A FORMER Inverclyde minister, who now works in Scotland’s biggest jail, has been nominated as the next Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
The Rev Jill Clancy, who served at St John’s Church in Gourock from 2000, is the first prison chaplain to be proposed for the role. She will become the Kirk’s ambassador at home and abroad next May.
The 56-year-old will take up the year-long role after nine years working in Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow. She has also served as a parish minister in Glasgow and Ayrshire.
She said: ill said: “I have the same questions now about becoming Moderator as I did at the time of my calling to ministry; I’m too young, not intellectual enough, I’ve got a strong Ayrshire accent.
“I know I will not be to everyone’s taste, but I am who I am, and God has a reason and a purpose for me to be called into this role at this particular juncture in the life of the Church.
“I want to thank not only the church for not forgetting about me; they haven’t put me behind the walls of the prison and flung away the keys, but also the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) for letting me take a secondment for the year, to represent them as well as the church.”
Jill, who grew up on a council estate in Ayrshire, said she had never considered becoming moderator and recalls her shock when two colleagues got in touch to say they had nominated her.
She said: “I was lying on a sunbed in Benidorm and got texts on the same day from two different people. One was somebody who had been my student, and one was a prison chaplain, and both of them said they wanted to nominate me as moderator.
“I said that is crazy, absolutely crazy. I later met with them both separately and asked them why. For the prison chaplain, it was, ‘well Barlinnie’s going through a transition (the jail will close in 2028 when a new purpose-bult prison nearby is due to open) and the church is going through a transition. You’ll be able to deal with that’.
“My former student said I’d be a breath of fresh air, and this is what the Church needs. It took me six to eight weeks to agree and to write my application but I thought, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
The moderator chairs the General Assembly which involves commissioners — ministers, elders and deacons — examining the work and laws of the church and making decisions that affect its future.
In the 12 months from May, they act as the church’s ambassador, meeting with ecumenical partners and faith leaders, visiting presbyteries and projects and representing the church at home and abroad.
Jill said the theme of her year as moderator would be love, adding: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbour as you love yourself’ is my motto. It’s what I live by and if you can’t love yourself, who can you love?
“A lot of healing has happened in my life. There’s been a lot of things I’ve had to go through, and I go through with the people I work with. I help them to do the same thing, to love themselves, to love other people, to have respect for others, to see that life is important.
“The umbrella over all of that is my relationship with God, and being able to share that relationship.”
