George MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary

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George Fielden MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary , Bt MC (born June 17, 1895 in Glasgow , † June 27, 1991 in Edinburgh ) was a Scottish clergyman of the Church of Scotland and founder of the Iona Community .

Life

origin

George MacLeod came from an upper class Scottish family . His grandfather was the Reverend Norman MacLeod of the Barony Church in Glasgow, Chairman of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Chaplain to Queen Victoria . His father, Sir John MacLeod, 1st Baronet, was a successful businessman before entering politics as a supporter of the Scottish Unionist Party and becoming a Member of Parliament . His mother, Edith, came from a wealthy Lancashire family .

Training and participation in the war

George MacLeod received his university education from Winchester College and Oriel College , Oxford .

When the First World War broke out in 1914 , MacLeod joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and was promoted to captain . He first served in Greece , then fell ill with dysentery and was sent back to Scotland to recover. He was then used in Flanders and was involved in the fighting for Ypres and Passchendaele . He was awarded the Military Cross and the French Croix de guerre .

Starts as a priest

His war experience shook MacLeod lastingly, so that he decided to seek a clerical office. He studied theology at the University of Edinburgh and then spent a year at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York from 1921 to 1922 . On his return to Scotland he was invited to work at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. During this time, his displeasure with social injustice increased, which was very unusual for a clergyman at the time. In 1924 he was ordained a clergyman in the Church of Scotland and became Father of Talbot House ( Toc H ), a Christian movement. After differences of opinion, he withdrew from Toc H in 1926 and became an assistant chaplain at the Parish Church of St. Cuthbert in Edinburgh. Confronted with the global economic crisis and the associated unemployment, he now moved politically in the direction of socialism .

In 1930, George MacLeod decided to leave St. Cuthbert to become a clergyman at Govan Old Parish Church in Glasgow, where he encountered social problems and poverty. In 1932 he suffered a nervous breakdown and traveled to Jerusalem to recover .

Founding of the Iona Community

In 1938 MacLeod founded the Iona Community to rebuild Iona Abbey together with other clergy, students and the unemployed . He gave up his financially secure position as parish priest to lead this fellowship, which grew into an international ecumenical fellowship. From 1937 on, he was also involved in the pacifist organization Peace Pledge Union .

Later years

In April 1944, his older brother's only son died in World War II , so that George MacLeod inherited from him the title of 4th Baronet , of Fuinary , Morven , in the County of Argyll . The title was bestowed on George MacLeod's father on March 3, 1924 in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.

In 1948, at the age of 53, George MacLeod married his wife Lorna MacLeod. Shortly after the marriage, the couple traveled to Australia on a preaching trip. In the same year there were disputes with the presbytery of Glasgow when MacLeod wanted to return to Govan as a clergyman, but was forbidden to pass on the Iona community at the same time. Despite these disagreements, MacLeod remained one of the most prominent representatives of the Church of Scotland. In 1957 he was elected moderator of the General Assembly ( Synod ) of the Church of Scotland, not without one of the delegates standing up to ask if someone could be elected who “half on the way to Rome and half on the way to Moscow " be. Since 1958 MacLeod has been involved in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament .

On February 6, 1967, MacLeod became a Life Peer titled Baron MacLeod of Fuinary , of Fuinary in Morven in the County of Argyll, the only Scottish clergyman to be so honored to that point. The title was associated with a seat in the House of Lords , where he was the first peer to represent the Green Party . From 1968 to 1971 he was Rector of the University of Glasgow . In 1989 he received the Templeton Prize .

progeny

He had three children with his wife Lorna MacLeod:

  • Eva MacLeod (* 1950);
  • Sir John MacLeod, 5th Baronet (born 1952);
  • Neil MacLeod (born 1959).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ macleodgenealogy.org
  2. ^ The Edinburgh Gazette : No. 14017, p. 580 , April 25, 1924.
  3. ↑ The London Gazette : No. 44243, p. 44243 , February 7, 1967.
  4. ↑ Derek Wall (1994-03) Weaving a Bower Against Endless Night: an illustrated history of the UK Green Party (published in March 1994 when 21-year anniversary of the party) ISBN 1-873557-08-6 .
  5. ↑ Reverend George MacLeod Lord MacLeod of Fuinary on internationalstory.gla.ac.uk

Web links

literature

  • Ron Ferguson: George MacLeod. Founder of the Iona Community. Wild Goose Publications Glasgow 2001. ISBN 1-901557-53-7
  • Ron Ferguson (Ed.): Daily Readings with George MacLeod. Wild Goose Publications Glasgow 2001. ISBN 1-901557-55-3
  • George MacLeod: The Whole Earth Shall Cry Glory: Iona prayers. Wild Goose Publications Glasgow 2007. ISBN 978-1-905010-10-3
personal data
SURNAME MacLeod, George, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES MacLeod, George Fielden, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary; Sir George MacLeod, 4th Baronet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Glasgow
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1991
Place of death Edinburgh