Seminary Alum Guides Scottish Parish in Historic 60th Year

Volume 22 No 1 | Winter 2008-2009

John Mann S’80 experienced a call to ministry in the Presbyterian denomination during his time at Bethel Seminary. He didn’t know that call would end up leading him across the sea to a quaint parish church in Glasgow, Scotland, where he now serves along with his wife, Lindsay Biddle, also a Presbyterian minister. That church, St. James Parish, is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee in 2008. Mann shares some details about its history:

“The congregation was established in 1948 in the newly established housing scheme of Pollok on the south side of Glasgow. The church building was originally erected in the 19th century in a different part of the city. By the end of World War II  it had fallen into disuse. It was taken apart and all the stones were numbered and relocated to Pollok, where it was reconstructed. At one time in the 1960s, St. James was the largest Church of Scotland congregation in Glasgow. Today, like many churches in this part of the world, we exist, if not thrive, with a faithful remnant of individuals committed to keeping the light of Christ shining in the very margins of society.

“Pollok itself was the brainchild of social planners who envisioned a life outside the crowded tenements of Glasgow in the flowing green space of the Pollok estate. For many of the relocated residents, it was the first time they had their own indoor plumbing. Yet like many such social ventures, there were unforeseen outcomes. St. James now sits in the middle of a designated parish of more than 12,000 people, 90 percent of whom comprise the poorest 10 percent of the population. The unemployment rate in our parish is around 40 percent. Along with those bare statistics go the untold costs of social deprivation.

“Ten years ago, in an effort to reach out into the community, the session of St. James initiated a new venture called The Village Storytelling Centre. With hardly anything more than imagination and hard work, The Village has since grown into a nationally renowned centre of Scottish storytelling.”

Bethel Seminary Executive Director and Provost Leland Eliason wrote to the St. James congregation in celebration of their 60th anniversary, concluding, “We are delighted to know that Dr. John Mann, a Bethel Seminary graduate, is serving your congregation during these important days. Our mission at Bethel is to advance the Gospel of Jesus among all peoples in culturally sensitive ways. So, when God guides our graduates to congregations here in the United States or to places around the world, our prayers go with them that God may use them to minister His grace and peace.”