George MacLeod - Later Life

Later Life

During World War II, he served as locum minister at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh—a parish also then afflicted by poverty.

In 1948 (aged 53) he married Lorna; immediately after the wedding they travelled to Australia for a preaching tour. The 1940s and early 1950s were a difficult period professionally which became known as the "Govan Case"; when George was invited to return to Govan Old Parish Church in 1948 the Presbytery of Glasgow refused to approve his appointment, given his wish to continue his active leadership of the Iona Community. The case was referred to the General Assembly, ultimately he was refused permission to combine the two posts.

Despite a feeling of hurt and rejection over the "Govan Case", George MacLeod remained one of the highest profile figures in the Church of Scotland. In 1957 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland however not before one Commissioner stood up and asked whether it was appropriate that a man who had been described as being "half way to Rome and half way to Moscow" should indeed be Moderator.

In 1967 he was awarded a peerage, becoming Lord MacLeod of Fuinary – the only Church of Scotland minister to have been thus honoured, and he later became the first peer to represent the Green Party.

George MacLeod's influence on the Church of Scotland was considerable. Although dismissed by some as a maverick, he helped to raise awareness of ecumenism and social justice issues, and inspired many to become involved with such questions. Through the creation of the Iona Community he was a pioneer of new forms of ministry (outside more conventional parish or chaplaincy structures.)