ACTS Church Life Network The Chapel, Scottish Churches' House, Dunblane Ecumenical Calendar of Commemorations
January 13 Mary Slessor (1848-1915) was born in Aberdeen, and worked as a millweaver in Dundee. She became a missionary of the United Presbyterian Church to Calabar, where she made a considerable contribution not just to the spreading of the gospel but to the development of social practices and organisation in the African townships, leading to her being appointed Vice President of the Itu Native Court. Both shy and assertive, she was not afraid to flout conventions in the pursuit of her beliefs. February 10 (founding of University of Aberdeen) Bishop Elphinstone 1431-1514. Chancellor of Scotland, founder of University of Aberdeen. Born in Glasgow, he studied there and abroad, subsequently teaching canon law at the University of Paris and civil law at the University of Orleans. He was a statesman who participated in the highest councils of the land (he was made Chancellor of Scotland in 1488 and Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1492), was a frequent negotiator for peace between Scotland and other nations, and was the author of significant improvements in the law as applied to land and to matters of civil justice. As a bishop, he was noted for the reforms he made in administration, in the care and support of the clergy, and in liturgical reform. He introduced printing to Scotland (1507), with among the first books off the press being the Aberdeen Breviary which incorporated Scottish saints and their festivals into the Sarum (Salisbury) rite. It has been said that he had no equal in fifteenth-century Scotland. Date of commemoration: not known but the founding of the University of Aberdeen, in 1494/5, was February 10. 2
February 21 Eric Liddell was born into a Congregationalist missionary family in China and educated at the University of Edinburgh and Heriot- Watt College. He was not only an Olympic athlete but played rugby for Scotland. The film Chariots of Fire records his refusal at the 1924 Olympics, competitive though he was, to take part in the final of the 200 metres because of its being run on a Sunday, but he went on to take a Gold and to break the world record in the 400 metres. Retiring from athletics he studied theology and became a missionary in China. During hostilities he was held as a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp. He died there of a brain tumour at the age of 43 in 1945. March 27 Robert Carvor or Carver fl.1546. Born between 1487 and 1490, he became an Augustinian canon of Scone at the age of 16. He is remembered as one of Scotland s most notable composers of all time. A Mass for ten voices, Dum sacrum mysterium, was probably composed for the coronation of James V at Stirling in 1513, with whose Chapel Royal Carver was possibly connected. (A modern window by Crear McCartney in St. Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow, bears reference to this work.) Other compositions include a Mass dated Window inspired by 10 part mass, St. Michael's, Linlithgow 1546 and an impressive motet for nineteen voices, O bone Jesu. Carver s music has only relatively recently, after long neglect, been published and performed. There is no date of death but the last known signature of his appears in a document on March 27, 1566. 3
June 9 Columba is for ever associated with Iona where in 563 he established a Celtic monastery that came to be a light in the Dark Ages. Of princely Scoto-Irish background and notable for earlier establishing Christian centres in Ireland, he is thought to have left Ireland, with twelve followers, as a result either of political pressure or simply as some kind of penance. Iona became famous as a sanctuary, as a centre for scholars, for the production of illuminated manuscripts, and above all for its missionary outreach the formidable Columba himself penetrating to the heartland of the Northern Picts. Many monks of Iona were to travel to England and across to the continent, e.g. St. Gall in Switzerland and Bobbio in Italy, spreading the Gospel. Though his fame is in part due to Adomnan s biography, there is little doubt that Columba is the most recognizable and notable figure in early Christianity in the land. Two hymns, Christ is the world s redeemer and O God, Thou art the Father, attributed to him, express the distinctive Christ-centred theology, with its quality of universalism and its resonance with nature, that is characteristic of Celtic monasticism and that still has much appeal today. He died in 597 in the midst of copying Psalm 34. 4
June 13 Henry Scougal 1650-1678 (aged 28). Professor of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen. He was born, of the family of the Scougals of that ilk, at Leuchars where his father was minister, afterwards Bishop of Aberdeen in 1664. Henry was ordained and became minister of Auchterless before returning to the university. In his writings and in his life he stressed that personal holiness was as important as theological learning. He wrote the devotional classic, The Life of God and the Soul of Man, which greatly influenced other religious leaders such as Wesley and Whitefield. Among many other writings he composed a liturgy for the Morning and Evening Services at the Cathedral of Aberdeen. June 25 Bishop Robert Leighton 1611-1684, Archbishop of Glasgow, before which he was minister of Newbattle and then a somewhat reluctant bishop of Dunblane. He was a signatory of the Solemn League and Covenant. Leighton was an early ecumenical figure who worked for unity and understanding between those who favoured an episcopal and those who favoured a presbyterian form of government for the Church. He was a moderate, charitable and humble presence in a time of extremes and once characterised persecution as scaling heaven with ladders fetched out of hell. Made archbishop, he would accept only a fifth of the emoluments. At one stage in his career Principal of Edinburgh University, he is remembered also for his commentary on 1 Peter. 5
