List of Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

List of Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is a complete list of Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from the Reformation to the present day. Some listed below also currently have their own article. The location of the parish or other post during the Moderator's year in office is also listed (in brackets).

Since 1714 the General Assembly has normally been held annually every May. Moderators-designate are nominated in the October of the previous year; a formal vote is taken at start of the General Assembly (in May), then the new Moderator takes the chair. He/she holds office for one year; his/her final act is to formally open the following year's General Assembly and preside over the formal election of a successor.

The Moderator of the current year (when a minister) is styled "The Right Reverend", while past Moderators are styled "The Very Reverend".[1]

16th century

17th century

No General Assembly until 1638

No General Assembly after 1653 until the restoration of Presbyterianism in 1690. Gabriel Cunningham (now very old) acted as Interim Moderator in 1690 (as though there had been no gap) until Kennedie was chosen to succeed him.

18th century
  • 1701 and 1704 Thomas Wilkie AM (Edinburgh: Canongate)
  • 1702 David Williamson AM (Edinburgh: St Cuthberts) aka "Dainty Davie"
  • 1705, 1708, 1711 and 1715 William Carstares AM (Principal of the College of Edinburgh)
  • 1706, 1713, 1718, 1724 and 1728 William Wishart DD (South Leith, later Principal of the College of Edinburgh)
  • 1707 John Stirling (Principal of the College of Glasgow)
  • 1709 John Currie (Haddington)
  • 1710, 1714, 1717, 1722 and 1726 William Mitchell (Edinburgh: High Church)
  • 1712, 1716, 1720, 1727 and 1730 William Hamilton DD (Professor of Divinity, later Principal of the University of Edinburgh)
  • 1719 James Grierson (Edinburgh: Trinity College Church)
  • 1721 Thomas Black (Perth)
  • 1723 and 1731 James Smith (Cramond; later Principal of the University of Edinburgh)
  • 1725 and 1729 James Alston AM (Dirleton)
  • 1732 and 1737 Neil Campbell DD (Principal of Glasgow University)
  • 1733 John Gowdie DD (Edinburgh: New North, also Principal of the University of Edinburgh)
  • 1734 James Gordon DD (Alford)
  • 1735 Alexander Anderson AM (St Andrews)
  • 1738 and 1741 James Ramsay AM (Kelso)
  • 1739 James Bannatyne (Edinburgh: Trinity College Church)
  • 1740 George Logan (Edinburgh: Trinity College Church)
  • 1742 Thomas Tullideph DD (Principal, St Leonard's College, St Andrews)
  • 1743 Robert Wallace DD (Edinburgh: New North)
  • 1744 John Adams (Dalrymple)
  • 1745 William Wishart DD (Principal (Secundus) of the University of Edinburgh)
  • 1746 John Lumsden (Professor of Divinity, King's College, Aberdeen)
  • 1747 Robert Kinloch AM (Edinburgh: High Church)
  • 1748 George Wishart DD (Edinburgh: Tron Church)
  • 1749, 1752 and 1756 Patrick Cumming DD (Edinburgh: Old Church, also Professor of Church History)
  • 1750 Robert Patoun AM (Renfrew)
  • 1751 James Mackie (St Ninians)
  • 1753 Alexander Webster DD (Edinburgh: Tolbooth)
  • 1754 and 1760 Robert Hamilton DD (Professor of Divinity, Edinburgh) and minister of Old Greyfriars Kirk
  • 1755 George Reid AM (St Evox)
  • 1757 William Leechman DD (Professor of Divinity, later Principal of the University of Glasgow)
  • 1758 Thomas Turnbull (Borthwick)
  • 1759 George Kay DD (Edinburgh: Old Greyfriars')
  • 1761 John Hyndman DD
  • 1762 Robert Trail DD (Professor of Divinity, University of Glasgow)
  • 1763 William Robertson DD (Edinburgh: Old Greyfriars, also Principal of the University of Edinburgh)
  • 1764 Alexander Gerard DD (Professor of Theology, Marischal College, Aberdeen)
  • 1765 James Oswald DD (Methven)
  • 1766 John Hamilton DD (Glasgow: High Church)
  • 1767 James Murison DD (Principal of the New College, St Andrews)
  • 1768 Gilbert Hamilton DD (Cramond, near Edinburgh)
  • 1769 James MacKnight DD (Maybole)
  • 1770 Alexander Carlyle DD (Inveresk)
  • 1771 Robert Walker (Edinburgh: The High Kirk)
  • 1772 Adam Fergusson (Moulin)
  • 1773 and 1784 John Drysdale FRSE DD (Edinburgh: Tron)
  • 1774 Robert Henry DD (Edinburgh: New Greyfriars')
  • 1775 David Shaw DD (Coylton)
  • 1776 John Ker DD (Forfar)
  • 1777 James Brown AM (Edinburgh: New Church)
  • 1778 Patrick Grant DD (Urray)
  • 1779 James Gillespie (St Andrews)
  • 1780 Harry Spens DD (East Wemyss)
  • 1781 William Dalrymple DD (Ayr)
  • 1782 Joseph McCormick DD (Prestonpans, later Principal of St Leonard's College, St Andrews)
  • 1783 Henry Grieve DD (Dalkeith)
  • 1785 Sir Henry Moncrieff-Wellwood, Bart., DD (Edinburgh: West)
  • 1786 Duncan Shaw DD (Aberdeen)
  • 1787 Robert Liston (Aberdour) (last to be elected without DD)
  • 1788 Archibald Davidson DD (Principal of the University of Glasgow)
  • 1789 George Hill DD Professor of Divinity, St Andrews University)
  • 1790 John Walker MD, DD (Professor of Natural History, Edinburgh)
  • 1791 Robert Small DD (Dundee, St Mary's), Mathematician and Astronomer
  • 1792 Andrew Hunter DD (Professor of Divinity, Edinburgh)
  • 1793 Thomas Hardy DD (Professor of Church History, Edinburgh)
  • 1794 Robert Arnot DD (Professor of Divinity, University of St Andrews)
  • 1795 James Meek DD (Cambuslang), Historian and Meteorologist
  • 1796 William Greenfield DD (Edinburgh: High Church, also Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Edinburgh)
  • 1797 John Adamson DD (St Andrews) Professor of Civil History in the United College, St Andrews
  • 1798 William Taylor DD (Glasgow: High, also Principal of the University of Glasgow)
  • 1799 William Moodie DD (Edinburgh: St Andrew's, also Professor of Hebrew at the University of Edinburgh)
  • 1800 George Baird DD (Principal, University of Edinburgh)

