We have been
hearing about a special brother and the beginnings of a church planting
ministry in Scotland
for some months now. Brother Barry King,
many of you will remember from either the True Church Conference or the
Anchored in Truth magazine, is a dear brother and leader of Grace Baptist
Partnership in London. He informed me of Brother Ali Mclachlan, of Scotland. He has a strong reputation in the Gospel,
being sound both theologically and methodologically. He is in dire need of some brothers to come
along side and hold up his arms in this church planting endeavor. Here are some excerpts from a recent
communication from Brother Ali.
"Ministry seldom turns out the way you
imagined.
On graduating from seminary we believed we
would live and die planting a church in northern Yemen. Although we were blessed
with converts, and made a contribution toward establishing a church, we needed
to leave our baptized converts in the hands of a faithful missionary leader.
God brought us home.
On our return to the UK, I accepted a call to the
pastorate of a troubled inner-city church. Again, we expected to serve the
church there for many years. For three and a half years we counseled the
troubled, disciplined the unruly, led the lost to Christ, baptized converts and
saw them added to the church. Our inexperience, lack of wisdom, sinfulness and
shortcomings must have been an irritation for the folks there – but throughout,
we aimed at re-establishing biblical priorities for the church. There were few
role models and little encouragement.
It was at this point that we came across
the ministry of Jeff Noblit. His seemed a refreshingly warm and biblical voice
as we slugged it out in the trenches. Their God honoring tone of worship and
strength of commitment to true church was inspiring. Reforming the church
biblically was strongly resisted and I was removed by something of a coup. We
left the church as peaceably as we were able and, gladly, the membership has
largely remained intact. Those we led to Christ and discipled are going on with
the Lord fairly well. But that left us. A kind Christian brother
enabled us to live on the west coast of Wales for as long as it took to
find our feet. We attached ourselves to a small fellowship nearby, but I was
preaching away often to see where the Lord would take us next.
This left Caroline and our four children at
home on Sunday nights. She would avidly watch the internet stream of worship
services from Anchored in Truth. Our family would join in the whole service
from the sofa. In these painfully low months, it was a joy to come home to a
wife who was encouraged. In less-than-ideal circumstances, it was a relief to
leave my family in good hands. Early on every return home I would hear “You
have got to hear the sermon from Muscle Shoals!” I did. Each week.
In Christian
ministry, I had started to wonder if I alone believed that church ought to be
about pleasing God and preaching Christ. The teaching we heard there and in the
True Church Conferences was a reaffirmation of truth in practice. It gave us
the nerve to say, “We have much to learn and much sanctification ahead – but we
are on the right track and must keep going!”
In time I accepted a call to the pastorate of
a Baptist church in SW Scotland – one of only 12
Scottish churches that would call themselves Reformed and Baptist. During my
three years here, the Lord has laid on me a deep concern for the nation of Scotland.
In all the 12 churches, there are less than 250 Reformed Baptist church members
in a nation of 5¼ million. Ours is the only church with over 40 members. Most
are struggling financially. Others are without pastors. Because of aging and
decline, more than half are not confident they will exist in 10 years. While
the believers in these churches are resolute in the gospel, there is a real
sense of desperation. Something must be done...
My family and I are seeking God’s good hand of
blessing that we might reverse the decline of the Scottish
Church, and exalt Christ through the
strengthening and planting of biblical churches across Scotland. It is a work so big that
only God can do it. If only He can do it, then only He can get the glory. In
all the weakness and force depletion of Gideon we set out, holding onto the
promise “Go in this might of yours...
Have I not sent you?... Surely I will be with you” (Judges 6:14-16)."
It is our
prayer and commitment that Anchored in Truth Missions is able to support this
work as God provides. Would you prayerfully
consider investing in seeing God glorified through a revitalization and
reformation in Scotland. If you are interested in supporting the work,
please contact the Anchored in Truth office and we will inform you of the
status of the formation of our partnership with the work in Scotland.