June 27 George MacLeod 1895-1991 was a Church of Scotland minister who founded the contemporary Iona Community, an ecumenical community of men and (now) women from different walks of life and different traditions in the Christian Church who share a common discipline and engage in action, reflection and prayer for justice and peace. Educated at Winchester, Oxford and Edinburgh, he joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, receiving the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre in the First World War, but subsequently became a pacifist. After serving in two notable pastoral charges he left in 1938 to found the Iona Community, An outstanding preacher, leader and churchman, he was a controversial figure in his own Church, but nevertheless was elected Moderator of the General Assembly in 1957. Later he was elevated to the House of Lords. MacLeod, in designing the worship of the Abbey at Iona, drew on many liturgical traditions, including Orthodox. He saw Iona as being a focus for all branches of the Church. July 17 Jane Haining 1897-1944 is the only Scot to have perished in a Nazi concentration camp. From a Dumfriesshire farming family, following secretarial work in Paisley she felt called to work with Jewish missions. She studied at the Glasgow Domestic College, trained as a teacher and as a missionary, and served from 1932 as matron of the girls home of the Scottish Jewish Mission in Budapest. As fascism spread, the Church of Scotland urged her to come home. Her response was, 'If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness'. Despite the opportunity to escape, she remained in Hungary, and would be found weeping as she sewed the yellow star on the clothes of her Jewish charges. She went with her girls to Auschwitz, tattooed with the number 79467, where most probably on this day in 1944 she was gassed along with them. 6
Memorial on Calton Hill to Jane Haining, Edinburgh (Photo Douglas Galbraith) July 19 George Scott Railton was born in 1849 at Arbroath, the son of Wesleyan missionaries. As a young adult, by now in London, unsatisfied with his employment, he undertook at the age of 19 a mission to Morocco but had to work his passage back to London when this failed to become established. Railton was greatly taken with the work of the Salvation Army and soon was made second in command to William Booth, its leader, living for many years in his household. His service in the Army took him first to America, successfully establishing the work there, then, with his wife Marianne - a Salvation Army sergeant - to South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, then again South Africa, there to establish the Red Shield work among the troops of the Boer War, then to France, and finally to West Africa. This was followed by many overseas visits for inspection and encouragement. As well as this unstinting service, Railton also gave the movement some of its most stirring war-songs. Commissioner Railton was one of the unique personalities who helped form the character of the Salvation Army. He was promoted to glory on July 19, 1913. 7
August 26 Archie Craig was born in Kelso in 1888 and after studying arts and divinity at Edinburgh enlisted for war service, receiving the Military Cross, although afterwards he became a pacifist. Following ministries in the United Free Church, he became the first full time chaplain to the University of Glasgow. The post of General Secretary of the British Council of Churches (and its predecessor) followed, then a lectureship in biblical studies. He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1961 and made official visits to Pope John XXIII and to the oriental patriarchs in Jerusalem. Controversially, he championed proposals for a form of episcopacy in the Church of Scotland. A fine preacher and a most gracious man, he took a leading role in the various movements towards church unity in Scotland. He died in 1985. September 16 Ninian is also known as Ringan. He is usually given the distinction of being the first Christian missionary in what is now Scotland, but traditional beliefs about his role have been much challenged by recent scholarship. The Venerable Bede is a relatively early source (eighth century) and, although there are problems with his account, it is worth mentioning his belief that Ninian was a Briton, a bishop who studied at Rome, knew and visited the famous St. Martin of Tours From Whithorn Priory. and was successful in converting whole tribes to Christianity. Said to have been active in the fifth century, and thus before Columba, he is associated with Whithorn in the extreme south west of the country. There was probably a revival of interest in him in later centuries as many place names testify. His date of death is put at c432. 8
