Edinburgh church remembers Scottish Rev Dr John Ross who translated New Testament into Korean

Pioneer later became an elder in Edinburgh

An Edinburgh church is holding a special service tomorrow (Sunday January 15) to celebrate the legacy of a Scot who played a major role in introducing Christianity to Korea.

The service at Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church at 10.30am will give thanks for the life of Rev Dr John Ross, who translated the New Testament into Korean. Jaekook Lee, pastor of the Edinburgh Korean Church, will speak about the missionary's importance for Korean Christianity; Dr Alex Chow, a senior lecturer at Edinburgh’s New College, will talk about Ross's life and world Christianity; and the Rev Dr John Stuart Ross – no relation – will reflect on mission in Ross's day and now.

A Gaelic speaker, Ross was born in Easter Ross in 1842 and was a gifted linguist with knowledge of 11 languages. He worked as a missionary in North-east China (then Manchuria), where he established a church, founded a Bible school and quickly realised that outreach could best be done by local Christians rather than western missionaries. He produced the first translation of the New Testament in Korean, a language he learned from traders.

John Ross became an elder at what is now Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church after he returned from his missionary work.

After his return to Scotland, he served as an elder at what is now Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, from 1910 until his death in 1915. He is buried in nearby Newington Cemetery and there is a plaque on an inside wall of the church which regularly welcomes Korean visitors.

Rev Dr Sandy Forsyth, minister of Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, said: "Our service is to mark the 150th anniversary of Dr Ross's arrival in China by celebrating his life and legacy. It will mark his 38 years as a missionary in Northeast China and his pivotal influence on Korean Christianity, in conjunction with two local Korean congregations – Ross Chapel and Edinburgh Korean Church – and the Chinese Evangelical Church which worships at Mayfield Salisbury.”

Dr Forsyth said he believed that Ross’s work "speaks powerfully" to the church in Scotland now, as it faces change. "Ross's approach to mission was not only that scripture should be in a language that local people could understand, but also that it was the local people who should spread Christian faith and lead churches, not the missionaries." Today, the Church of Scotland has a partnership with both The Presbyterian Church of Korea and The Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea.