Anne Hepburn (20 August 1925 – 29 July 2016) was a
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
missionary and a teacher,
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and
social justice
Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
advocate. She served as National President of the Church of Scotland's Women's Guild in the early 1980s, where she led the debate on the issue of the " Motherhood of God".
Early life and education
Anne Burton was born in
Dailly
Dailly () is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located on the Water of Girvan, south of Maybole, and east of Old Dailly. "New Dailly", as it was originally known, was laid out in the 1760s as a coal-mining village. In 1849 a fire br ...
,
South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...
on 20 August 1925. Her mother died when she was a child of eighteen months, and she grew up with her blacksmith father, who was also a church elder. She went onto study at
Glasgow University
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
Malawi
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
, then called
Nyasaland
Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...
, as headmistress of a mission primary school for girls. She met her future husband, fellow missionary James Lamb (Hamish) Hepburn, first at a Church of Scotland weekend in Galashiels and later on the voyage to Malawi and in August 1954 they married. Their three children Catherine, Margaret and Kenneth were born in Malawi. The political struggles that began in 1959 against the planned Central African Federation resulted in independence for Nyasaland, but an uncertain climate for those who opposed the new regime. In 1964, when on furlough in Scotland, the Hepburns were advised not to return to Malawi.
In the 1990s she was involved in the creation of the Scottish Malawi Network and she was its convener for ten years. The network's role was later fulfilled by the
Scotland Malawi Partnership
The Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP) is a non-profit umbrella organisation which co-ordinates the activities of Scottish individuals and organisations with existing links to Malawi, and aims to foster further links between both countries. It i ...
.
Life in the Church
Anne Hepburn settled in
Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright ( ; ) is a town at the mouth of the River Dee, Galloway, River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. A former royal burgh, it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire.
His ...
, Dumfries & Galloway, where her husband Hamish became minister. Anne was active in the Women's Guild, serving as National Vice-president from 1972 to 1975, and she was ordained as an elder of the Church of Scotland in 1974. In 1981, Hepburn became National President of the Women's Guild.
Motherhood of God controversy
In her opening remarks to the 1982 April annual meeting of the Women's Guild, Anne Hepburn decided to use a prayer written by the Rev. Brian Wren which addressed "God our Mother" (the original typewritten script is in the New College Library Archives. The prayer caused audible upset, and the many letters of complaint which followed fed the "Motherhood of God" controversy.
Nevertheless, this first step was followed by the creation of a study by the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...
to study the theological implications of the Motherhood of God. But when this group reported back to the General Assembly, the topic was shelved. Nevertheless, the discussion continued around the world.