Alison Elliot

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FRSE (born 27 November 1948) is an honorary fellow at

New College, Edinburgh New College is a historic building at the University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Students ...

. She was the former Associate Director of the

Centre for Theology and Public Issues The Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI) is a research centre based in New College, the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Founded in 1984 by Duncan B. Forrester, CTPI promotes Christian theological reflection and researc ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. In 2004 she became the first woman ever to be elected

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states t ...

of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

."[eb, url=https://www.rse.org.uk/about-us/our-people/, title=People, date=2016-07-26, website=The Royal Society of About This Artwork: Jennifer McRae: Alison Elliot, b. 1948. Moderator Elect of the Church of Scotland]". Edinburgh, Scotland: National Galleries of Scotland, retrieved online 29 August 2018. An Kirk Elder, elder and session clerk at

Greyfriars Kirk Greyfriars Kirk ( gd, Eaglais nam Manach Liath) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard. Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edin ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, she was also the first non-minister to hold this post since

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

in 1567.

Background and education

Alison Elliot was born in

in 1948. She was educated at

Bathgate Academy Bathgate Academy is a mixed secondary school in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, also serving the nearby town of Blackburn. History Established by the will of John Newland (a Jamaican-plantation slave owner) in 1799, the school was originally ...

, the

and the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

Career

Her professional career is in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

, but her public profile has been chiefly through her church work. She was Research Associate in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh 1973–1974, then lecturer in psychology at the

University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = ...

1974–1976 and at the University of Edinburgh 1977–1985. She is the author of two publications: ''Child Language'' (1981) and ''The Miraculous Everyday'' (2005). She served as Convener of the Committee on Church and Nation of the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

1996–2000, as well as Session Clerk at

in Edinburgh. She was involved in building ecumenical relations, and was a member of the Central Committee of the

Conference of European Churches The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions. In its commitment to Europe as a who ...

(CEC) 2003-2009 (and also moderated CEC's Assembly held in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, in July 2009). She played a key role in

Action of Churches Together in Scotland Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

. In 2004 she was elected

of the

and was the first woman to be elected to that post. The OBE was conferred upon her for her ecumenical work. In 2016, she became only the third person to receive the Scottish Public Service Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a founding board member of the

Palestine Festival of Literature The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) is an annual literary festival, founded in 2008, that takes place in cities across Palestine. History The festival was founded in 2008 with the stated mission of affirming "the power of cultur ...

. Since 2007 she has been Convener of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. In 2018 she became General Secretary of

The Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

, of which she has been a Fellow since 2008.

Family

She is married to John Elliot; they live in Edinburgh. They have two children.

Artistic recognition

In 2004 the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

commissioned a portrait of Elliot by Jennifer McRae."About This Artwork: Jennifer McRae: Alison Elliot, b. 1948. Moderator Elect of the Church of Scotland".

Background and education

Career

Family

Artistic recognition

References

See also