SCOT
SCOT - Scottish organising team - helps to organise the Edinburgh conference, liaises with the local civic and religious bodies and promots events in the Edinburgh 2010 spirit across the UK. SCOT is responsible for day-to-day details involved in running an international conference such as welcoming participants and stewarding during the Sunday Celebrations.
SCOT has a core team of nine and works closely with the Edinburgh 2010 staff. Members come from the Baptist Union, Church of Scotland, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, Scottish Episcopal and United Reformed churches, and the Evangelical Alliance. They have a wide range of personal and organisational skills along with vast experience of and sensitivity to ecumenical collaboration. The team hopes that Edinburgh 2010 will provide a welcoming and enjoyable experience for our visitors from abroad - and an opportunity to stimulate new relationships and cooperation with our friends at home.
SCOT invites you, your church or organisation to remember, celebrate and be inspired by God's call to mission. To download the SCOT flyer for Edinburgh 2010, please click here. All events in the Edinburgh 2010 spirit will be announced on our events page.
Stephen Smyth
Brother Stephen Smyth is General Secretary of ACTS - Action of Churches Together in Scotland. He took up this post in July 2007.
Stephen is from Glasgow, Scotland, where he has lived and worked for most of his life. He is a member of the Marist Brothers, a Roman Catholic Religious Congregation with a focus on education. He has wide experience of teaching at secondary and adult level and in group facilitation. For seven years he was Ecumenical Officer for Glasgow Churches Together and has been involved in organising many local and national ecumenical conferences. Until taking up his current post he had been an active member of an ecumenical Contextual Bible Study Group for many years. An interview with Stephen can be found in our January newsletter.
Alan Dixon
A member of The Salvation Army since 1964, Major Alan Dixon was commissioned in 1969. He has served in corps (church) appointments in England, Wales and Scotland during which time he has represented The Salvation Army on various groups associated with CTE and Cytûn. He has served on the SA Territorial Ecumenical Council since 1994 and was seconded to CTE (Churches Millennium Officer) in 1998. In 2001 he became the Territorial Ecumenical Officer and represented The Salvation Army on a number of national Church and inter-faith organisations and groups. He was appointed as Assistant to the Scotland Secretary in 2003 with responsibility for oversight of ecumenical involvement and Parliamentary matters in Scotland. He now represents The Salvation Army on various ACTS and CTBI groups. He is married to Jackie and has two children.
Alistair Stevenson
Alistair Stevenson works as the Public Policy Officer for the Evangelical Alliance Scotland, the largest body uniting evangelicals to speak as good news for spiritual and social transformation. Alistair's role is to present Christ credibly to the Scottish Parliament and Government, society and media while also encouraging and facilitating Christians as they seek to understand what it means to be politically active and transform their own local communities. Alistair and his wife live in the West End of Glasgow.
Brian Talbot
Dr. Brian Talbot is the minister of Broughty Ferry Baptist Church, Dundee, and is representing the Baptist Union of Scotland. He has served in that body in a variety of capacities most recently on the Inter-Church Relations Task Group. From 1992 to 2007 he was the minister of Carbrain Baptist Church, Cumbernauld, prior to taking up his present post. He was appointed to the Baptist History and Identity Commission of the Baptist World Alliance in 2005. Brian has produced a number of books and articles on various historical subjects including Search for a Common Identity: The Origins of the Baptist Union of Scotland 1800-1870 (2003) and ‘Baptists and Other Churches in the Twentieth Century’, a paper delivered in July 2009 at the International Conference On Baptist Studies, V, Melbourne, Australia. He also contributed a brief overview 'Why celebrate Edinburgh 1910'.
Elizabeth Moran
Sister Elizabeth Moran is the Roman Catholic representative on SCOT. She was born in Scotland and is a graduate of Glasgow University (B.Sc) and of Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines (M.A.). She was the RC consultant on the WCC Mission Team on the Geneva staff from the Salvador Mission Conference (1996) until the beyond Athens Conference (2005). She missioned as Columban Sister in the Philippines, Ireland and the U.K. She is based presently in Montrose, N.E. Scotland. Her interest include: multicultural ministry, adult education, spirituality and retreats, and group facilitation.
Geoffrey Baines
Geoffrey Baines has served as a Methodist minister for almost 28 years, but it was a new missional challenge that brought him to Edinburgh in 2006, serving the Methodist churches in the City. He is never happier than when he is partnering others in their discovery of their God-given creativity and potential.
For Geoffrey, the future is about people living their lives remarkably in love of God and people - the Missio Dei. He has been married to Christine for almost 28 years and they have three grown up children.
Helen Hood
Helen Hood, a lay theologian and church worker in the Scottish Episcopal Church, is Ecumenical Officer at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh. Her varied ecumenical involvement has included organising Lent study groups for local congregations, Scottish YWCA leadership roles and participation in international events, 14 years as a trustee of Christian Aid, and work on ‘Overcoming Violence Against Women’ for the World Council of Churches 2000-2006. Helen is a trustee of Action of Churches Together in Scotland. She is married and has two grown-up children.
Mitchell Bunting
Rev. Mitchell Bunting (Bungie) is a member of the Iona Community and a Minister of the United Reformed Church, ordained in 1985. He was Minister at Carrs Lane Church Centre in Birmingham 1985-90 and also nearby Nechalls URC 1988-90. He then became the Director of the Church of Scotland Sea of Galilee Centre in Israel from 1990-1995. Returning to Scotland he was called to be the Minister of Augustine United Church in Edinburgh from 1996-2007. Augustine is part of a Local Ecumenical Partnership. He is now the Ecumenical Officer of the National Synod of Scotland of the United Reformed Church and remains the part-time Ecumenical Officer of Edinburgh Churches Together, a post he has held since 2002.
