While visiting in Scotland a couple of months ago my wife Leeta and I had the privilege of meeting two faithful Scottish pastors (and one of their wives). As an evangelical pastor myself, I have a definite affinity and appreciation for fellow evangelical ministers who are faithfully serving the Lord and His people. Though my interaction with these two brother pastors was only brief, I wanted to share the blessing that meeting them was to us.
While visiting Glasgow Cathedral (also called the High Kirk of Glasgow) we met two very helpful tour guides, Rev. David Easton and Mr. Bill Lintoft. They answered our questions about the cathedral and a number of its features.
For some forty years, David Easton served as a minister in the Church of Scotland, serving two long pastorates in the Glasgow area. Recently, in his (partial) retirement, David served for two years as the interim minister at Glasgow Cathedral, until that congregation of about 300 people called its next full-time resident pastor.
The Church of Scotland has around 1,350 congregations. Like a number of church denominations in America, the Church of Scotland has embraced liberalism in various theological and social-moral issues in recent decades. Faithful evangelical ministers like David Easton are rightly grieved over that decline in their denomination and have been led of God to continue steadfastly promoting sound doctrinal and moral truth in the Church of Scotland. May the Lord encourage and strengthen them as they do so, and use them to have a positive leavening influence in the congregations and ministry circles in which they serve.
The one Sunday we were in Scotland we worshiped at the Fearn Free Church in Hilton, a small seaside town on the western edge of the Moray Firth in the Scottish Highlands. That congregation is part of the Free Church of Scotland, one of several smaller thoroughly-evangelical denominations that faithfully proclaim God’s inerrant Word and the Christian Gospel in Scotland.
Our hearts were blessed by the beautiful Psalm-singing we heard and the welcoming individuals we met at that church. In addition, we appreciated the capable public ministry of Rev. Andrew MacLeod, the congregation’s young minister, who presented the Scripture reading, pastoral prayer, and sermon in the worship service. Andrew is in his second or third year of pastoral ministry.
After the morning worship service Andrew’s newlywed wife, Eilidh, invited us to their home for Sunday dinner. We requested, instead, the privilege of hosting them out to dinner at a restaurant. While Andrew finished up some further ministerial responsibilities at church, Eilidh invited us to join her at their home until he was available. As circumstances turned out, Andrew wasn’t able to join us for quite some time, during which period Eilidh went ahead and prepared a lovely dinner, which the four of us enjoyed together when Andrew returned home.
We felt somewhat bad about imposing on this young couple in the midst of the full weekend of ministry responsibilities they were carrying out. But, though we were complete strangers to them, they extended warm, gracious hospitality to us. We were further blessed to hear their Christian testimonies and to perceive their earnest desire to actively, appropriately serve Christ and His followers. Their youthful willingness and diligence in service reminded us of our own early years of ministry, and also how that we want to continue to serve with those commendable qualities throughout our ministry career.
Andrew and Eilidh MacLeod, along with David Easton, present attractive pictures of willing, active and faithful service of Jesus our Savior, both early in adulthood and clear through to the end of one’s ministerial career and life. They are positive examples for vocational and lay ministers alike.
Copyright 2019 by Vance E. Christie
