CEC congratulates its Governing Board member Rev. Alison McDonald for being inducted as the new minister of St Mary’s Parish Church in the historic town of Haddington in Edinburgh, on 1 August.

Haddington is where Scottish Reformer John Knox was born and St Mary’s is one of Scotland’s finest medieval parish churches, with a rich history stretching back over many centuries. It is currently home to a vibrant congregation, which draws people from diverse church backgrounds.

Rev. Alison McDonald said, “I am really excited to have become the minister of St Mary’s. I’m looking forward to building on the ecumenical traditions, which are so important to my new congregation, and to working with my colleagues in the different churches in the town.”

St Mary’s houses the Lauderdale Aisle, a family chapel, which was re-consecrated in 1978 as a chapel set aside for ecumenical prayer by the Scottish Episcopal Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic and Orthodox representatives. The chapel altar is built of stones from sacred sites across Scotland, as well as from Lourdes, Nazareth and Bethlehem. On the walls there is an icon from Mount Athos and wood carvings from Oberammergau. St Mary’s has also long been a site of pilgrimage, and an ecumenical pilgrimage takes place annually.

Read more: www.stmaryskirk.co.uk