Borders' Conference

Back in November, Stephen and Carla attended the annual Banner of Truth Borders’ Conference in Carlisle. It was a great time of hearing from God’s word and renewing fellowship with other believers in our region. On the Saturday afternoon, Stephen had a chance to speak about gospel needs and opportunities in Stranraer, as well as in Dumfries and Galloway more generally.

The official report from the conference says of the Saturday afternoon:

“this was a particularly encouraging time as representatives reported on real-life ministry in places that are in many cases ‘off the beaten track’, whether that be Stranraer in the deep southwest of Scotland, or the small village of Charlesworth on the edge of the Peak District. It was a reminder that the Lord is at work in such places, and of the need to pray for more labourers”

You can watch a video of the opening address by Jonty Rhodes below:

Dumfries & Galloway: Lowest % church attendance in Scotland

According to the latest UK Church Statistics report (2020), Dumfries and Galloway currently has the lowest percentage church attendance of any Scottish council area. In 2016, 4.6% of the population here attended church, second only to East Lothian (4.5%). However by 2025 Dumfries and Galloway’s church attendance is forecast to drop to 2.8% by 2025 - with the next worst being Clackmannanshire at 3.1%.

For Scotland as a whole, the figure was 7.2% in 2016, forecast to drop to 5.5% by 2025.

Of course, the percentage of the population attending a Bible-believing church will be much lower.

We have previously discussed the closure of churches in Stranraer and Wigtownshire, while Stephen also contributed an article for the Free Press pointing out that even in churches that remain open, the Bible has long since been stolen from unsuspecting churchgoers.

We have recently begun a new series in church on the book of Nehemiah examining both how we got here and where we go from here, as we pray and work to see the church of Jesus Christ revitalised both in Stranraer and throughout Scotland.

The Tomb of Alexander Linn - Shepherd, Covenanter, Martyr

Alexander Linn was shot on the spot on Craigmoddie Fell, a remote part of Wigtownshire, in 1685 after being found with a pocket Bible. In May 1827, 142 years later, the Stranraer minister William Symington preached a sermon at the spot. A stone wall was built around the grave, its stone placed in the wall, and a new stone added.

According to one contemporary account, ‘it is so remote a place, that nothing but the hottest spirit of persecution could have pursued its victims into such a wild. It was a matter of surprise, that a congregation could be collected there to hear sermon. Yet, says an eye witness, we had a large and most attentive audience, people having gathered from a wide circle of the surrounding country’.

‘It was with great difficulty that Dr. Symington could find his way to the spot on the Sabbath morning; but as he approached it, he perceived people streaming towards it from all quarters. A temporary pulpit was erected near the martyr’s grave. The audience listened with much pleasure to a long and moving discourse from Jude 3’.

The Dumfries & Galloway Courier (29 May 1827) reported that there were at least 1000 people there - and that Symington spoke for four hours!

‘The preacher and his audience, which could not be under 1,000 souls, had to travel through bogs for many a weary mile, and when the voice of the Psalms rose in the wilderness, and matrons, maids, and reverential men were seen streaming from every neighbouring height, the spectators had a living example before them of a conventicle held in the days of persecution. We need not eulogise the talents of the preacher. As a divine he has very few equals, whether among Dissenters or in the Established Church; and although he spoke for four hours, a more attentive and enthusiastic congregation never assembled on a hill-side. The inscription on the humble tomb of Linn furnished the Rev. Gentleman with a text, “contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints,” and never was a text more interestingly illustrated. The remoteness of the spot — the tent planted in the open wild — the monotonous aspect of external nature as contrasted with the pious worshippers around — the burn stealing through the heathery waste, and the curlew complaining that her wilderness had been invaded — all contributed to subdue the mind to a holy calm, to banish for a time every worldly feeling, and produce impressions which only the poet could have adequately described’.

One tradition states that Linn was from New Luce, and would have been a parishioner of Alexander Peden’s - however it is more likely that he was a fugitive from elsewhere.

Further memorial services were held in 1887, 1911 and 1912. According to another source, ‘additional commemoration services were held at the tomb in 1972 and 1985, the latter marking the 300th anniversary of the death of Alexander Linn. The 1972 service was recorded by an addendum to his original 1685 stone in which two numbers in the date were transposed, reading 1927 instead of 1972’.

“Contend for the faith that was once for all given to the saints” - Jude 3

“Happy is that people whose God is the LORD” - Psalm 144:15

Church buildings in Wigtownshire

Our church building features in a 2016 publication entitled Church Buildings in Wigtownshire, by John R. Hume.

In a helpful introduction to the book, Hume notes the pivotal role of Wigtownshire in the Christianisation of Scotland, with physical evidence of early Christianity at Kirkmadrine and Whithorn (where there used to be an RP church). He also notes that in the 20th and 21st centuries rural depopulation has continued, and with it the number of active places of worship, with only a handful of new church buildings constructed since 1945.

It could be added that even in Stranraer itself, church closures and mergers are a constant feature. And while socio-economic factors are doubtless part of it, the Bible alerts us to the fact that there may be another reason for the closure of churches - the Lord Jesus Christ coming and removing lampstands (churches) when they lose their first love (Revelation 2:5). Even in churches which remain open, the Bible has long since been stolen from unsuspecting churchgoers. Against this background we’re grateful that God has preserved us as a congregation to bring the good news about Jesus Christ to 21st century Stranraer.

The book is available from the Stranraer and District Local History Trust for £4.50.

Reformed reading group starts in SW Scotland

Last week, a new ministers’ reading group started in Newton Stewart, organised by Reformation Scotland. For our first meeting, we worked through a book written by a local Galloway minister 350 years ago - Samuel Rutherford’s Conversations with a Dying Man. Even though the book was written a long time ago, it led to some very practical discussions about ministering to the sick and dying.

For more resources from Reformation Scotland, including their video series Scotland’s Forgotten History, check out their website.