This week it was announced that Jim Wallace is to be the next Moderator of the Church of Scotland for 2021-2022. Jim is currently a member of the House of Lords, having previously been MP for Orkney and Shetland (from 1983 to 2001). He was our party Leader in Scotland for 13 years.
In 1999 Jim was elected as MSP for Orkney and became Deputy First Minister of Scotland.
The Moderator chairs the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which meets in May, and then acts as an ambassador for the Kirk at civic and public events throughout the year of office. He or she is a sort of cross between a President and an Archbishop, although the Kirk does not, of course, have Bishops. It is unusual for a layman to be appointed Moderator, but Jim had been an Elder for many years.
The current Moderator was installed in an online ceremony in May this year. Let’s hope that next year’s event will be back to normal.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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3 Comments
Congratulations on your appointment.
I personally feel, religion, is important in these difficult times. I also, feel the Christian Festival of Christmas to be one that needs to be celebrated. My family are Christian, I practice Judaism, but we all are free to celebrate the religion we choose.
As we use virtual meetings as a stop gap, we must not forget our core values.
Respect for others.
Congratulations to Jim and best wishes for his term in office! Traditionally the Moderator of a Presbyterian Church was a minister in office for a single year. The Church I belong to – the United Reformed Church, was formed in the 1970s from the Presbyterian Church of England and most of the Congregational Union churches. (It later added some other small denominations.) Lay members – I think elders – have served as our church Moderator or Joint Moderator with a longer term of office.
David Steele’ minister father was Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
As a Kirk elder of mote than 30 years I am disgusted that an unelected lord who wishes to deny a large number of Scots a say in the governance of our country should be chosen as moderator designate.