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Robert Henry Wishart Shepherd (1888–1971) was a 20th-century Scots-born minister and biblical scholar serving in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

firstly for 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 ...

then for 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 ...

. He served 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 1959. He was Director of the Lovedale Mission from 1930 to 1955.

Life

He was born near

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in Scotland in 1888. He was ordained as a minister in the

in 1918 and sent to

as a missionary in 1920. In 1929 the United Free Church merged with the

and Shepherd was thereafter a Church of Scotland minister/missionary. He moved to the Lovedale Mission soon after the merge. In 1932 he also took over as main editor of the Lovedale Press and the South African Outlook. In these he specifically promoted African writing and African self-consciousness, promoting a new-born pride in being a black South African. He went from South Africa to Scotland in 1955 and served as Moderator in 1959/60 being succeeded by Very Rev

J. H. S. Burleigh John Henderson Seaforth Burleigh (1894–1985) was a Scottish minister and biblical scholar who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1960. He was Honorary President of the Scottish Church History Society. In au ...

. His role during the year included membership of the

Monckton Commission The Monckton Commission, officially the Advisory Commission for the Review of the Constitution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was set up by the British government under the chairmanship of Walter Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Bre ...

looking at the Federation of

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

with Nyasaland. The Nyasaland debates ended in the creation of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

. He returned to South Africa in 1960/61 as minister of the Presbyterian Church in

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

. He died in South Africa in 1971.

Publications

* *''The

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

'' 1927 * *''Though Mountains Shake'' 1940 * * * *

References

External links

Biography at biblicaltraining.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Robert Henry Wishart 1888 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Christian biblical scholars British biblical scholars Calvinist and Reformed biblical scholars Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Ministers of the United Free Church of Scotland 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland