Early life Born in 1945 in
Watford,
England, his family returned to
Scotland in 1949, settling in
Dundee. His father, John - from the
Hebrides - was also a Church of Scotland minister and his grandfather, also John, was a missionary. Finlay Macdonald attended the
High School of Dundee, one of Scotland's leading independent schools (and the only such school in Dundee). At age 16, Macdonald began his lifelong career in the ministry when he joined
Camperdown Parish Church as an
organist. At age 18, Macdonald left the High School of Dundee with the intention of becoming a
lawyer.
Education In 1963, Macdonald matriculated at the
University of St Andrews, the oldest university in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world. In his first year of university, Macdonald combined law studies at the city's Queen's College (then part of St Andrews University) with arts subjects in St Andrews.
Career After finishing his studies, Macdonald became assistant minister at
Bo'ness Old Kirk, but within two months he found himself in sole charge. At age 26 in 1971, Macdonald was
ordained and inducted at
Menstrie Parish Church in
Menstrie,
Clackmannanshire by the
presbytery of
Stirling and
Dunblane.
Moderator of the General Assembly In September 2001, four ministers were shortlisted as
moderator: Macdonald, Peter Neilson of St Cuthbert's Church in Edinburgh, Sheila Blount of
Falkirk, and Margaret Forrester of St Michael's Church in Edinburgh. The
Glasgow was well represented by this nomination as Macdonald, Neilson and Blount all had ties to Glasgow. Moreover, the outgoing moderator
John Miller was from Glasgow. Macdonald had an advantage over the other three candidates. In general, most holders of the office of Principal Clerk have become Moderator. Macdonald had become well-known and widely respected in the Church of Scotland. Noted commentator Stewart Lamont wrote about Macdonald's nomination: It was inevitable the widely-respected Finlay Macdonald would be proposed at some time. As secretary to each Moderator, he knows the job as well as any, and since
the Queen will act as her own
Lord High Commissioner next year, a safe pair of hands is needed. The current edition of
Life and Work contains an article by Finlay Macdonald on the need to share out leadership responsibilities. Good timing or coincidence? Although classifiable as Old
Kirk moderate, the current
PC is PC on the subject of women in the ministry. When a parish minister in Jordanhill, he once demanded that a minister with
fundamentalist views on women elders be required to pledge he would not veto women if he was inducted to another Glasgow parish. There was a 75% chance that the 2002 Moderator would have a
Glasgow connection. Macdonald was announced the
Moderator Designate on 20 October 2001, ending speculation that
The Kirk was ready to appoint its first female moderator. Although some were disappointed that a woman was not chosen,
Moderator: 25 May 2002 – 24 May 2003 In May 2002, Macdonald's nomination for the one-year post went before the General Assembly and, as expected, Macdonald succeeded
John Miller as
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on Saturday, 25 May 2002. The Queen did not install Macdonald as the Moderator, but only observed the ceremony. --> In June 2002, Macdonald received an honorary
Doctor of Divinity degree from the
University of St Andrews.
Post Moderator The moderatorship is for one year only; Macdonald was succeeded by Professor
Iain R. Torrance in May 2003. Macdonald returned to his role as Principal Clerk to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and as an honorary Chaplain to the Queen in Scotland. He is an active member of ACTS (
Action of Churches Together in Scotland), CTBI (
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland). He was also formerly a member of EECCS (
European Ecumenical Commission on Church and Society). ==Footnotes and references==