{"id":30910,"date":"2015-12-06T14:50:37","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T19:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/\/us\/?post_type=product&#038;p=30910"},"modified":"2026-04-06T15:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:28:11","slug":"a-sad-departure","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/banneroftruth.org\/us\/store\/pastors-special\/a-sad-departure\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sad Departure"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Endorsement<\/h2>\n<p>\u2018David Randall has written a lucid manifesto explaining why he and others are leaving the Church of Scotland now. While that may seem a narrow issue of no concern to believers in the rest of the world, it is certainly not. The arguments he proffers for departure from this historic church stand equally true and compelling for any believer or pastor in any denomination which has officially allowed a departure from the Word of God.\u2019 &#8212; JOHN MACARTHUR<\/p>\n<h2>Book Description<\/h2>\n<p>If you care at all about the Christian church you must brace yourself for a roller coaster of emotions as you read <em>A Sad Departure<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The title contains a double entendre. On the one hand it alludes to the departure from the Church of Scotland of about forty ministers and many members. On the other hand it refers to the catalyst of these actions \u2013 the departure of the Kirk from its moorings in the authority of Scripture by its decisions on \u2018the gay question\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><em>A Sad Departure<\/em> tells a dark story, almost novelesque in character. A church\u2019s Theological Commission reaches a unanimous conclusion on the teaching on marriage given in its ultimate authority, the Bible. But then its General Assembly acts in a way that ignores, demeans, and rejects that teaching. Thus behind these sad departures lies the prior and much sadder departure of the Kirk from its sacred constitution.<br \/>\nThis is a thoughtful, honest and solemnising book written out of a deep personal and pastoral concern for the cause of the gospel.<br \/>\n<em>\u2013 From the Foreword by Sinclair B. Ferguson<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"toctoggle\">Table of Contents <a class=\"button\" href=\"#toc\">Expand \u2193<\/a><\/h3>\n<div id=\"toc\" class=\"table-of-contents\">\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Foreword by Sinclair B Ferguson<\/td>\n<td>vii<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>Introduction \u2013 What\u2019s the Problem?<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>Recent General Assemblies<\/td>\n<td>21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>To Leave or Not to Leave?<\/td>\n<td>35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>\u2018Reach Me that Bible\u2019<\/td>\n<td>53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>\u2018Scripture Cannot Be Broken\u2019<\/td>\n<td>71<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>A Little History<\/td>\n<td>97<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>What Now?<\/td>\n<td>119<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td>A Selection of Stories and Testimonies<\/td>\n<td>133<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Appendix: Ministers and Congregations<\/td>\n<td>183<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Bibliography<\/td>\n<td>187<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>Index of Scripture References<\/td>\n<td>191<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>General Index<\/td>\n<td>195<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Full Appendices<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Read the full version of Chapter 8 <a href=\"https:\/\/banneroftruth.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/12\/Sad-Departure_Full-Appendix-for-Website.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>REVIEW<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/banneroftruth.org\/us\/resources\/book-review-resources\/2016\/sad-departure-review-john-brand\/\">Review by John Brand<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Endorsement \u2018David Randall has written a lucid manifesto explaining why he and others are leaving the Church of Scotland now. While that may seem a narrow issue of no concern to believers in the rest of the world, it is certainly not. The arguments he proffers for departure from this historic church stand equally true [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[5610,1261,20594],"product_tag":[6364,20600,6640,19920],"class_list":{"0":"post-30910","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-ebooks","7":"product_cat-history-biography","8":"product_cat-pastors-special","9":"product_tag-ebooks","10":"product_tag-pastors-special-church-history","11":"product_tag-reading-in-the-ministry","12":"product_tag-scottish-church","13":"pa_binding-ebook","14":"pa_binding-paperback","15":"pa_binding-paperback-ebook","16":"pa_format-book","17":"pa_isbn-5927","18":"pa_original-pub-date-5733","19":"pa_page-count-2992","20":"pa_recent-pub-date-year-5783","21":"pa_short-isbn-5928","22":"pa_subtitle-why-we-could-not-stay-in-the-church-of-scotland","23":"pa_theauthor-randall-david-j","24":"pa_topic-church-issuesunity","25":"pa_topic-history-and-biography","27":"first","28":"instock","29":"sale","30":"taxable","31":"shipping-taxable","32":"purchasable","33":"product-type-variable","34":"has-default-attributes"},"bundled_by":[],"bundle_stock_status":"instock","bundle_stock_quantity":500,"bundle_virtual":false,"bundle_layout":"","bundle_add_to_cart_form_location":"","bundle_editable_in_cart":false,"bundle_sold_individually_context":"","bundle_item_grouping":"","bundle_min_size":"","bundle_max_size":"","bundle_price":[],"bundled_items":[],"bundle_sell_ids":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Sad Departure &#8211; Banner of Truth USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you care at all about the Christian church you must brace yourself for a roller coaster of emotions as you read &#039;A Sad Departure&#039;. 216 pp.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/banneroftruth.org\/us\/store\/pastors-special\/a-sad-departure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Sad Departure &#8211; Banner of Truth USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you care at all about the Christian church you must brace yourself for a roller coaster of emotions as you read &#039;A Sad Departure&#039;. 216 pp.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/banneroftruth.org\/us\/store\/pastors-special\/a-sad-departure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Banner of Truth USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheBannerofTruth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T20:28:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/banneroftruth.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/ASadDeparture-804x1280.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"804\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@banneroftruth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Availability\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"In stock\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/banneroftruth.org\\\/us\\\/store\\\/pastors-special\\\/a-sad-departure\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/banneroftruth.org\\\/us\\\/store\\\/pastors-special\\\/a-sad-departure\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Sad Departure &#8211; 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