Every Presbyterian branch that I know of has a particular token passed between Moderators as both a mark of the office and a reminder of those who have held the office and those who will hold it in the future. For some it is a service cross, for others a stole. For the the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland these symbols include a ceremonial ring.
Last night that ring was among the items stolen from the home of the current Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rt. Rev. John Christie.
Numerous press reports confirm that the ring was among the items taken in an overnight break-in while Rev. Christie was asleep. There is also a longer article from the BBC with a picture of the ring and some information on it’s previous mis-placement. Beyond that I have not found any historical details on the background of the current ring. The BBC also says that the church will make an appeal. I will update as appropriate.
We pray for the quick recovery of the ring and for the Christie family.
You’ll be interested to know that the PCC has no such token or tradition. The General Assembly twisted itself into knots over a proposed moderator’s stole some years ago but the idea was eventually abandoned.
I hope and pray that the items stolen from Rt. Rev. Christie will be recovered.
Thanks Colin for jogging my memory.
I remembered the Rev. Gale talking about his stole upon his installation, but that was a gift from his colleagues and not a passed-on token of the office. I wonder how many other branches I have overlooked and do not have such a tradition (and why).
Merry Christmas and thanks for keeping me accurate.
Yes, Rev. Gale’s stole was a gift given with tongue firmly planted in cheek!
His blog post about gives the history of the stole controversy: http://presbyterian.ca/moderator/the-moderators-stole/