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Bill Smith

Obituary of William Smith, civil servant and churchman; born 9 September, 1926, in Gilmerton; died 1 December, 2007, in Edinburgh, aged 81.

From an early age, the church played a major role in Bill's life, and even in his youth his leadership qualities were acknowledged beyond his home parish when he served on the newly-formed Youth Fellowship Council for the city of Edinburgh.

He was ordained to the eldership in 1950 and served the successive congregations of Pleasance, Charteris Pleasance and Kirk o' Field for well over 50 years as an active and committed elder, holding the office of session clerk on two occasions for a total period of 13 years. In 1957, he became a member of the Presbytery of Edinburgh which he served loyally in many capacities for most of the next 50 years, apart from the period when he was living away from Edinburgh. He was particularly proud to be the first elder to convene its business committee, a post which he held from 1985 to 1989.

By then, his administrative and leadership skills had already been noticed on a wider scale, when he was appointed convener of the Diaconate Board of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland – again the first elder to hold this post – serving an extended period of office from 1981-86 at a time when the committees of the Church were going through a period of reorganisation and he was able to provide some continuity. To this task he brought not only his expertise as a committee chairman and administrator, but also a strong desire to try to relate personally to each of the hundred or so deaconesses, both active and retired, whose work was overseen by the board.

Bill's third "first" as an elder came in 1987 when his lifelong friend the Rev Dr Duncan Shaw invited him to serve as his senior chaplain on his election as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, a role which no elder had previously been asked to undertake.

Full story at The Scotsman.