ST. ANDREW'S KIRK

Observer, Volume XVI, Issue 949, 6 March 1897, Page 3

ST. ANDREW'S KIRK

Tearing: Out J?ach Other's for the Glory of God.

"We would appeal to the elders and members of St. Andrew's Church, in the name of common decency, to cease their wranglings, and endeavour to practise towards each other a little of that peace and goodwill they are so fond of preaching to others. We don't take much stock in that type of Christianity which delights in tearing ont one another's eyes for the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom. And yet, if the reports appearing in the newspapers are to be credited, this is the type of Christianity that is dominant in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Kirk to-day. One section of the chnrch was determined to secure the appointment of a certain minister to the charge, and another section was equally determined' to prevent that appointment. The result was bitterness, rancour and hatred, where there should have been communion and fellowship and brotherly love. It was no longer a question of the worship of the Almighty. One section of the Presbyterians of St. Andrew's uplifted the minister whose canse they had espoused, and made something short of an idol of him, and fought and quarrelled with their brethren of the church who opposed or condemned him. The other section

Mr Milne as their minister, while the attitude of the other half concerning Mr Milne is so stubborn and bitter that it is doubtful whether they would consent to enter Heaven in company with him.

The quarrel is a pitif nl and indecent one, and quite as unworthy as a common pothouse brawl. It ia a customary thing amongst the churches to deplore the attacks of heterodoxy upon the tenets of religion, but the Church has less to fear from infidelity and unbelief than from the malevolence and bitterneas of the brethren of the Church towards each other in cases such aa this one of St. Andrew's. The quarrel is a petty one aa it stands, and iB affording much merriment to the unregenerateand the scoffer. Surely it is time the Presbyterians of St. Andrew's overcame their bitterness and spite towards each other, and once, more foregathered in harmony and Christian fellowship for the advancement of their religion and the devout worship of the Almighty.

flouted the minister, and belittled him, and devised bitter methods of displaying their hatred towards him and his friends, and blocking hia progress into their pnlpit, in which they eventually succeeded. Friendships of a quarter of a century or more were forgotten in this feud. Long and honourable records of church and Sunday -school labours were ignored. We read of one worthy gentleman, after more than fifteen years' work in the Sundayschool, being loaded with opprobrium and nearly hounded out of the church. Even families have been divided on this wretched personal question of whether ~Mx Milne or Mr Somebody Else should be the minister of the church. This is no question of creed or faith. These people have not fought and villified each other in defence of their religion or because the right to worship the Almighty was denied to them. Nothing of the kind. One section of them virtually refuses to worship God unless the , other section submits to them and accepts !