He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of the Church of Scotland at Fordoun in 1828 and ordained as minister of Laurencekirk in 1829.
[3] In 1849 he was Convenor of the General Assembly and sat on the committee for Improving the Condition of Parish Schoolteachers (which were largely run by the church) in 1850, and that on appointing Army and Navy Chaplains in 1859.
[1] In 1860 Queen Victoria proposed him as Professor of Church History at St Andrews University.
Due to the high number of family members named "John Cook", most of which are of public note, the family tree is a complicated series of the same name, causing much confusion.
Almost all members of the family served as a Moderator of the General Assembly at some time.