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Stornoway, Lewis
Bid to form breakaway congregation in Stornoway 7/7/11
A number of Western Isles worshippers seem set to quit the Free Church and set up a Stornoway branch of a rival denomination in protest of its controversial introduction of hymns and music.
A small cohort of about 20 or so disaffected Free Church worshippers, drawn from
about eight island households, are expressing varying degrees of interest in breaking
away from the long established Hebridean denomination to join a proposed Lewis-
Rev David Karoon who has resigned as minister of Arran Free Church has joined the Reformed Presbyterian and will take services in Stornoway. He applied after resigning the Free Church pulpit.
A Reformed Presbyterian spokesman confirmed: “Presbytery met on Saturday the 2nd July and accepted Rev David Karoon's application to become a minister in the RPCS.”
It is believed at least one elder has resigned from Stornoway Free Church with a view to joining the rival denomination.
Dissidents may look towards the Reformed Presbyterians because they offer exclusive psalm singing and a clean history untainted by bitter splits or breakaway churches which litters the ecclesiastical landscape in Presbyterian Scotland.
The tiny Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland (RPCS) is now on its way to double its number of churches as a result of the internal anger within the Free Church over ditching exclusive psalm singing and no musical instruments.
Admittingly the RPCS only had two small constituted churches in Scotland.
The high profile Rev Kenneth Stewart of North Uist and Glasgow -
But Rev Kenneth Stewart is now heading a brand new third congregation in the Hebridean area of Westend Glasgow.
It took 140 years for it to become the first Scottish RP church plant when it was officially constituted on 22nd May.
Just 40 days later, Stornoway seems to be next on the list.