John Stirling (1654–1727) was a minister of the

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 ...

in the 17th/18th centuries who served as Principal of

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 ...

from 1701 to 1727 and in 1707 attained the highest post in the Scottish church as

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...

Life

He was born in 1654 (baptised on 18 August) in the manse at

Kilbarchan Kilbarchan (; ) is a village and civil parish in central Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is almost contiguous with Johnstone, about 5 miles or 8 km west of the centre of Paisley. The village's name means "cell (chape ...

the son of Rev John Stirling and his wife Jean Maxwell. He was educated at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. He was licensed to preach as a

minister by the Presbytery of Glasgow in February 1690. He was ordained as minister of

Inchinnan Inchinnan (; ) is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just south east of the town of Erskine. History The name of Inchinnan village is derived from the Gaelic ...

in May 1691. He translated to

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

in September 1694. On 8 May 1701 he was elected

Principal of the University of Glasgow The Principal of the University of Glasgow is the working head of the University of Glasgow, University, acting as its chief executive. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the university as well as its strategic planning and admin ...

in place of William Dunlop and began the role on 18 September. During his principalship he created seven new chairs, reorganised the Faculty of Arts and enlarged the Faculty of Divinity. He created the two new faculties of Law and Medicine to better parallel the subjects offered by other Scottish universities. In 1707 he was additionally elected

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in succession to William Wishart. He died on 29 September 1727.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 7; by Hew Scott

Family

He married Elizabeth Stewart (d. 1738).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling, John 1654 births 1727 deaths Principals of the University of Glasgow Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland