Church of Scotland minister;
Born January 6, 1922;
Died March 10, 2008.

THE Reverend Kenneth MacDonald, who has died aged 86, was from a rapidly fading generation of Highland ministers who could preach eloquently in Gaelic and English.

That gift, combined with a singing voice that found full expression as a precentor, made him much in demand among traditional congregations, where such talents are in diminishing supply.

A native of Garrabost, in the Point area of Lewis, Kenneth MacDonald was known far and wide as "Kenny Ban", or fair-haired Kenny in Gaelic. He was a mere teenager at the outbreak of the Second World War and served with the Scots Guards, in Britain and Europe, from 1942-45.

There followed a period of years working in the commercial sector in Glasgow, which failed to satisfy the spiritual dimension that began to take hold during the post-war years.

He embarked on a pre-divinity course at Aberdeen University and completed his studies at New College, Edinburgh, in 1965. A call was soon forthcoming and he was ordained and inducted to Snizort, Skye, later that year.

He was minister of that scattered parish for 13 years, having married a local girl, Mary Maclean, in 1959. They moved to Applecross, on the neighbouring mainland, in 1978, when MacDonald became the first associate minister in a parish long regarded as one of Scotland's bastions of Presbyterianism. Applecross had always been a self-standing charge, but its status changed when the Kirk insisted on linking it with Lochcarron, a move that did much to reinforce the local perception that the Edinburgh bureaucracy was meddlesome and out of touch.

Although formally linked, it was still, for all practical purposes, a parish on its own, if only because of its relative inaccessibility, particularly in harsh winter weather.

MacDonald remained in Applecross until 1993, having reached, and indeed slightly exceeded, the compulsory retirement age of 70 for Kirk ministers of his era.

But he remained active as a preacher, doing supply for a number of congregations and preaching at communions in many districts, including the islands. He had to curtail his preaching in recent years owing to failing health.

The presbytery clerk for Lochcarron and Skye, the Rev Allan MacArthur, said: "Kenny was faithful to his calling and was particularly good at outreach. He showed at all times that he was compassionate and understanding.

"He preached equally well in Gaelic and English and had a wonderful precentor's voice, something not many people can do nowadays. All of this meant he was very much sought after for communion services.

"Kenny was very musical. He learned to play the melodeon as a young man and I remember him bringing it to church one day to illustrate something to the children. He had a way of appealing to people of all ages."

Although theologically conservative, MacDonald did not shirk from rolling back frontiers and his appreciation of music prompted him to tread where no minister in Applecross had ever gone before: he introduced the organ to services in the church at Camusterrach.

It was a step that local people viewed with trepidation because of the area's strict Calvinistic heritage, which was a matter of great pride to many members and adherents.

"Prior to that we were very staid here and Kenny was not at all stuffy," recalled Alistair McCowan, a former chairman of Applecross community council. "The musical accompaniment was soon accepted and it's now part and parcel of the church scene here.

"Kenny was popular and highly regarded. I remember when my mother was an old lady that Kenny was very good to her. He was always helpful to people in need. Kenny and I had a shared interest in DIY and he was an excellent stonemason. You could describe him as a man of many talents."

Kenneth MacDonald died peacefully at the Howard Doris Centre, Lochcarron, the renowned care and respite unit that opened in 1996, financed largely by oil revenues from the community fund set up during the boom years of oil rig building at nearby Loch Kishorn.

He is survived by Mary, his wife of 49 years, a son, four daughters and six grandchildren.