William B. R. Macmillan (3 July 1927 – 16 October 2002) 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 ...

. He was

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 1991.

Background and career

William Boyd Robertson Macmillan (better known as Bill) was born in

Keith, Moray Keith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Chèith'', or ''Cèith Mhaol Rubha'' (archaic)) is a small town in the Moray council area in north east Scotland. It has a population of 4,734. Keith is historically in Banffshire, a name which persists in c ...

in 1927. He was a graduate of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

in arts and divinity; he also did

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. His first charge was at St Andrew's Church,

Bo'ness Borrowstounness, commonly known as Bo'ness ( ), is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically part of the county of West Lothian (historic), ...

(1955-1960), followed by

Fyvie Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Geography Fyvie lies alongside the River Ythan and is on the A947 road. Architecture What in 1990, at least, was a Clydesdale Bank was built in 1866 by James Matthews (arch ...

Parish Church, Aberdeenshire (1960-1967), then

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

South Parish Church (1967-1978). He was minister of

Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's) Dundee Parish Church (St Mary’s) is located in the east section of Dundee's "City Churches", the other being occupied by the Steeple Church. Both are congregations in the Church of Scotland, although with differing styles of worship. Dunde ...

from 1978 until his retirement in 1993. During this time he came to national prominence in the Church of Scotland, as Convener of the Business Committee of the General Assembly and Convener of the Church of Scotland's Board of Practice and Procedure. He was appointed a Chaplain to the Queen (1988), received an honorary Doctorate in Law from the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

(1990), an honorary

Doctorate of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (i.e., Christian theology and ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the English-speaking world than elsewhere. In the United Kin ...

from the University of Aberdeen (1991) and served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1991. Following his Moderatorial year, his title was the Very Reverend Dr William B. R. Macmillan LLD DD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmillan, William 1927 births 2002 deaths Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland People associated with Dundee People from Keith, Moray 20th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers

Background and career

See also

References