Leon David Levison (1919–2012) was a

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 Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

minister. During the early 1970s he was Convener of the Church of Scotland's Moral and Social Welfare Board.

Family background and early life

Leon David Levison was born in Edinburgh in 1919, third son of Leon and Lady Kate Levison. Leon Levison (1881–1936) was a convert from Judaism much involved with the Church of Scotland's missionary activities. Several of his descendants and relatives were subsequently to become Church of Scotland ministers, notably including his daughter-in-law,

Mary Levison Mary Irene Levison (8 January 1923 – 12 September 2011) was the first person to petition the Church of Scotland for the ordination of women to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in 1963. This was achieved five years later and Levison became a m ...

, who in 1973 became the first female minister ordained by the Church of Scotland. In 1942, David Levison married Cecilia, an English honours graduate. He was subsequently dispatched to St John's Kirk of Perth, where he was ordained in 1943.

Early career

In 1946, Levison moved to his first parish at

Gorebridge Gorebridge is a former mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. Gorebridge has an annual Gala Day which always takes place on the 3rd Saturday in June. This is much like a town fair, with rides and games. The gala day has a tradition of picking ...

. In 1954 he joined the secretariat of the Church of Scotland's Foreign Mission Committee. Three years later he was appointed to the central parish of the new town of

Glenrothes Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...

in Fife.

Moral Welfare Board

In 1970, Leon David Levison was appointed Convener of the Church's Moral and Social Welfare Board. A year later, he became minister at Pentcaitland, a rural parish in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

. His arrival at the Moral Welfare Board followed a period of turbulence during which the committee had adopted relatively liberal positions on matters of sex and morality which sometimes placed it at odds with those of its parent body. Under Levison's leadership, the organisation became more conservative. Much of their attention focused upon defending marriage from the perceived threat of the 'permissive society' and a prolonged campaign against 'obscenity.' In pursuit of the latter, the committee launched the Scottish Petition for Public Decency in 1972. In 1975, the Moral Welfare Board published a booklet summarising their teachings about sexualities and marriage. The booklet told of Levison's belief that marriage was being undermined by the effects of

secularisation In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

and social liberalism amongst the young and university students in particular.L. David Levison, Today's Questions about Marriage (Edinburgh: St Andrew Press, 1975) While these efforts had little effect in the face of changing popular attitudes, they did result in David and Cecilia being invited to represent the

British Council of Churches Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is an ecumenical organisation. The members include most of the major churches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. CTBI is registered at Companies House with number 05661787. Its office is in Ce ...

at a conference in Tanzania, where he spoke on world population.

Retirement

David Levison retired from ministry in 1982. He subsequently served as chair of the East Lothian Council of Social Service. David and Cecilia later moved to Dundee, where their eldest son had been appointed a Professor of Pathology. David Levison died aged ninety-five, a month after celebrating his golden wedding anniversary.

Bibliography

L. David Levison and Ian Simpson, ''Today's Questions about Marriage'' (Edinburgh: St Andrew Press, 1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levison, David 1919 births 2012 deaths Clergy from Edinburgh 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland 21st-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland