1694 John Reid MA
John Reid became minister in 1694. Although the ‘Killing Times’ had passed and Presbyterianism in Scotland was firmly re-established with the succession of William and Mary to the throne, there were still some in the church who felt that compromises had been made. The National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 had not been renewed. The General Assembly could not meet without royal approval and, after the death of William, all ministers were required to swear an oath of allegiance to Queen Anne. John Reid was one of three ministers in the Presbytery who were particularly unhappy with this turn of events.
On 6th July 1703, John Reid, minister of Carsphairn, William Tod, minister of Buittle and John Macmillan, minister of Balmaghie, gave in to the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright a Paper of Grievances “to which generally it was declared these three parishes adhered and the greatest part of the godly in the land”. They petitioned the Presbytery to assert the Divine Right of Presbyterian Church Government – the right of the Church courts to manage their own affairs and the Headship of Christ over the Church. The Presbytery had no appetite to perpetuate conflict over these issues and the man who took command of the Presbytery’s response was none other than Andrew Cameron, Reid’s predecessor at Carsphairn.
He and many others were converts to a new moderate Presbyterianism which wanted to move on from the conflicts of the past. They had no full answer to the objections of Reid and his companions, but rather sought to deal with the three ministers one by one and force them to abandon their protest. Reid backed away from his protest and submitted to the Presbytery. However, John Macmillan was made of sterner stuff and, with the support of his congregation, continued as their minister for 24 years after being deposed by the Presbytery at the end of 1703, and continued to occupy the manse. At the same time, he began travelling around preaching for the Societies. It was only in 1727 that he finally left Balmaghie to become a full-time minister of the United Societies. In time this led to the founding of the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
In 1723, John Reid gave a bell to the parishoners of Carsphairn. This bell is on display in the church and a fuller description can be found here.
Although John Reid's grave cannot be found in the kirkyard, his mother's headstone can easily be read and is amongst one of the oldest stones there.