Church minister; Born April 7, 1941; Died March 13, 2009.
Leith Fisher, who has died aged 67, was one of the ablest Church of Scotland ministers of his generation. Talented but with self-effacing manner, he retired as minister of Wellington Church three years ago.
As well as a fine preacher and exceptional parish minister, he had a gift for words as the author of commentaries on gospels and the writer of hymns - seven of which made their way into the latest edition of the Church's hymnary.
Fisher was born in Greenock and educated at Glasgow University where he graduated in arts and divinity, and during his divinity studies he chaired the Scottish Christian Youth Assembly.
He then took a diploma in pastoral studies at Birmingham University and in 1966 became the assistant minister of Govan Old Parish. He joined the Iona Community and while assistant at Govan stayed in one of the flats in Community House in Clyde Street, the other occupied by the warden and his wife, Douglas and Joyce Alexander.
Fisher was someone who cared deeply about those whom society marginalised or ignored, and he went from Govan Old to work in the Calton area of Glasgow.
His work there demonstrated two qualities he was to carry on into his parish ministries. He was completely at ease with the Calton young people who recognised he was someone who would be totally straightforward with them and so they gave him their trust.
Fisher stayed at Calton for more than 10 years and in 1979 became minister of Falkirk Old, which later united with St Modan's. His resourcefulness and ability to come up with fresh ideas and his down-to-earth practicality about faith marked his ministry.
Fisher was not someone who talked piously about what he expected people to become involved in. He simply asked them to share his conviction that social concern, a passion for justice, lively worship and respect for others were at the heart of Christian commitment.
In 1990, Fisher moved to Wellington Church in Glasgow and, as well as continuing the pattern of ministry he had established in Falkirk, he became involved in broadcasting, becoming a regular and effective communicator on Thought for the Day.
He began publishing his commentary studies on Gospel readings, which, although rooted in the insights of biblical scholars, were the product of a minister's parish experience and respect for people.
He served as convener of the General Assembly's Panel on Worship and many other committees. Leith Fisher was married to Nonie, a daughter of Pat and Uist Macdonald, who was one of the founder members in 1938 of the Iona Community. She survives him along with their three sons and two daughters. By Johnston McKay
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article