George MacLeod George Fielden MacLeod , Baron MacLeod of Fuinary , Bt MC ( 17 June 1895 – 27 June 1991 ) was a Scottish soldier and clergyman ; he was one of the best known , most influential and unconventional Church of Scotland minister s of the 20th century . He was the founder of the Iona Community . Early life . He was born in Glasgow in 1895 . His grandfather was the highly respected Revd Norman MacLeod of the Barony Church , Glasgow , a Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and Chaplain to Queen Victoria . His father ( Sir John MacLeod ) was a successful businessman before entering politics as a Unionist MP ; his mother Edith was from a wealthy Lancastrian family ( owning cotton mills ) . From this background and heir to a baronetcy , George MacLeod was educated at Winchester College and Oriel College , Oxford . World War I service . Upon the outbreak of World War I in 1914 he joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders , rising to the rank of Captain . He first saw active service in Greece . After falling ill with dysentery , he was sent back to Scotland to recuperate , after which he was posted to Flanders and saw action at Ypres and Passchendaele , for which he was awarded the Military Cross ( MC ) and the French Croix de Guerre for bravery . Ministry . His experience of war profoundly affected him , leading him to train for the ministry . He studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh , followed by a year at Union Theological Seminary , New York City ( 1921 - 1922 ) . Upon return to Scotland he was invited to become Assistant at St Giles Cathedral . During this period his concern over social inequality became increasingly prominent . In 1924 he was ordained as a Church of Scotland minister , to be Padre of Toc H ( Talbot House ) in Scotland . Such non - parochial appointments were extremely unusual at the time . Following a disagreement , he resigned from Toc H in 1926 , but was invited to become associate minister at St Cuthbert ' s Church , Edinburgh . His wartime experiences combined with a profound disillusionment by post - World War I political rhetoric of " " a land fit for heroes " " deeply affected him . Confronted by the realities of the depression and unemployment faced by those less privileged than himself he gradually moved towards socialism and pacifism . From 1937 he become actively involved with the Peace Pledge Union ( PPU ) , and from 1958 with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ( CND ) . Meanwhile , in 1930 , to considerable surprise , he decided to leave St Cuthbert ' s Church to become minister at Govan Old Parish Church — encountering the considerable social problems caused by poverty in this part of Glasgow . The pace of work took its toll and in 1932 he suffered a breakdown . He spent some time recuperating in Jerusalem in early 1933 ; worshipping in an Eastern Orthodox Church on Easter Day he felt a profound spiritual experience , feeling a sense of recovery of the Church as the corporate Body of Christ . This would strongly influence the rest of his life . He resigned ( giving up the financial security of a parish minister ' s stipend ) to become the full - time leader of the Iona Community , which he founded in 1938 . The idea of rebuilding Iona Abbey using ministers , students and unemployed labourers working together influenced his thinking ; the Iona Community grew into an international ecumenical community , with offices in Govan and a presence on the Isle of Iona . Later life . During World War II , he served as locum minister at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh — a parish also then afflicted by poverty . In 1948 ( aged 53 ) he married Lorna ; immediately after the wedding they travelled to Australia for a preaching tour . The 1940s and early 1950s were a difficult period professionally which became known as the " Govan Case " ; when George was invited to return to Govan Old Parish Church in 1948 the Presbytery of Glasgow refused to approve his appointment , given his wish to continue his active leadership of the Iona Community . The case was referred to the General Assembly , ultimately he was refused permission to combine the two posts . Despite a feeling of hurt and rejection over the " Govan Case " , George MacLeod remained one of the highest profile figures in the Church of Scotland . In 1957 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland however not before one Commissioner stood up and asked whether it was appropriate that a man who had been described as being " half way to Rome and half way to Moscow " should indeed be Moderator . In 1967 he was awarded a peerage , becoming Lord MacLeod of Fuinary – the only Church of Scotland minister to have been thus honoured , and he later became the first peer to represent the Green Party . George MacLeod ' s influence on the Church of Scotland was considerable . Although dismissed by some as a maverick , he helped to raise awareness of ecumenism and social justice issues , and inspired many to become involved with such questions . Through the creation of the Iona Community he was a pioneer of new forms of ministry ( outside more conventional parish or chaplain cy structures . )