The Reverend Rory MacLeod said he’d been left “shocked” by the decision, to which he’s been told he has no right of appeal.
Dr MacLeod, a former Royal Marine and presbytery clerk of Cleir Eilean I since 2015, told the Press and Journal he believes something is “rotten at the core of the church”.
The 60-year-old says he has worked “day and night” for the church and has always worked to serve God, the church, and the community “as diligently and faithfully as he can”.
But the Kirk said the minister has been dismissed after he “deliberately circulated false and seriously damaging allegations against it and a number of its employees and office-holders”.
A spokesperson added that Dr MacLeod, who lives in Stornoway, also “encouraged members to leave the Church”.
Dr MacLeod first found himself at odds with the Church of Scotland back in February.
Church acted against minister over expense allegations
He was advised of allegations he’d overclaimed on expenses and had been “misadvising” individuals and told he was to be suspended.
The minister said he’d contacted colleagues to tell them what had happened, but was then dismissed following a disciplinary hearing on March 18.
Dr MacLeod, who served in Afghanistan with the Royal Marines, subsequently appealed the decision.
His appeal was upheld by a panel and he was returned to the payroll – though he remained suspended.
On Friday, the church informed him via email that he had once again been dismissed, this time with no chance of appeal.
He said he’d been left “shocked by the decision”.
The Church of Scotland indicated it had been left with no choice, claiming the minister had undermined the disciplinary process and was guilty of “gross misconduct”.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, however, Dr MacLeod said: “I knew that the church was going to make some move, and I knew they were going to try oust me in one way or another.
“It did shock me that, even though I’d been signed off for stress, they would act so suddenly.
“I was also shocked that they would not add any lee for appeal.
“There was no discussion, it was just that’s it.”
Initial allegations against Dr MacLeod related to ‘church expenses’ and ‘misadvising individuals’
On February 26, Dr MacLeod received an email ‘out of the blue’ saying that he was suspended.
He said the allegations within the email claimed he had been overspending on his expenses as well as misadvising individuals.
But he denies any wrongdoing.
“I was within budget and using the money for its legitimate purpose,” he said.
“It wasn’t as if I grossly overspent or somehow misdirected church funds.
“Regarding the help and advice I’d given, all of it was pastorally centred and within the law of the land and the church.”
Alongside the email, he says there was a warning that he should not speak about the information publicly.
Dr MacLeod felt the process was “entirely improper” and so started contacting colleagues as well as fellow clerks and other Presbyterians.
“The way it was done I felt was entirely improper, which is why I immediately started contacting people,” he said.
“I was getting in touch to say ‘you better watch out because this has just happened to me, and it could happen to you’.”
Church claims Dr MacLeod sent ‘inappropriate emails’ to large numbers of people
A spokesperson for the Church of Scotland said: “Dr MacLeod refused to accept the right of the Presbytery to carry out a disciplinary investigation into a number of complaints against him.
“He instead sought to undermine this standard employment process, in which confidentiality is required both to ensure its integrity and protect the employee.
“He did so by claiming that the Presbytery had no right to do so and by sending inappropriate emails to large numbers of people.
“Because his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, he was dismissed by the Presbytery.”
Dr MacLeod said: “The misconduct was that I hadn’t respected the instruction to not tell anybody about why I was being suspended.”
Dr MacLeod’s appeal upheld by panel although expert lawyer then brought in
In its statement, the Church of Scotland revealed it had responded to Dr MacLeod’s initial appeal of his dismissal by bringing in an expert lawyer.
They were asked to conduct a review of the process and to produce a report.
A spokesperson for the church said: “He appealed that decision [of the dismissal] and an appeal panel upheld his appeal.
“The Presbytery had serious concerns about the process followed by the panel, its apparent failure to maintain impartiality and its disregard of the legal advice provided to it.
“Because of these concerns, the Presbytery commissioned an independent review of the process to date.
“It was carried out by a senior employment lawyer who is a former part-time chairman of Employment Tribunals and expert witness in claims involving employment law.”
Dr MacLeod said: “On the strength of that, they have dismissed me – this time without leave for appeal.”
So why did the church say it dismissed Dr MacLeod?
“In the email they sent me on Friday, they referred to the review.
“They said it was down to gross misconduct.
“They accused me of two things.
“The first was of disobeying terms of confidentiality that I had never agreed to but which they imposed.
“The second was that I had made defamatory remarks about the Church of Scotland and some of the individuals within it.”
Referring to his decision to speak out, Dr MacLeod added: “I decided I wouldn’t go quietly.
“I didn’t feel this was the proper way for a religious organisation to operate.”
In July 2017, Dr MacLeod was rescued after his kayak capsized in a storm.