William Lindsay Alexander. VII.
William Lindsay Alexander's ministry at Augustine Church was greatly blessed by God. He had become a leader in the congregational denomination, and that brought responsibility.
Congregational Churches are independent of one another, and the Congregational Union was only a loose fellowship. They had no formal creed, and no church courts. So long as the Congregational Churches of Scotland were all Calvinist, everything went well, but in early 1866 a controversy blew up.
Rev. James Cranbrook, pastor of Albany Street Congregational Church, Edinburgh, had been preaching extremely unorthodox sermons. Mr. Cranbrook had settled in Edinburgh in 1865 after a period of ministry in Liverpool. But before he became pastor of a congregational church in liverpool, Cranbrook had been a Unitarian minister. He had been assumed by some to be an ex-unitarian, but it became clear that his theology was not Biblical; it departed from the faith once delivered to the saints in several vital points. This was the first time heresy had reared its ugly head among the Scottish Congregationalists, and Dr. Alexander and his fellow leaders in the denomination realised that people would hear that Cranbrook was a 'Congregationalist' and assume that all Congregationalists agreed with him. What was worse, a number of Edinburgh Congregational ministers had been present at Cranbrook's recognition service at Albany Street. Alexander sent Cranbrook a brotherly letter, and Cranbrook replied angrily, accusing the ministers in whose name Dr. Alexander had written of constituting themselves an inquisition. A letter was sent in reply stating that Dr. Alexander and the other ministers had to suspend ministerial communion with Mr. Cranbrook.
Cranbrook went from bad to worse, and finally he separated from Albany Street and gathered a little congregation of his admirers around himself. Held together only by his preaching, the congregation broke up after Cranbrook's death in 1869.
Meanwhile Dr. Alexander's ministry continued, both at Augustine Church, and in the wider Church. But by 1877 his health and his pulpit ability were starting to fail. He felt that God had brought his ministry to an end at Augustine Church, and on 6th June 1877 he resigned the pastorate. He had ministered in the congregation for forty-two and a half years.
But Dr. Alexander's ministry was not over. Where God called him after Augustine Church we shall see, God willing, next time.
Congregational Churches are independent of one another, and the Congregational Union was only a loose fellowship. They had no formal creed, and no church courts. So long as the Congregational Churches of Scotland were all Calvinist, everything went well, but in early 1866 a controversy blew up.
Rev. James Cranbrook, pastor of Albany Street Congregational Church, Edinburgh, had been preaching extremely unorthodox sermons. Mr. Cranbrook had settled in Edinburgh in 1865 after a period of ministry in Liverpool. But before he became pastor of a congregational church in liverpool, Cranbrook had been a Unitarian minister. He had been assumed by some to be an ex-unitarian, but it became clear that his theology was not Biblical; it departed from the faith once delivered to the saints in several vital points. This was the first time heresy had reared its ugly head among the Scottish Congregationalists, and Dr. Alexander and his fellow leaders in the denomination realised that people would hear that Cranbrook was a 'Congregationalist' and assume that all Congregationalists agreed with him. What was worse, a number of Edinburgh Congregational ministers had been present at Cranbrook's recognition service at Albany Street. Alexander sent Cranbrook a brotherly letter, and Cranbrook replied angrily, accusing the ministers in whose name Dr. Alexander had written of constituting themselves an inquisition. A letter was sent in reply stating that Dr. Alexander and the other ministers had to suspend ministerial communion with Mr. Cranbrook.
Cranbrook went from bad to worse, and finally he separated from Albany Street and gathered a little congregation of his admirers around himself. Held together only by his preaching, the congregation broke up after Cranbrook's death in 1869.
Meanwhile Dr. Alexander's ministry continued, both at Augustine Church, and in the wider Church. But by 1877 his health and his pulpit ability were starting to fail. He felt that God had brought his ministry to an end at Augustine Church, and on 6th June 1877 he resigned the pastorate. He had ministered in the congregation for forty-two and a half years.
But Dr. Alexander's ministry was not over. Where God called him after Augustine Church we shall see, God willing, next time.
Labels: W. L. Alexander
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