CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND UNITED FREE CHURCH TO UNITE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18769, 27 May 1929, Page 13

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND UNITED FREE CHURCH TO UNITE.

(United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, May 25. After twenty years of harmonious negotiations, the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church have agreed to enter into an incorporating union. Final discussions will be held simultaneously between the two assemblies, each consisting of more than a thousand members'. Scenes of fervent enthusiasm marked the meetings. The Duke of York, as Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland, attended the Church of Scotland’s assembly, accompanied by the Duchess, and listened to Doctor John White, former Moderator, submitting the resolution. The Doctor declared that the union realised both the dream of former generations and the vision of the present. Each church’s unchanged continuity and identity would be enriched by the cumulative contributions of the sister church. The resolution was passed with three dissentients. Doctor Robert Drummond, sponsoring the resolution at the Free Church Assembly, of which he is a former Moderator, emphasised the fact that this was the most momentous step since the J Covenanting struggle. The resolution was passed with thirty-nine dissentients, the smallest minority in the long negotiations. The Rev J. Barr, a Labour com moner, leader of the minority, declared that he and his followers were going into the wilderness, because the causes of separation had not been removed. He announced that the minority would carry on the United Free Church. The formal act of union was fixed for October, when it is expected that the King and Queen will attend.—Australian Press Association.