Bill McDonald (minister)

William James Gilmour McDonald (13 June 1924 – 9 December 2015) was a Scottish minister. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1989.^[1] He presented BBC Radio Scotland's "Thought for the Day" for many years.

Life

He was born on 3 June 1924 to Grace Kennedy Hunter and Hugh Gilmour McDonald.

Daniel Stewart's School, Edinburgh, and was school dux. He studied classics at the University of Edinburgh graduating with an MA, going on to take a further degree in divinity at the University.^[3]

In the final years of the

Rev James Whyte. He remained there for the rest of his life. In Edinburgh he also served as Chaplain to the Merchant Company of Edinburgh. He received an honorary doctorate (DD) from the University of Edinburgh in 1987. He retired in 1992 but would still speak occasionally at his former church.^[4]

He died in Edinburgh on 9 December 2015 and is buried in

Grange Cemetery

near his home. The grave lies near the north-west corner of the modern western extension.

Family

In 1952 he married Margaret Patricia Watson, and together they had two daughters and a son; Alison, Sheena, a television presenter and journalist, and Roddy.^[2]

Publications

Words Thought and Said (2014)

References

^ "Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland genealogy project". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
^
ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1
, retrieved 4 May 2019

^ Scotland, The Church of (9 December 2015). "Tribute to former Moderator of the General Assembly the Very Rev Dr William McDonald". The Church of Scotland. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
^ "Obituary: Very Rev Dr Bill McDonald, Mayfield Parish minister". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 4 May 2019.

Religious titles
Preceded by James A. Whyte	Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1989–1990	Succeeded by Robert Davidson

[1] "Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland genealogy project". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 4 May 2019.

[:0-2] 
ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1
, retrieved 4 May 2019

[3] Scotland, The Church of (9 December 2015). "Tribute to former Moderator of the General Assembly the Very Rev Dr William McDonald". The Church of Scotland. Retrieved 4 May 2019.

[4] "Obituary: Very Rev Dr Bill McDonald, Mayfield Parish minister". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 4 May 2019.

[1]

[3]

[4]

[2]

v t e Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Since reunification with the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929
1929–1950	John White Andrew Bogle John Graham Hugh Mackintosh Lauchlan Watt Peter Thomson Marshall Lang Daniel Lamont Dugald MacFarlane James Black Archibald Main James Forgan James Cockburn Charles Taylor John Baillie Edward Hagan Andrew Campbell John McKenzie Matthew Stewart Alexander Macdonald George Duncan
1950–1975	Hugh Watt William White Anderson George Johnstone Jeffrey James Pitt-Watson Ernest David Jarvis George Henderson Robert Scott George MacLeod John Fraser Robert Shepherd John Burleigh Archibald Campbell Craig Nevile Davidson James Stuart Stewart Duncan Fraser Archibald Watt Leonard Small William Roy Sanderson James Longmuir Thomas Murchison Hugh Douglas Andrew Herron Ronnie Selby Wright George T. H. Reid David Steel
1975–2000	James Gunn Matheson Thomas F. Torrance John Rodger Gray Peter Brodie Robert Barbour William Johnston Andrew Beveridge Doig John McIntyre Fraser McLuskey John M. K. Paterson David Smith Robert Craig Duncan Shaw Jim Whyte Bill McDonald Robert Davidson William Macmillan Hugh Wyllie James Weatherhead James Simpson James Harkness John McIndoe Sandy McDonald Alan Main John Cairns
Since 2000	Andrew McLellan John Miller Finlay Macdonald Iain Torrance Alison Elliot David Lacy Alan McDonald Sheilagh Kesting David Lunan William Hewitt John Christie David Arnott Albert Bogle Lorna Hood John Chalmers Angus Morrison Russell Barr Derek Browning Susan Brown Colin Sinclair Martin Fair Jim Wallace Iain Greenshields Sally Foster-Fulton