September 23 Adamnan of Iona was a scholarly abbot and a kinsman of Columba, whose Life of St. Columba revealed a great deal about early monastic communities, particularly that of Iona, information we would not otherwise have. Under him the missioning of Scotland continued. He was an ecumenical figure, being willing to accept a unified date for Easter, giving up the one observed by his branch of the church, a gesture in which his monks did not follow him. Another valuable book was based on the eyewitness account of a pilgrim returned from the holy places of Palestine. Adamnan was famous also for his steps to protect non-combatants in war, particularly women and children, and in the face of violations he would use the symbolic ringing of a bell to declare this new code of conduct. He died in 704. October 3 Robert Barclay 1648-1690, a Religious Society of Friends/'Quaker' apologist. Born to a Scottish Quaker family, he was educated in the Scots College in Paris. For his allegiance he suffered persecution, fines and imprisonment but, having a blood relationship with King Charles 1 and being friendly with William Penn, he was able to exercise influence in favour of freedom of worship for dissenters. He subsequently became Governor of East Jersey, and helped persecuted Quakers and Covenanters to emigrate to there. He is best known for his Apology for the... principles and doctrines of the people called Quakers, still a highly regarded work. 9
November 5 James Clerk Maxwell 1831-1879 was an elder and physicist, whose deep and lifelong Christian faith is said to have informed his science, most notably in his famous demon, the hypothetical finite being used to illustrate his work on kinetic theory. He held chairs in natural philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and King s College, London. In 1865 he returned to Scotland to take up the lairdship of Glenlair after the death of his father, continuing there his scientific research. His work on electromagnetism was foundational to the development of the modern radio, and he is also credited with being instrumental in producing the first colour photograph. His Electromagnetism Theory recently came first in a poll by Physics World magazine, over the work of Einstein and Newton. There is a mountain range on Venus named after him (Maxwell Montes). He famously said: men of science as well as other men need to learn from Christ (Quoted in the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology, ed. Cameron, Wright, Lachman, Meek, p. 554.) November 8 Duns Scotus was born at Duns in the Borders, became a Franciscan friar and was ultimately ordained as a priest. He studied and taught at Paris, Oxford and Cologne. He attacked the presuppositions of mediaeval theology, based as it was on Acquinas s idea of abstract knowledge, and insisted that we could know truth from what we could see and experience. He further insisted that we could only know God because God has willed it that he should be known. This he saw as leading to a response of obedience and prayer. These insights, and his account of the Trinity, deeply influenced Calvin (through the Scottish scholar John Major) and the Reformation. He died in 1308. 10
November 16 Margaret of Scotland c1046-1093 was of the royal Anglo-Saxon family who grew up at the pious court of Stephen of Hungary. Noted for her beauty she married Malcolm Canmore, king of the Scots. She was influential in the assimilation of the Celtic Church and of Scotland into the mainstream of western Christianity, refounding Iona, introducing the Benedictines to the country, and establishing Dunfermline as an ecclesiastical and royal centre. She personally ministered to the poor, promoted Sabbath observance, gave herself to much prayer and fasting and reading of the Scriptures. Her Life by Turgot, her confessor, paints a realistic and attractive picture of this great queen who did much to civilise the court and country. While she is credited with church foundations e.g. Dunfermline Abbey, St. Margaret s Chapel in Edinburgh Castle etc., the organisation of the Church into dioceses, often attributed to her, largely took place in the reigns of her three sons: Edgar, Alexander, and especially David. One of her daughters married Henry I of England and thus gave the Norman royal house both Scoto-Celtic and Anglo-Saxon blood. Though applauded for her conventional piety, Margaret has been criticised for her over-anglicisation of Scotland that led to the by-passing of Malcolm s brother, Donald Ban, and also of his son, Duncan, by his first marriage as rightful rulers. She died in 1093. 11
November 24 Margaret Sinclair (Sister Mary Francis of the Five Wounds) was born in 1900 in an Edinburgh tenement, the daughter of a dustman. Educated at St. Anne's in the Cowgate she then studied at Atholl Crescent School of Domestic Economy. She worked as a French polisher and in a biscuit factory, when she was a member of a trades union, before entering a convent of the Order of the Poor Clares in London where she laboured to bring relief and comfort to the poor. She died at an early age of tuberculosis in 1925 and her remains were returned to St. Patrick's, Cowgate, where there is a shrine to her memory. She was declared 'Venerable' by the Vatican in 1978 and moves are afoot to make her 'one of the first Saints to come from the shop floor' (Cardinal Gray). A Margaret Sinclair Centre opened in Rosewell in 1965. November 30 Andrew was a fisherman, the first of the twelve called by Jesus to be a disciple. According to the fourth gospel it was he who, recognising the Lamb of God from John the Baptist s description, immediately came to meet Jesus and then went to fetch his brother, saying, We have found the Messiah. By this act, Andrew may be said to be the first Christian missionary. Tradition has it that, like many of the early Christians, he was martyred, possibly in Patras, Achaia, in the year 60. Since c750, Andrew has been regarded as Scotland s patron saint. Produced by the Church Life Network of Action of Churches Together in Scotland Action of Churches Together in Scotland is a Scottish Guarantee Company (Company No SC348235) Registered as a Scottish Charity No SC000295 Registered Office 7 Forrester Lodge, Inglewood House, Alloa FK10 2HU Email: ecumenical@acts-scotland.org Website www.acts-scotland.org 12
13