Church suspends lover of minister who killed himself He was accused of seven affairs on remote island
‘It’s a very sad state of affairs’
A WOMAN has been suspended for a year by her church for having an affair with a married minister who killed himself, it was reported yesterday.
The Mail revealed last month that the Reverend Dr Iain D Campbell had hanged himself in hospital, where he was being treated for an overdose, after he was accused of seven affairs.
His church tried to keep the scandal quiet – but it emerged that his widow Anne reported his alleged infidelity to church leaders and called for up to seven women to be kicked out.
Incredulous defenders of Dr Campbell struggled to believe the claims were true.
But an official inquiry by the Free Church of Scotland was begun and – according to a report yesterday – ministers have suspended one woman from receiving communion after finding that she had an affair with Dr Campbell.
They are following the longstanding church procedure of carrying out a semi-judicial inquiry into sinful behaviour. Four other women involved are all understood to have denied having affairs. An announcement from the church is expected soon. Mrs Campbell was unavailable for comment last night. But if church elders follow up the inquiry with a hearing and ‘convict’ any of the women, she is likely to see it as a vindication of her claims against her late husband, which split opinion on the Isle of Lewis, off north-west Scotland.
Dr Campbell, 53, a father of three, had been widely respected in the church – known as the Wee Frees – when his death was announced in January. The fact that he had killed himself was kept quiet, and shopkeepers closed their doors during his funeral.
But even before he was buried, Mrs Campbell, 54, began accusing him of adultery.
A source close to her last night told the Mail that the widow ‘understands that a husband and wife had gone to see Iain with a complaint of adultery shortly before he died’.
Mrs Campbell is said to have found evidence of adultery on her husband’s computer, along with what church sources say was as ‘a mass’ of pornography.
The inquiry led by fellow ministers on tight-knit Lewis – all of them male – could have led to hearings in church, with women accused of adultery expected to represent themselves.
The church is deeply traditional, taking a strict line on such things as failing to keep Sunday as the Lord’s day – let alone adultery and suicide. Critics compared the possibility of hearings as akin to the Salem witch trials in 17th century America, in which a tight-knit Massachusetts church community turned on some of its female members.
The Mail understands the allegations involved Free Church women as far afield as Manchester and London, and date back to the late Eighties. The Scottish Mail on Sunday reported yesterday how it was told by a source close to the church: ‘The allegations against all but one of the women have not been proved. Those cleared denied any wrongdoing. One of the women did admit a relationship and has been suspended, I understand, for a year.
‘It’s a very sad state of affairs. Iain was a gifted minister. But what was going on in his mind, nobody will ever really know. I believe he may have shut down his email communication a few days before he went to hospital.’
Lewis minister the Reverend James MacIver, said: ‘This has been a particularly sad time, and we would like to thank all our members for their patience and understanding throughout this difficult and sensitive process. The investigation into the allegations surrounding Iain D Campbell’s conduct is due to complete next week, following which a statement will be issued.’