admonishment she was absolved and restored to the privileges of the church.

Even those who appeared time and time again submitted themselves to the

inevitable discipline. If we remember that this discipline was accepted because

most people believed that such discipline was the right of the church, and that

membership with full privileges of communion was felt to be essential, and

that discipline was administered for the spiritual benefit of those who had

transgressed the standard of conduct demanded by the church, then their

acceptance becomes more understandable to us today. Perhaps the hardest

thing for us to understand is the readiness with which people reported the

misdemeanours of others. But that too, was expected of people, as the disci-

pline was for the good of the transgressor’s soul.

By 1867 enough money had been raised to build a new church further up

on Main Street (the present Village Hall). But membership had been dropping

steadily for some time. The numbers were at their highest in 1859 when there

were 225 communicants. By 1867 the number had fallen to 196. Some

members might have joined the Established Church in Strathkinness when they

built their new church in 1864, but membership continued to decline even

after the new Free Church had been built.

Mr. Irvine who had been appointed minister of the Free Church in 1856

remained until long after he was no longer fit enough to carry out his duties

adequately. Although 70 years old and ill, he was able to retire only because

the Free Church General Assembly agreed to give him a grant to supplement his

retiral pension. When he retired the congregation had declined considerably

and there was internal dissension.

Unfortunately, matters did not improve after the Rev. William Henry

was inducted as the new minister in 1898. Mr. Henry, the Kirk Session and

the Deacons Court of the church were all in discord. In 1907 a Committee

of the General Assembly visited Strathkinness to investigate the state of affairs

in the church and they ‘dissolved the pastoral tie’ between Mr. Henry and

Strathkinness. He was given £300. In 1913 the Presbytery of St. Andrews

received letters asking for references for Mr. Henry. The clerk was instructed

to reply saying ‘He [Mr. Henry] had been minister of Strathkinness and his

Pastoral ties had been dissolved under the Inefficiency Act’. In 1919 Mr.

Henry became a preacher at Bridge of Cally Preaching Station where there had

been a succession of temporary preachers. Mr. Henry may well have been

suffering from some sort of mental illness which had not been recognised

and which might have been understood today.

Even though torn with dissension, activities of the church went on. In

March 1906 a social evening was held at the church which was also attended

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