The news of the passing of Principal Emeritus John L. Mackay on 25 October came as a shock to the Free Church of Scotland and beyond, and was met with a profound sense of loss.
John L. Mackay was born in Glasgow on 4 June 1948. After graduation from Oxford, John was offered a position as an economist with the government. Between 1973 and 1976 he lectured in Economics and Statistics at the University of Dundee. During those years he came to terms with a sense of the Lord’s calling into ministry; so, in 1976 he began study at the then Free Church College. Concurrently, he undertook a Bachelor of Divinity degree with the University of London, graduating in 1979 with First-class Honours. He had taught himself both Hebrew and Russian as a young man!
In February 1980, John was ordained and inducted as minister of Rosskeen Free Church. There his pulpit and pastoral ministry was fruitful, faithful and proactive, with a lively engagement in youth work and the initiation of services in Milnafua.
