Norman Shanks (born 15 July 1942)[ citation needed ] 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.
He was Convener of the Church of Scotland's Committee on Church and Nation from 1988 to 1992, a member of the BBC Broadcasting Council for Scotland from 1988 to 1993 and the UK Board of Christian Aid from 2000 to 2004. Educated at Stirling High School and the Universities of St Andrews (MA, 1964) and Edinburgh (BD, 1982), before entering the ministry he served as a senior civil servant from 1964 to 1979, including a term (1975–77) as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Scotland. [1]
He was Chaplain to the University of Edinburgh from 1985 to 1988, Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Glasgow from 1988 to 1995 and Leader of the Iona Community from 1995 to 2002 and served as Moderator of the Presbytery of Glasgow from June 2002 to June 2003. From 1998 to 2006 he was a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and served as moderator of the planning committee for the 9th Assembly of the WCC, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil in February 2006. [2] From August 2010 to July 2016 he was a non-executive member of the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board. [3]
He received an honorary DD from the University of Glasgow in June 2005 and was one of three candidates for nomination to be Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2007. In 1999 he was Drummond Lecturer at Stirling University and from September to December 2007 was a visiting scholar at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia, USA. A revised edition of his book Iona – God's energy: the vision and spirituality of the Iona Community, originally published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1999, was published in 2009 by Wild Goose Publications.
The Church of Scotland is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 259,200 members in 2023. While active membership in the church has declined significantly in recent decades, the government Scottish Household Survey found that 20% of the Scottish population, or over one million people, identified the Church of Scotland as their religious identity in 2019. The Church of Scotland's governing system is presbyterian in its approach, therefore, no one individual or group within the church has more or less influence over church matters. There is no one person who acts as the head of faith, as the church believes that role is the "Lord God's". As a proper noun, the Kirk is an informal name for the Church of Scotland used in the media and by the church itself.
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).
Alison Elliot CBE FRSE is an honorary fellow at New College, Edinburgh. She was the former Associate Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2004 she became the first woman ever to be elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. An elder and session clerk at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, she was also the first non-minister to hold this post since George Buchanan in 1567.
David William Lacy DL is a minister of the Church of Scotland. He was the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2005-6.
Sir Iain Richard Torrance, is a retired Church of Scotland minister, theologian and academic. He is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, Honorary Professor of Early Christian Doctrine and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, President and Professor of Patristics Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an Extra Chaplain to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland. He was formerly Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, and Dean of the Order of the Thistle. He is married to Morag Ann, whom he met while they were students at the University of St Andrews, and they have two children.
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. A decade later, Govan Old Walkway was opened, connecting both with a new riverside path.
Andrew Rankin Cowie McLellan is a minister in the Church of Scotland. He was Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland from 2002 to 2009.
Finlay A. J. Macdonald is a retired minister of the Church of Scotland. He was Principal Clerk to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1996 until 2010. In addition to his rapid rise up the ranks of the Church of Scotland, Macdonald is known for fostering co-operation between the various boards and committees which administer the Church and for steering the Church smoothly through its annual business meetings.
James Hutchison Cockburn DD ThD FSAScot was a Scottish scholar and senior Church of Scotland clergyman. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1941/2, the highest position in the Church of Scotland.
William Currie Hewitt is a minister of the Church of Scotland and is a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (2009–2010).
John Cairns Christie is a minister of the Church of Scotland. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2010-2011.
Andrew David Keltie Arnott is a retired minister of the Church of Scotland who was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2011 to 2012.
Albert Orr Bogle is a minister of the Church of Scotland. On 25 October 2011 he was nominated to be Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2012-2013; he was duly formally elected as Moderator on 19 May 2012 - the first day of the General Assembly's week-long annual session.
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.
Hugh Rutherford Wyllie was a Scottish Presbyterian minister. From 1992 to 1993, he served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Archibald Campbell Craig MC (1888–1985) was a Scottish minister and biblical scholar who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1961. He was affectionately known as Archie Craig.
Colin Sinclair is a minister of the Church of Scotland. He was Moderator of the General Assembly for the year from May 2019. He has served as the minister at Palmerston Place Church in Edinburgh since 1996.
Patrick Clason was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly to the Free Church of Scotland in 1848/49.
John Smith (1854–1927) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1922 and was also heavily involved in Scottish education including Chairman of Govan School Board.