Post-1900

The contemporary Free Church of Scotland is that part of the original Free Church of Scotland that remained outside of the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900. more...

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It remains a distinct Presbyterian denomination in Scotland to this day, and is commonly referred to (in Highland English, and mostly by outsiders) as The Wee Frees, though this nickname is sometimes used for the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (also occasionally known as The Wee Wee Frees).

Aftermath of the union of 1900

In 1900 the Free Church of Scotland united with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church of Scotland. However, a minority of the original Free Church remained outside of this new union.

The protesting and dissenting minority at once claimed to be the legitimate Free Church. They met outside the Free Assembly Hall on October 31, and, failing to gain admission to it, withdrew to another hall, where they elected John Bannatyne as moderator and held the remaining sittings of their Assembly.

It was reported that between 16,000 and 17,000 names had been received of persons adhering to the anti-unionist principle. At the Assembly of 1901 it was stated that the Free Church had twenty-five ministers and at least sixty-three congregations. However, her congregations were mostly in the Gaelic-speaking districts of Scotland.

The initial problems were obvious, her congregations soon grew in number, but were far apart and there were not nearly enough ministers. The church received little sympathy or assistance from the United Free Church, and her work was conducted under considerable hardship. Nor could she appeal to the general popular sentiment of Scotland. However, the revenue of the church gradually increased, her sustentation fund was in 1901 only able to support 75 ministers, but from 1903 onwards 167.

The Free Church Case

(see Free Church case)

After the union of 1900, the United Presbyterian Church and the continuing Free Church, not only contested the legacy of the Free Church of 1843-1900, they perhaps more importantly also contested its assets. After attempts at agreement failed, the whole matter ended in the Scottish courts. The litigation was initially decided in favour of the Free Church, but in the end the matter was settled by Parliamentary intervention.

The Life of the Church

By 1906, a Free Church College had been re-established in Edinburgh. By 1925, there were 91 ministers and 170 congregations, in 12 Presbyteries (including two in Canada). The general magazine of the Free Church is The Monthly Record and there are magazines for young people. Two of the professors in the Free Church College began a theological journal the Evangelical Quarterly in 1929, but in 1942 control passed outside the church initially to Inter Varsity Fellowship. Today the College offers degrees in conjunction with the University of Glasgow.

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