No . 138 The Trusty Servant
to read law at Oriel college , Oxford , but this was interrupted by the war . He served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and was awarded the Military Cross and Croix de Guerre . But he had a conversion experience on a crowded train full of wounded soldiers , and from then on dedicated his life to Christ , training for ministry in the Church of Scotland and becoming a strong advocate of nonviolence .
In 1938 MacLeod began his famous project to rebuild the Abbey on Iona . Many Wykehamists were involved over the years working alongside teenagers from the poorest parts of Glasgow to build the abbey stone by stone . The story is told that at the outset MacLeod approached one of the richest men in Scotland , Sir James Lithgow , whose fortune was founded on building ships for the Royal Navy . MacLeod asked him for the enormous sum of £ 5,000 . Lithgow said ‘ If I give you this £ 5,000 will you give up your pacifism ?’ MacLeod declined . ‘ In that case ,’ said Lithgow , here is your £ 5,000 . I wouldn ’ t have given it to you if you had abandoned your principles .’ Others have recounted that if you were to meet him on the High Street in Edinburgh , or on a quiet pathway in Iona , his customary greeting would be not ‘ Good morning ’ or ‘ How are you today ?’ but ‘ Do you believe in nonviolence ?’
MacLeod ’ s sermons were broadcast live from Iona Abbey on the BBC World Service to a huge audience , but during the war his pacifist message was unwelcome and the broadcasts ceased . After the war , MacLeod became a leading light in the campaign for nuclear disarmament . In 1967 he was ennobled as Baron MacLeod of Fuinary ; the same year he resigned from leadership
Iona Abbey , established 563 AD
of the Iona Community to focus on campaigning for disarmament as president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation . He spoke year after year at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland , urging them to call upon the government to get rid of nuclear weapons , and year after year the assembly would vote against him , until 1982 when at last his persistence paid off : the assembly called upon the government to disarm itself of all weapons of mass destruction .
MacLeod died in 1991 .
George MacLeod ( D , 09-13 ) with Iona Abbey in the background .
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