John R. Gray (minister) explained

Honorific Prefix:The Very Reverend
John R. Gray
Moderator of the General Assembly
Church:Church of Scotland
Term:1977 to 1978
Predecessor:Thomas F. Torrance
Successor:Peter Brodie
Other Post:Minister of Dunblane Cathedral (1966–1984)
Birth Name:John Rodger Gray
Birth Date:9 January 1913
Birth Place:Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland
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Religion:Presbyterianism
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Education:High School of Glasgow

John Rodger Gray, (9 January 1913 – 9 August 1984) was a Scottish minister serving in Dunblane Cathedral who was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1977.[1]

Life

He was born on 9 January 1913 in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland.[2] He was educated locally before going to High School of Glasgow, a private school in Glasgow. He studied economics at Glasgow University graduating in 1934. He then studied Divinity for three years, before doing further postgraduate study under a Commonwealth Fellowship at both Yale University and Princeton University in the United States.[3] He graduated from Yale with a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) in 1938 and from Princeton with a Master of Theology (ThM) degree in 1939.

Returning to Britain in the Second World War, he was assistant minister of Barony Church, Glasgow, between 1939 and 1941. He then served as a chaplain in the Royal Navy from 1941 to 1946. After the war, he became minister of St. Stephen's Buccleuch in Glasgow. In 1960, the church merged with St Matthew's Blythswood. He continued his military service as a chaplain in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve from 1946 to 1963, and was awarded the Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (VRD) in 1953.

In 1966 he was called to Dunblane Cathedral in Central Scotland.[4] He was select preacher at the University of Oxford in 1977. He additionally served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1977 to 1978. After eighteen years as minister of Dunblane Cathedral, he retired in April 1984.[5] He died later that year, on 9 August 1984.

Family

In 1952 he was married to Dr Sheila Mary Gray (1928-2013) a doctor.[6] She was author of "Annus Mirabilis, Memories of a Moderator's Wife".[4]

Their three sons are the MP James Gray, the diplomat Charles Gray and Lt Cdr David Gray Royal Navy

Publications

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland genealogy project. geni_family_tree.
  2. Web site: Gray, Very Rev. John Rodger, (9 Jan. 1913–9 Aug. 1984), Minister at Dunblane Cathedral, 1966–84, then Minister Emeritus; Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1977–78 . Who Was Who . Oxford University Press . 4 September 2022 . en . 1 December 2007.
  3. Web site: Inventory . www.nls.uk .
  4. Web site: Dr Sheila Gray. HeraldScotland.
  5. News: Dr Gray retires . . 9 April 1984 . 3 . 11 October 2017.
  6. 10.1136/bmj.g5993 . Sheila Mary Gray . BMJ . 349 . g5993 . 2014 . Steven . J. D . 72641120 .