Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Assembly, the Moderator then spends the following year representing the Church of Scotland at civic events, and visiting congregations and projects in Scotland and beyond.
Coat of Arms of Iain R. Torrance, former Moderator, illustrating the Geneva bonnet and the crozier of St. Fillan
Ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland
A Church of Scotland congregation is led by its minister and elders. Both of these terms are also used in other Christian denominations: see Minister (Christianity) and Elder (Christianity). This article discusses the specific understanding of their roles and functions in the Scottish Church.
The Ordination of Elders in a Scottish Kirk, painting by John Henry Lorimer, 1891
Alexander Webster, minister of the Tolbooth Kirk in St. Giles, Edinburgh and moderator of the Church of Scotland in 1753, was responsible for providing the first reliable estimate of Scotland's population in modern times. Based on returns from parish ministers, mostly for the year 1755, he calculated Scotland's population at 1,265,380. His census did not, however, include most of the country's small Roman Catholic minority, figures for which relied on ministers reporting the number of "papists" in their parishes. Internal evidence suggests that this was done inconsistently.
Memorial windows commemorating past elders of the Tron Kirk in Edinburgh
