Assembly." The FCDA's chairman, Rev Maurice Roberts, was suspended for contumacy in June 1999 for refusing to withdraw his claim that General Assembly in May of that year was characterised by "gross and irremediable wickedness and hypocrisy".
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In August 1999, the FCDA's magazine, Free Church Foundations, referred to "the evil of Mr Roberts' suspension." A deadline was set for 30 November 1999 for the FCDA to disband, which it did not. Libels were drawn up against 22 ministers who refused to comply, and in a hearing by the Commission of Assembly on 19-20 January 2000 those libels were declared to be relevant. The 22 ministers were suspended, and they responded by leaving the commission. On 20 January 2000 the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) was formed when those ministers and a number of others adopted a "Declaration of Reconstitution of the historic Free Church of Scotland." Johnston McKay suggests that although on the surface the split was about Donald Macleod, in reality it was about theology, with the FCDA "composed of people who adhere much more firmly to the Westminster Confession of Faith."
Read more about this topic: Free Church Of Scotland (Continuing)
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