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The Iona Community, founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, is an ecumenical Christian community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions within Christianity.
It and its publishing house, Wild Goose Publications, [1] are headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and its activities take place on the islands of Iona and Mull, in Argyll and Bute and in Glasgow. [2]
The community began as a project led by George MacLeod, a minister of the Church of Scotland in Govan, Glasgow, to close the gap which he perceived between the church and working people. [3] He took a group of ministers and working men to Iona to rebuild the ruined medieval Iona Abbey together. [4] The community which grew out of this was initially under the supervision of an Iona Community Board reporting to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, but later the formal links with the Church of Scotland were loosened to allow the community more scope for ecumenical involvement.
The community appealed for funds to renovate the abbey leading to its re-opening, attended by Princess Anne, patron of the appeal, after a three-year closure in June 2021. [5] The project was blessed by the "Miracle in May", when fundraising in May obtained the £300,000 needed to keep contractors working. [6] The re-opening was featured in Songs of Praise. [7] 24 June 2021
The Iona Community is a dispersed community. It has members who work and live throughout the world. There are 270 Full Members, around 1,800 Associate Members and 1,600 Friends of the Community. [8] Among them are Presbyterians, Anglicans, Lutherans, Quakers, Roman Catholics and people of no denominational allegiance. The community has a strong commitment to ecumenism and to peace and justice issues. [2]
The Iona Community runs three residential centres: Iona Abbey and the MacLeod Centre on the island of Iona, and Camas Tuath on Mull. [2] Weeks at the centres often follow a programme related to the concerns of the Iona Community, and people are invited to come and share the life[ citation needed ]. A regular feature for guests staying in our centre on Iona is a pilgrimage around the island which includes meditations on discipleship; when the pilgrims reach the disused marble quarry or the machair, the common ground where the crofters once grazed sheep, for example, they stop for reflection on work and faithfulness. [9]
The community has its own ecumenical liturgy which is used daily in the abbey and elsewhere.
Speaking about the visitor experience, Ruth Harvey, leader of the community, said: "This is not a hotel or a conference centre. People come for reflection and inspiration, and to explore issues of importance – the environment, poverty, migration, equality – in the context of a Christian community and in a beautiful, rugged landscape." [5]
Amongst the most widely known song and liturgical material from the Iona Community is the experimental worship developed by the Wild Goose Resource Group, based in Glasgow. The Group exists to encourage, enable and equip the shaping and creation of new forms of worship that are relevant, contextual and participatory. [10] [11] The current team consists of Jo Love, Jane Bentley and Iain McLarty.
The Wild Goose Resource Group was founded in 1987 by John L. Bell and Graham Maule. With their collaborators the Wild Goose Worship Group and more recently the Wild Goose Collective, the WGRG have produced around 50 published books and CDs. [11] In the 1980s and 1990s, the Wild Goose Worship Group was influential in introducing songs from other cultures (particularly those from South Africa) to the repertoire of churches in the UK and elsewhere.
The approaches and practices of the Wild Goose Resource Group have been widely imitated and written about. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] Collections of Wild Goose Resource Group songs and texts have been published internationally, including translations into Swedish, [18] Norwegian, [19] Finnish, Japanese, Dutch, West Frisian, Danish and German.
The leader of the community is elected by the members. The leaders to date are:
Bruce Kenrick, the founder of housing organisation Shelter, was a member. [29]
Maxwell Craig, first general secretary of Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), was a member. [30]
Douglas Haldane (1926-2012), child psychiatrist was a member of the community.
Helen Steven, was Justice and Peace Worker for the Iona Community from 1979 to 1985. [31]
John Bell, hymn-writer and Church of Scotland minister, is a member of the Iona Community. [32] [33]
Graham Maule (1958-2019), youth leader and founder member of the Wild Goose Resource Group, was a member. [34] [35]
Non-binary minister Alex Clare-Young is a member and the moderator of the Community's LGBTQ+ Common Concern Network. [36]
Alison Phipps, first UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts and at Glasgow University is a member. [37] [38]
Miles Christi was a name given to the members of the Iona Community by its founder George MacLeod. The origin of this image of being a Soldier for Christ may have its roots in Martin of Tours who as a former Roman soldier applied similar discipline to Christian life and was a great inspiration to the early Church in Scotland. St Martin's Cross, a high Celtic Cross carved in stone, stands to this day outside the entrance to the Church of Iona Abbey. The image also reflects a tradition of someone remaining on watch. The early Christian Community on Iona founded by St Columba sent members out to evangelise mainland Scotland and beyond, with some members remaining behind. George MacLeod had been a decorated soldier in the First World War. He founded the Iona Community just before the outbreak of the Second World War.