19th century

Post Disruption

The "Disruption" in the Church of Scotland took place in 1843, with approximately one-third of the ministers leaving to form the Free Church of Scotland. The Moderator in this critical year was Duncan Macfarlan DD (High Church of Glasgow)

20th century

The union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland occurred in 1929, the newly reunited church henceforth being known as the Church of Scotland.

21st century
  • 2001 John Miller BA BD DD (Glasgow: Castlemilk East)
  • 2002 Finlay Macdonald MA BD PhD DD (Principal Clerk to the General Assembly)
  • 2003 Iain Torrance TD MA BD DPhil DD (Professor, University of Aberdeen)
  • 2004 Alison Elliot OBE MA MSc PhD LLD DD (Elder, Session Clerk at Edinburgh: Greyfriars Tolbooth & Highland Kirk, Associate Secretary of the Centre for Theology & Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh, first woman to be Moderator and first non-minister to be Moderator since the 16th century)
  • 2005 David Lacy BA BD DLitt (Kilmarnock: Henderson)
  • 2006 Alan McDonald LLB BD MTh DLitt (Cameron linked with St Andrews: St Leonard's)
  • 2007 Sheilagh M. Kesting BA BD DD (Secretary of the Committee on Ecumenical Relations)
  • 2008 David W. Lunan MA BD (Clerk to the Presbytery of Glasgow)
  • 2009 William C. Hewitt BD DipPS (Greenock: Westburn)
  • 2010 John Christie BSc BD (Interim Minister at West Kilbride: St Andrews and the Scots Kirk, Lausanne)
  • 2011 A. David K. Arnott MA BD (retired, formerly at St Andrews: Hope Park linked with Strathkinness)
  • 2012 Albert O. Bogle BD MTh (Bo'ness: St Andrew's)
  • 2013 E. Lorna Hood OBE MA BD DD (Renfrew: North)
  • 2014 John Chalmers BD DD (Principal Clerk to the General Assembly) (Angus Morrison MA BD PhD (Orwell and Portmoak) was initially nominated but withdrew on health grounds)
  • 2015 Angus Morrison MA BD PhD (Orwell and Portmoak)
  • 2016 Russell Barr BA BD MTh DMin (Edinburgh: Cramond)
  • 2017 Derek Browning MA BD DMin (Edinburgh: Morningside)
  • 2018 Susan M. Brown BD DipMin (Dornoch Cathedral)
  • 2019 Colin Sinclair BA BD (Edinburgh: Palmerston Place)
  • 2020 W. Martin Fair BA BD DMin (Arbroath: St Andrew's) [3]

Family Connections

It is noted that several Moderators have family connections:

Moderators who were later Moderators of the Free Church

See also

References
  1. www.debretts.com Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
  2. https://archive.org/stream/fastiecclesiaesc00scot/fastiecclesiaesc00scot_djvu.txt
  3. https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/2019/rev_dr_martin_fair_is_moderator_designate_for_2020-21?t=1571653241

Sources
  • Church of Scotland Yearbook 1908 edition, 1933 edition, 1966 edition and 2003-04 edition ISBN 0-86153-353-4. The 1908 yearbook entries (1560-1908) were compiled by the late Rev Dr Robert W. Weir.

Note
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