Donald Macdonald (1825 – 20 August 1901) was one of two ministers in the founding Presbytery of the

Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (FPC Church; , ) was formed in 1893. The Church identifies itself as the spiritual descendant of the Scottish Reformation. The Church web-site states that it is "the constitutional heir of the historic Chu ...

, which separated in 1893 from the

Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900) The Free Church of Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish Christian denomination, denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the Disruption of 1843. In 1900, the vast major ...

as the result of a Protest at the meeting of the General Assembly of the Free Church on 25 May 1893 by Donald Macfarlane against the Declaratory Act passed by the General Assembly in 1892 modifying the church's adherence to the

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it becam ...

, believing that it thereby 'altered and vitiated' the constitution of the Free Church in law. Macdonald was born at Langash in the parish of

North Uist North Uist (; ) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist are described as one isla ...

in 1825. He became the Free Church of Scotland minister in

Shieldaig Shieldaig (; )W. J. Watson''Place-names of Ross and Cromarty'' 1904, p. 208. is a village in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands, in the Scottish council area of Highland. Geography and history The village was founded in 1800 with a vie ...

in 1872 but he was evicted from his church and manse in 1893. His biographer wrote: “The Assembly of 1877 presented them he minister and his congregationwith church and manse in consideration of their faithful adherence to the principles of the Free Church; the Assembly of 1893 deprived them of these gifts for ''the very same reason!''” He supported the separation of Rev Donald MacFarlane, Raasay, from the Free Church in May 1893 in protest at the church's Declaratory Act. With MacFarlane, he founded the first presbytery of the

in August of that year. Like him, he was supported by most of his own congregation but evicted from church and manse by ministers and elders in their respective presbyteries who had stayed within the Free Church. After worshipping in the open air a new church was opened in 1895 for the newly formed Shieldaig congregation of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and a new manse completed in 1897. MacDonald and MacFarlane saw the body they founded together grow substantially. His preaching was highly valued and sometimes compared to that of the Rev Archibald Cook of

Daviot, Highland Daviot (Gaelic: ) is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is about south east of the city of Inverness, next to the A9, the main road to Inverness. Etymology The name ''Daviot'' was recorded as ''Deveth'' in 1206–33, and ...

Inverness-shire. He died on 20 August 1901 in his manse at

and was buried in

Applecross Applecross ( , 'The Sanctuary', historically anglicized as 'Combrich') is a peninsula in Wester Ross, in the Scottish Highlands. It is bounded by Loch Kishorn to the south, Loch Torridon to the north, and Glen Shieldaig to the east. On its wes ...

cemetery, followed by his wife Mary who died on 17 August 1909.

Works and Publications

*
Creation and the Fall; A Defence and Exposition of the First Three Chapters of Genesis
' (1856)

References

Ministers of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland 1825 births 1901 deaths 19th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers {{Scotland-reli-bio-stub