The community's publishing group, Wild Goose Publications, produces books on social justice, political and peace issues, holistic spirituality, healing, and innovative approaches to worship, including music (books, tapes, CDs), short drama scripts and material for personal reflection and group discussion. Many of these are the work of John L. Bell and the Wild Goose Resource Group.
Columba or Colmcille was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Iona is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for three centuries and is today known for its relative tranquility and natural environment. It is a tourist destination and a place for spiritual retreats. Its modern Scottish Gaelic name means "Iona of (Saint) Columba".
George Fielden MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary, was a Scottish soldier and clergyman; he was one of the best known, most influential and unconventional Church of Scotland ministers of the 20th century. He was the founder of the Iona Community on the island of Iona and served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (1957).
John Lamberton Bell is a Scottish hymn-writer and Church of Scotland minister. He is a member of the Iona Community, a broadcaster, and former student activist. He works throughout the world, lecturing in theological colleges in the UK, Canada and the United States, but is primarily concerned with the renewal of congregational worship at the grass roots level.
The Church of Scotland was one of the first national churches to accept the ordination of women. In Presbyterianism, ordination is understood to be an ordinance rather than a sacrament; ministers and elders are ordained; until recently deacons were "commissioned" but now they too are ordained to their office in the Church of Scotland.
The Free Church of Scotland is a conservative evangelical Calvinist denomination in Scotland. It is the continuation of the original Free Church of Scotland that remained outside the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900, and remains a distinct Presbyterian denomination in Scotland.
Iona Abbey is an abbey located on the island of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland.
The Kirk of the Canongate, or Canongate Kirk, serves the Parish of Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town, in Scotland. It is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The parish includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. It is also the parish church of Edinburgh Castle, even though the castle is detached from the rest of the parish. The wedding of Zara Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter, and former England rugby captain Mike Tindall took place at the church on 30 July 2011. The late Queen Elizabeth II used to attend services in the church on some of her frequent visits to Edinburgh.
Decisions concerning the conduct of public worship in the Church of Scotland are entirely at the discretion of the parish minister. As a result, a wide variety of musical resources are used. However, at various times in its history, the General Assembly has commissioned volumes of psalms and hymns for use by congregations.
Christopher Hall is a British sculptor, born in 1942 in Nottingham, England, and now living in Scotland.
Kathy Galloway is an ordained Church of Scotland minister and was, in 2002 the first woman to be elected leader of the Iona Community. Kathy Galloway has worked for Christian Aid and Church Action on Poverty. Along with John Saxbee and Michael Taylor, is a patron of the Student Christian Movement.
Norman Shanks is an ordained Church of Scotland minister, who prior to his retirement in June 2007 was minister of Govan Old Parish Church, Glasgow. He is married to Ruth, and has a daughter and two sons, and seven grandchildren.
Govan Old Parish Church is a former parish church serving Govan in Glasgow from the 5th or 6th century AD until 2007. In that year, the Church of Scotland united the two Govan congregations with Linthouse and established the parish church at Govan Cross, making Govan Old redundant.
Sir John Mackintosh MacLeod, 1st Baronet was a Scottish accountant and MP for the Unionist Party. He sat for Glasgow Central from a by-election in 1915 to 1918, and for Glasgow Kelvingrove from 1918 to 1922. He was elected in 1918 as a supporter of David Lloyd George's coalition government.
Events from the year 1969 in Scotland.
Events from the year 1938 in Scotland.
Rachel Mann is a British Anglican priest, poet and feminist theologian. She is a trans woman who writes, speaks and broadcasts on a wide range of topics including gender, sexuality and religion. She has served as Archdeacon of Bolton and of Salford since 2023.
"The Summons", also called "Will You Come and Follow Me", is a Scottish Christian hymn. It was written by John L. Bell in 1987.
The Tell Scotland Movement (1953-1966) was the most extensive and ambitious attempt at outreach by the Protestant Churches in Scotland in the twentieth century. At the time, together with its associated All-Scotland Crusade, led by Dr Billy Graham, it generated considerable energies, publicity and controversy. In 1964 Tell Scotland became a founding part of the Scottish Churches Council, within the ecumenical movement. Commentators since have had varied views about the extents to which Tell Scotland succeeded or failed.
Alex Clare-Young is a transmasculine non-binary Minister of the United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom. They minister mainly to an online church (Churspacious), and offer education and advocacy to schools, churches and Christian communities on issues relating to gender identity.