As she steps down from office, Laura Dunlop KC reflects on her long connection with the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

I WAS appointed Procurator by the General Assembly of 2005. Judging from the list in Cox: Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland(6 thedition, 1976), I look to have been the 25 th holder of the office.

Details from the 17th century are scanty. Archibald Johnston of Warriston is shown as being appointed in 1638, and the next appointee, John Dundas, took up office in 1706. Johnston cannot have held office for the intervening 68 years, since he died in 1663. In fact, he was hanged. There are connections between his service to the Church and his violent end, albeit indirect. The office seems safer nowadays.

A court commitment meant I could not attend for the week’s proceedings in 2005. The first Assembly in which I therefore took part was in 2006, and since then I have been there for every day of all 17 Assemblies (at the time of writing). I hope the final total will be 18. In most years, I have not been called on to speak. Not speaking is out of character both for an advocate and for me personally. So in what follows I’d like to spend some of the words I have saved.

When he started secondary school, my older son was given an exercise by his English teacher: ‘My life in six words’. He wrote: “Always wanted, never had, a dog.” It remains etched in my brain (though, if you are wondering, it did not make us buy a pet). Humans are different from all other species in their ability to articulate words for things and those words enable communication and connection to a level also apparently unique on the planet, but never in human history have there been so many words around. They are like nurdles, those little plastic blobs from which other plastics are created – and they have the same polluting potential. The ability to condense a message into only a few of them may have become more precious.

Sloganising certainly requires such a condensing skill. We can all summon up ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Get Brexit Done’. And mottoes are succinct. In childhood, I learned to hope that Glasgow would flourish. In other contexts, ‘He would, wouldn’t he?’ and ‘Shall we tell the President?’ have demonstrated a certain staying power. Maybe we are less able to read a long article or a long book than we used to be, and thoughts and ideas have to be presented in bite-sized pieces. Perhaps we are also becoming less able to listen.

In truth, I haven’t listened with complete attention to everything I have heard at the General Assembly every year since 2006. My mind has wandered now and again, sometimes sparked by a comment or question. But I got most of it. There have been some great moments. I even had the privilege of being on the platform with Desmond Tutu when he spoke at the Assembly of 2009 (still available on YouTube, and highly recommended). I can hear and see all the Moderators, in a kaleidoscope of single fish, Mozart, stained glass windows, light bulbs on a porch, a black dog – I could go on with my list of memorable Moderatorial moments. But for life – any life – in six words, there’s a clear standout, and I will take with me the teaching it offers. It was this: ‘The only sustainable ethic is service’.

“ Not speaking is out of character both for an advocate and for me personally.

The service has always been there, and it still is. Thank you for having me throughout the last 18 years, Church of Scotland. Long may you generally assemble. ¤