The following is a monthly article written by Rev Kenneth Stewart to the Stornoway RPCS congregation…

Witness Bearing

Dear congregation,

Only the blind could fail to see the dismantling of our national Christian foundation or fail to perceive that tis destruction is the deliberate work of the very people who are pledged to preserve it.

As the second oldest Presbyterian denomination in Scotland – constituted separately to preserve our Reformation heritage intact – we have a duty to keep calling our rulers to their constitutional obligations.

Our Witness Bearing Committee, of which I am a member, recently sent the following letter to our King, MPs and MSPs with necessary and slight modifications depending on the recipients:

‘We are writing to you, and to all members of the UK and Scottish parliaments, as the Witness Bearing Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland (hereafter, RPCS) in order to express to all of you, as interested parties, our deep concern regarding the decisions and conduct of the rulers of our nation.

General Context  

 

As ministers and elders of the RPCS, we pray “for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:2) and we recognise that God commands “every soul [to] be subject to the governing authorities.” (Romans 13:1)

However, it is also our duty humbly to remind you as King, Prime Minister, First Minister, MPs and MSPs – that you are accountable to God for your conduct in office.

Particularly, in these times of trouble and confusion, we believe it is of critical importance for all in authority to remember that the National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 contain vows subscribed by the monarch and legislated into the constitutional architecture of both the Scottish state and the Church of Scotland.

Furthermore, the King is bound by the Accession Oath which he swore on 10 September 2022 and the Coronation Oath which he swore on 6 May 2023, while all members of parliaments are bound, by oath, to uphold the constitution of the United Kingdom.

And since it is the case that no vows made lawfully before God can be revoked and, given that the moral and legal personalities of monarch, church and state continue in existence, these institutions remain bound by these covenants, and they continue to impose perpetual obligations upon all of you.

Context of our Concerns  

 

Our concerns must be understood in the following context:

First, the National Covenant explicitly affirms Protestant, Reformed and Presbyterian Christianity as the ‘true religion’ and establishes it in perpetuity as the constitutional religion of Scotland.

Second, the National Covenant disavows all other religions (on the ground that they are false religions) and, further, explicitly rejects Roman Catholic and episcopalian doctrine and practice.

Third, the National Covenant also requires the king, the church, and the state to promote and preserve the ‘true religion’ for the glory of God, for the king’s honour, and for the benefit of people’s souls.

Fourth, in his accession oath as taken on 10 September 2022, the King swore ‘to the utmost of (his) power (to) maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law’. This oath also included a declaration by the King that he was ‘a faithful Protestant, and that (he would), according to the true intent of the enactments which secure the Protestant succession to the throne, uphold and maintain the said enactments to the best of (his) powers according to law.’

Fifth, in his coronation oath as taken on 6 May 2023, the king swore to ensure the security of the ‘worship, discipline, rights and privileges of the Church of Scotland’ as found in ‘An Act for Securing the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government’ of 1707 (passed by the pre-union Scottish parliament and essentially incorporated by the Acts of Union).

Specific Concerns  

 

First: The Role of the King  

We are concerned by the following:

His decision to appoint a Roman Catholic as Lord High Commissioner to represent him at the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland in 2025;

His decision to appoint the Princess Royal as his witness to of the St Margaret Declaration of friendship between the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland – which amounts to a statement of his approval of this spiritual union;

His decision to pray with the Pope during his state visit to the Vatican in October 2025, in a manner which was meant to convey spiritual fellowship;

His approval of the attendance of the Lord High Commissioner at Edinburgh’s Central Mosque for the Edinburgh 900 City Council & Faith & Belief Community Accords, which affirm the religious pluralism which our national constitution – and our Covenants particularly – explicitly reject;

His decision to open the King Charles III Wing to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and institute the King Charles III Programme (which includes, a Young Muslim Leadership Programme) coupled with his earlier decision to open the doors of Windsor Castle to an Open Iftar, evidence his affinity for, and promotion of, the demonstrably false and dangerous creed of Islam.

All these decisions are in clear and serious breach of the obligations imposed by the covenants and by the coronation oath.

Second: The Role of the Parliament 

We are concerned by the following:

The Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Act 2025 – which legalised the appointment of a Roman Catholic to that office – is clearly ultra vires (beyond lawful power) on the basis of the covenants.

Third: The Role of the National Church

We are concerned by the following:

The St Margaret Declaration of friendship between the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland (referred to above) on the ground that it is biblically and constitutionally invalid;

The decision of the Church of Scotland (and the Free Church of Scotland) to receive the Roman Catholic Lord High Commissioner on the ground that such a reception is opposed to the covenants and to the Confession of Faith;

The Moderator of the Church of Scotland’s prominent role in the official proceedings between the King and the Pope.

Conclusion  

 

The RPCS humbly reminds all those in authority of the following:

This nation is constitutionally, explicitly, and avowedly a Christian nation;

On the basis of perpetual and binding covenants, the church and people of Scotland have a constitutional duty to be loyal to the king as far as he reigns in sympathy with their requirements;

No religion or ideology contrary to the obligations of our constitution – inclusive of the National Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant – has any right to official recognition or public funding in Scotland;

There is no biblical (see Exodus 20:3) or constitutional warrant for interfaith dialogue and cooperation;

While acknowledging with all sincerity our own failings, the RPCS asserts that the failings of the Church of Scotland outlined above, in addition to the other serious sins of which she is guilty, has further demonstrated that she has no right to be recognised as the national church.

The RPCS, therefore, calls the King, Prime Minster, First Minister, MPs and MSPs, and every Scottish church to return to the obligations of the National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 and, further, calls upon the Church of Scotland (and the Free Church of Scotland) to reject the reception of the Roman Catholic Lord High Commissioner on the ground stated above.

I would urge you all to join with us in the prayer that these words would be read with humility and with understanding and that the churches concerned would do their own duty and, further, that our rulers in parliament would recognise their higher calling too as ‘…ordained by God…as…ministers of God…for good…to execute (God’s) wrath on him who practices evil’ (Romans 13: 1-4)

Your minister