| The Iona Community is an ecumenical movement with a radical theology. It seeks ‘new ways to touch the hearts of all’. Initially, this proved controversial. In 1938, when Rev George MacLeod founded the community and began restoring Iona Abbey’s cloister, the island’s minister and church elders refused to become involved. At this time, Rev MacLeod was working as a parish minister in Govan, then a very deprived district of Glasgow. The Community he formed focuses on youth; justice, peace and the environment; poverty and social exclusion; overcoming racism; ecumenical and inter-faith relations. |
 Rev George MacLeod |
The Iona Community welcomes guests to Iona. Forty-five people, including staff, can stay in the cloister. A similar number can be housed in the MacLeod Centre nearby. This caters particularly for young people, families and the disabled. There is also an outdoor adventure centre at Camas, on Mull. These are not retreat centres, or hotels, but places where guests are invited to live for a week. There they may work and worship, discuss issues of the day, or learn about Iona and the Hebrides. They spend one day each week on a pilgrimage around Iona.
| As well as its bases on Iona and Mull, the Community has a mainland base in Glasgow. The Community’s programme of youth development work is coordinated from there. The Community’s Wild Goose Resource Group is also based in Glasgow. This is well known for its music, and for work on renewing congregational life through worship. Many songs now well known throughout Scotland were first sung in Iona Abbey. |
