James Macdougall Black (1879–1948) was a Scottish minister. Originally ordained in the United Free Church of Scotland he became a minister 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 Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

in the merge of 1929 and later served in its highest position, as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1938/39 and was also Chaplain to King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

in Scotland.

Life

He was born in

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...

in 1879. He studied Divinity at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and also studied at

Marburg University The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

. He was ordained into the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

in 1903 and began preaching at the Castle Hill Church in

Forres Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There ...

. In 1907 he transferred to the United Free Church on Broughton Place in

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

. He then lived at 5 Inverleith Row. During this time he also served as an Army Chaplain in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. From 1921 he was minister of St George's West Church in

replacing Rev Dr John Kelman. In 1929 the United Free Church re-merged with the

. In 1938 he succeeded Very Rev Dugald MacFarlane as Moderator of the General Assembly and in 1939 was succeeded in turn by Very Rev

Archibald Main Archibald Main, (17 December 1876 – 14 March 1947) was a Scottish ecclesiastical historian, Church of Scotland minister, military chaplain, and academic. From 1915 to 1922, he was Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of St A ...

. He died in

on 18 October 1949. He is buried with his wife in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

. The grave lies on the south side of the main path, near the entrance. He was succeeded at St George's West by Rev

Murdo Ewen Macdonald Rev Murdo Ewen Macdonald (28 August 1914 – 6 June 2004) was a Scottish minister. Macdonald was born on Harris and educated at Sir Edward Scott’s junior school Drinishadder School in Tarbert and later in Kingussie secondary school. In 1933, ...

Family

His wife Florence died in 1923.

Publications

*''The Mystery of Preaching'' *''The Burden of the Weeks'' *''The Unlocked Door'', 1930 *''A World Without Christmas'', 1931 *''His Glorious Shame'', 1932 *''New Forms of the Old Faith'', 1948 Baird Lecture, 1946-47.
/ref> *''The Dilemma of Jesus'' *''An apology for Rogues'', 1930 *''Days of my Autumn'', 1950 He also contributed a regular article entitled "Dr Black's Corner" to the magazine "Christian World".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, James 1879 births 1948 deaths 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Burials at the Dean Cemetery