Iain Torrance

Sir Iain Richard Torrance, KCVO, OStJ, TD, FRSE (born 13 January 1949) is a retired Church of Scotland minister, theologian and academic.

His doctoral thesis was entitled A translation of the letters between Severus of Antioch and Sergius the Grammarian, with a theological introduction, and was supervised by Sebastian Brock.

He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2004, continuing in that office until the appointment of Alison Elliot the following year.

Torrance appears as himself in Alexander McCall Smith’s Edinburgh novels, The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday (2008)[11] and The Forgotten Affairs of Youth (2011).

[12] The composer Paul Mealor dedicated to Torrance the anthem which he had been commissioned to write for the UK and Commonwealth Commemoration of World War One in Glasgow Cathedral on 4 August 2014.

In 2021 he was appointed by the Scottish Episcopal Church to lead an Independent Review into "difficulties" in the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney following a series of allegations regarding the Bishop, Anne Dyer.

[18] Iain Torrance's tenure as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (2003-2004) was marked by a nationally reported controversy[19] following his public comments on homosexuality in which he stated that he was "utterly untroubled" by the ordination of gay clergy.

[20] The Reverend David W. Lacy, one of Torrance's successors as Moderator, publicly opposed this stance,[21] arguing that the appointment of openly gay ministers would rip the Church of Scotland apart.

Furthermore, Nelson Mandela had also called for the support of the Western Christian Churches in what the South African lawyer considered a clear miscarriage of justice.

Torrance made representation to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair on behalf of Megrahi pointing out the deep unease in Scotland and elsewhere over the safety of the verdict.

The service also highlighted "Christ is the World’s Redeemer," a hymn written by John Ferguson and commissioned by Princeton Theological Seminary for the inauguration.

He was committed to the renovation of the seminary library (opened in January 2013, a month after he retired) and the rebuilding of student housing on the Charlotte Rachel Wilson campus (completed in May 2012).

The Celtic staff behind the shield denotes the Dean of the Chapel Royal's position, ex officio, as titular abbot of Dundrennan and of Crossraguel.

In Iraq with the CO of the Argylls, Col Jonny Gray
Coat of Arms of Iain R. Torrance