Our Team

Revd Dr John McNeil Scott

Principal

The Revd Dr John McNeil Scott is Principal of the Scottish College. He has served in church ministry for over 25 years, with experience of both congregational life and higher education chaplaincy. John has also worked in university teaching and legal practice.

John studied philosophy and politics in Dublin, divinity at Aberdeen, and law in Manchester and at SOAS (University of London). He holds qualifications in Irish and Mandarin Chinese from the Ulster University and National Taiwan University, respectively. John served as Senior Chaplain to the University of London for many years. He has undertaken postgraduate research in Taiwanese Contextual Theologies and completed doctoral studies in Chicago.

John's academic interests are in theologies of politics and culture across a number of contexts including Ireland, Taiwan and Scotland and in homiletics. Other academic concerns include the application of technology to learning in ministerial formation and leadership development, in systems apporaches to congregational studies and in pastoral supervision. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and a member of the European Association of Taiwan Studies and the Academy of Homiletics.

Revd Fiona Bennett

Tutor

The Revd Fiona Bennett studied Divinity at New College and a post-graduate diploma in Community Education at Northern College in Dundee, Fiona was ordained as a minister of the Scottish Congregational Church in 1996, becoming a minister of the URC in 2000.  As a URC minister, Fiona has worked in local churches with both the Methodist Church and the Church of Scotland, before being inducted as the minister of Augustine United Church in 2009. Fiona was the United Reformed Church General Assembly Moderator 2022/23.  Fiona has a great love of music, singing and laughing.

Revd Andy Braunston

Tutor

The Revd Andy Braunston was ordained in 1992 and has served single congregations in East London and Manchester, and a group of four churches in Glasgow.  He now serves as the URC's Minister for Digital Worship overseeing the provision of devotional and worship resources for local churches across the UK to use.  Andy has previously served the URC as a Synod Clerk and now as the Secretary to the Assembly Standing Panel for Discipline, and of the Worship, Faith, and Order Committee.  Andy holds an honours degree in Theological Studies and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Thames Polytechnic, a Masters in Contextual Theology from the University of Manchester, and a Post Graduate Diploma in the History of the Highlands and Islands from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).  He's currently undertaking further study with the UHI's Institute of Northern Studies in the field of Island Studies.   Andy's academic and professional interests are eclectic: ecclesiastical history, worship, the history of the Highlands and Islands, and the dynamics of leading in a conciliar structure.  He's an active member of the Scottish Green Party and lives with his husband, Ian, in Orkney.  Andy is a member of the Peedie Kirk URC and regularly leads worship there and in Church of Scotland congregations in Orkney.

Prof R Scott Spurlock

Tutor

Prof R Scott Spurlock, Professor of Scottish and Early Modern Christianities, is a Tutor with the College. Scott has been involved in ministerial education for many years. A church historian by training, he is currently head of discipline for Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow. Scott is currently working on projects relating to Scottish religious cultures, in particular the Reformation in Scotland and traditions developing out of its upheaval including Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Dissenting and Quaker; the experience of lay Catholics in early modern Scotland; the role of Reformed theology in shaping early modern cultures; and, the comparative development of Reformed communities in the early modern Atlantic.

Revd Dr Jack Dyce

Emeritus Research Professor

The Revd Dr Jack Dyce was Principal of the Scottish College for 18 years, retiring in 2017. His involvement continues in a new role as Emeritus Research Professor of Nordic Theology. In this way, the College benefits from Jack's broad experience in Northern studies, including Nordic theology, Danish educational and church life, Scandinavian societies, nationhood and Nordic cooperation, the wider Northern region, the appropriation of Viking heritage, and Nordic Noir crime fiction. As an educationalist, he has an extensive academic, professional and research background in education theory and practice, adult learning and education management.

Revd Craig Jesson

Ministerial Support

The Revd Craig Jesson is the College Chaplain, and a Trustee of the College. He has been a local church minister for almost 19 years, serving local URCs in North Lanarkshire. Before coming into ministry, Craig worked for many years with adults and children with both physical and intellectual disabilities. He has had a wide and varied life experience, and, as a life member of the Woodland Trust is actively involved in the preservation of natural woodland. He is also an Associate of the Linnean Society of London, and is currently developing an interest in astrophotography. Craig is very approachable, and is certainly someone with whom people can safely raise and discuss any issue.

Linda Harrison

College Manager

Linda Harrison is our part-time College Manager.  Linda has experience in church and educational administration, most recently with our educational partners at the Scottish Episcopal Institute, has been a Synod Clerk with the United Reformed Church and is the Church Secretary of Augustine United Church.

Jackie Kyle

Finance Officer

Jackie Kyle is our Finance Officer. Jackie handles financial and compliance issues for the College. She brings many years of experience - and a notorious eye for detail - to her work. Without her fees, salaries and expenses would not get paid and the work of the College would quickly grind to a halt.