John Chalmers,
KHC is 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 Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
. From 2010 to 2017, he served as the Principal Clerk to 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, ...
. In 2014, following the withdrawal of
Angus Morrison on health grounds, he was nominated to be
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2014-15; he was duly formally elected as Moderator on the first day of the General Assembly's week-long annual session. He succeeded
Lorna Hood as Moderator. After serving his one-year term, he was succeeded by Angus Morrison. He is a Chaplain in Ordinary to the King - a member of the Ecclesiastical Household in Scotland.
Background
Born in
Bothwell,
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...
, John Chalmers studied chemical engineering at the
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
before transferring to the
University of Glasgow
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, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
to study divinity. He is married to Liz; they have three children. In 2011, during the General Assembly, his youngest son
John-James was severely injured whilst serving with the
Royal Marines in Afghanistan. In November 2016 he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Aberdeen.
Career
His first charge as a parish minister was at Renton Parish Church, Dunbartonshire, followed by Palmerston Place Church in Edinburgh (1986-1995). Since 1995 he has worked full-time in the
Church of Scotland Offices, including as Principal Clerk since 2010.
As Moderator, during the Scottish independence referendum campaign, he called for respectful dialogue between the proponents and post-referendum he encouraged the church to be an instrument of healing and reconciliation. In February 2015 he met with
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
in Rome.
BBC News, 16 February 2015
/ref> More recently he has continued his interest in mediation and peacemaking and has worked with the Church leaders of South Sudan helping to equip them to participate in local and community peace building.
See also
*
References
External links
The Church of Scotland - official websiteModerator’s page on the Church of Scotland website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, John
Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland
Living people
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland
Alumni of the University of Strathclyde