January 26: Rev. Alexander Peden [1626-1686]

Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History:

More than an ordinary man?

Alexander Peden was born sometime during the year 1626 in Scotland. His father was a small business man who left him a small inheritance. He could have entered into any of the social positions in the area, but a call from God came to him early to seek the proclaim the good news of everlasting life to his neighbors. Graduating from the University of Glasglow, he was ordained and became the pastor of New Luce, in Galloway, in his native Scotland. It was here that his congregation discovered that Pastor Peden was more than an ordinary man.

Let Rev. J.M. Dryerre sum it up for us. He writes, “his prayers were conversations with a personal friend. His sermons were visions of the glory of God which had come to him in his meditations, and filled his people with awe. His talk was about God and His will in regard to downtrodden Scotland. Tall in stature and well-built, he proclaimed his message from God.” (Heroes and Heroines of the Scottish Covenanters, Rev. J.M. Dryerre, Religious Tract and Book Society of Scotland, 1907, p. 100)

But these were times in the kingdom which were not easy for anyone to bear. The infamous ejection of ministers from their pulpits by the Crown included the removal of Pastor Peden from his pulpit after his first three years. With great sorrow, he left the people he loved to begin a ministry in the fields and pastures of the countryside. Under an indictment from the king of England for that, he made many marvelous escapes from the soldiers, sleeping in caves and barns.

Continue reading here.

Peden's pulpit in the Linn Glen, Dalry. The outcrop overlooks a natural amphitheatre.
(Wikipedia)