List of moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland


List of moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is a complete list of [Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|moderators of the General Assembly] of the Church of Scotland from the Reformation to the present day. The location of the parish or other post during the moderator's year in office is listed in brackets.
Since 1714 the General Assembly has normally been held annually every May. Moderators-designate are nominated in the October of the previous year; a formal vote is taken at start of the General Assembly in May, then the new moderator takes the chair. They holds office for one year; their final act is to formally open the following year's General Assembly and preside over the formal election of a successor.
The moderator of the current year, while serving their term as moderator, is styled "The Right Reverend", while past moderators are styled "The Very Reverend".

16th century

17th century

No General Assembly until 1638
No General Assembly after 1653 until the restoration of Presbyterianism in 1690. From 1662 to 1673 Walter Bruce of Inverkeithing was "Constant Moderator. Patrick Sympson was Constant Moderator from an unknown date to Spring 1690. Gabriel Cunningham acted as Interim Moderator in 1690 until Kennedie was chosen to succeed him.

18th century

19th century

Post Disruption

The "Disruption" in the Church of Scotland took place in 1843, with approximately one-third of the ministers leaving to form the Free Church of Scotland. The Moderator in this critical year was Duncan Macfarlan

20th century

The union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland occurred in 1929, the newly reunited church henceforth being known as the Church of Scotland.

21st century

Moderators who were later moderators of the Free Church

Note