JOHN L BELL…is a preacher, hymnwriter, composer, lecturer and broadcaster. He is an ordained minister of
the Church of Scotland and a member of the Iona Community. During his studies in Theology, he became the
first (and last) student Rector of the University of Glasgow. After a period in the Netherlands and two posts in
church youth work, he became employed in the areas of music and worship, founding during that time, with
Graham Maule, the Wild Goose Worship Group and the Wild Goose Resource Group.
He is a past convenor of the Church of Scotland’s Panel on Worship and the committee that produced the
ground-breaking Church Hymnary 4. In 1999, he was honoured by the Presbyterian Church of Canada and
the Royal School of Church Music which bestowed on him a Fellowship. He was awarded in 2002 an
honorary doctorate by the University of Glasgow, and in 2013 the Community of Christ International Peace
Award. John has produced many collections of liturgy, scripts, sermons and reflections, original hymns and
songs (some in collaboration with Graham) and three collections of songs of the World Church, and is
primarily concerned with the renewal of congregational worship at grass roots level.