It is hard to overstate the impact and legacy of Fred Drummond’s tenure as the director of Scotland and prayer at the Evangelical Alliance. Fred joined the team in 2006, and has consistently championed the role of the church to serve on the margins of society, to find creativity and innovation in our models of mission and discipleship, whilst rooting everything in prayer and devotion.
His achievements are extensive, including pioneering Serve Scotland, serving on Transforming Scotland, engaging with Holyrood, and establishing the Public Leader programme.
His treatise What kind of nation? ahead of the 2014 independence referendum – called the church to widen its horizons for the future of Scotland in terms of the economy, the family, civil society and the environment. What kind of church? and What kind of follower? both followed, calling on the evangelical community to reimagine and recommit to a gospel-centred and missionally-minded expression of life and faith.
In recent years, as the church reeled – like the rest of society – after the Covid pandemic, Fred’s series on Wounded leadership and Lament reassured leaders that though we may walk with a limp, the kindness of God is able to refresh and restore. As outgoing chair of the Scottish exec Ruth Walker said, “I so admire Fred’s creativity – he approaches things often from an unexpected angle that makes you think really hard but always leads you to Jesus. He thinks widely, challenges strongly and invests deeply. His faithful persistence as a disciple is a gloriously good example of what it means to follow Jesus.”
Storytelling and creativity are the hallmarks of Fred’s ministry; he shared the stories of those pushing boundaries and breaking new ground on his Uncharted podcast, he travelled the length and breadth of Scotland teaching and preaching in every expression of church, and he connected leaders and ministries across the evangelical community to pioneer, dream together, pray for unity and birth new initiatives. Church leader Ian Wills puts it like this, “Your speaking and writing have given language, expression, and helpful articulation to real frustrations, questions, and realities of ministry, but also to the possibilities, hopes, and visions of the mission of God.”
Fred is the longest serving Evangelical Alliance staff member currently on team, and although he is stepping down from his role as director of Scotland, his time with us is not yet done. Fred will be leading on prayer for the Evangelical Alliance over the next year, bedding in a culture of prayer across the team and throughout our membership, resourcing, enabling and championing prayer in all we do and all that we are, as together we make Jesus known.
Please join with us as we thank God for all that Fred has done in Scotland over the last 18 years. Join us as we pray that God’s face shines upon him and gives him peace. Join us as we pray for the paths ahead to be straight as Fred walks in step with God’s Spirit.
