Jennifer Macrae

Minister and broadcaster known for her work with the homeless in Glasgow

Born: April 10, 1954;

Died: March 22, 2018

REV Jennifer Macrae, who has died of cancer aged 63, was a long-serving minister with the Church of Scotland known for her regular contributions to BBC Scotland and Radio 4’s the Daily Service. The minister of St Mary’s Church in Haddington, East Lothian, for more than 10 years, she was also heavily involved with the Lodging House Mission, which provides food and shelter for the homeless in Glasgow.

Educated at Hillhead High School in Glasgow, Mrs Macrae graduated in arts and was first a teacher and then worked in computer training before returning to Glasgow University in 1994, graduating three years later as a bachelor of divinity. In 1998 she became the assistant minister of Netherlee.

Her first charge was in the Glasgow west-end congregation of Kelvinside Hillhead just a stone’s throw from Byres Road and very close to Stevenson Memorial Church, where her parents had been very committed members and where she was brought up.

It was while at Kelvinside Hillhead that she began broadcasting for BBC Scotland’s religion department and in that role was creative, challenging and popular, conducting services of worship on Sundays, and contributing to the Daily Service. She brought both originality and creativity to the broadcasts.

She also became heavily involved with the Lodging House Mission, which has provided shelter and food for the homeless in the east end of the city since it was established by Rev David Watson in the 19th century as an alternative to the discredited model lodging houses of the time. She served as a director of the mission and for some time as its chair.

In 2007 she was called to the historic and prestigious charge of Haddington St Mary’s. She was aware from the outset of her ministry that she wanted to lead a congregation of historic and contemporary importance and with sensitivity she gently and gradually led them to see what the future might mean.

Her greatest asset in this was that she first and foremost loved the congregation who in turn recognised her gifts and her vision and responded positively to their minister’s leadership. She established a pastoral care group in the congregation and although she was its leader she exercised a shared ministry with and through the group.

Throughout her too-short ministry in Haddington Old, Mrs Macrae knew that this was where she was meant to be. She worked closely with the rector of the Episcopal Church in Haddington, Anne Dyer, who has recently been consecrated the Bishop of Aberdeen. The two were very supportive of each other.

Mrs Macrae reinstituted the Athelstaneford and Whitekirk pilgrimage, renamed Rugged Pathway, and it proved a useful means of making contact with people who were brought into the ambit of the Ccurch. She was Moderator of the Presbytery of Lothian for a year in 2013 and in 2016 was appointed to the General Assembly’s nominations committee.

During her ministry at Haddington, Mrs Macrae was entrusted by the church with the practical training of a number of probationer ministers, all of whom paid tribute to what they had learned and the part she played in their ministerial formation.

The former Moderator of the General Assembly, Very Rev Dr John Cairns described Mrs Macrae as a much loved minister. Alison Meikle, the session clerk of St Mary’s Haddington, said: “Jennifer inspired us and challenged us. In 10 years she transformed St Mary’s into the warm and welcoming church family it now is. She touched the lives of so many in our congregation and community”.

The Rev David Scott, moderator of Lothian Presbytery, also paid tribute to Mrs Macrae. He said: “During her ministry at St Mary’s, she was elected moderator of the Presbytery and, more recently, had been the convener of the ministry committee.

“She was particularly skilled at mentoring students and probationers, building their confidence and bringing their vocation to fruition.

“Jennifer’s great gift was one of friendship – getting alongside others, building bridges, encouraging the less able and the more able in equal measure, sharing her life and love honestly and humbly with charm and good humour. We have lost a hardworking presbyter, an excellent parish minister and a delightful friend.”

Rev John Vischer, minister at Haddington’s West Church, also offered his condolences to her family and the congregation.

He said: “She was a respected colleague whose ministry in Haddington and Lothian presbytery was profound, challenging and widely appreciated.

“In the time we served the church here together, I came to know her as a warm-hearted, circumspect and very approachable person with a great and natural aptitude for her job.”

Jennifer Macrae is survived by her husband Stewart, and daughters Laura and Elaine.