William Gibson Sloan

Experiencing an evangelical conversion at age 23, Sloan became a Colporteur for the Religious Tract and Book Society of Scotland.

While in Shetland, Sloan came into contact with local Plymouth Brethren, and began to discuss and reconsider theological matters such as Believer's baptism and communion.

Sloan left the Church of Scotland at that point, but did not formally identify himself as a Baptist, as he no longer wished to be a member of a particular denomination.

Between 1865 and 1879, Sloan worked as a travelling evangelist in Scotland, Shetland, Orkney, Norway, and Iceland, and spent the summer months in the Faroes.

[7] On 11 October 1881 William Sloan married Elsebeth (Elspa) Isaksen í Geil from Tórshavn, at the Open Brethren Assembly in Motherwell, near Glasgow.