Jack Glass

John Thomas Atkinson Glass, often known as Pastor Jack Glass or simply as Jack Glass (1936 - 24 February2004), was a Scottish protestant preacher, evangelicalist and political activist. Pastor Glass is most readily associated with his strong views on unionism in Northern Ireland, his anti-Catholic speeches and his association with his friend and colleague Rev. Ian Paisley. According to his obituary in the Times, Glass was seen as Scotland's answer to Ian Paisley [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1037583.ece Jack Glass | Times Online Obituary ] ] . Pastor Glass died of lung cancer in 2004.

Early life

Pastor Jack Glass was born in Dalmarnock, Glasgow 1936. His father, Samuel, was a brushmaker and Church of Scotland elder while his mother, Isabella, was a housewife. He was the of his local Springfield school, which gave him an automatic scholarship to the fee-paying Allan Glen's School in Glasgow. He turned the scholarship down down because he did not want to be separated from his working-class friends. He attended Riverside Senior Secondary instead.

Pastor Jack Glass was "born again" at the age of 11 in a Salvation Army Sunday School, dedicating himself wholly to his Lord at the age of 16. These events shaped the rest of his life.

He married Margaret (Peggy) in 1958 at the age of 21; the couple had three children.

Religion

In his early twenties he collapsed in Jamaica Street, Glasgow, due to the erosion of a blood vessel. While lying in hospital recovering he felt a call to the ministry. He was ordained to the ministry in 1968 after studying Moral Philosophy and English at the University of Glasgow, plus a three-year theological course in the Free Church College in Edinburgh. There, he obtained a college diploma for his "proficiency in the subjects required". During his studies he was awarded with a distinction in homiletics and firsts in the subjects of Greek and Hebrew. Previous to this, Glass had left the Baptist Union College due to what he felt were its non-scriptural ecumenical involvement.

Zion Baptist Church

Glass went on to minister at Zion Baptist Church, the church he had founded in 1965. The church is Calvinistic, Baptist and Separatist. The church met first at Edrom St. in Shettleston, followed by a spell at the Woodside Halls and then onto the current premises in Polmadie, Glasgow.

He was the editor of the magazine, the "Scottish Protestant View"; an evangelical Protestant newspaper started by him in 1969. He was also Chairman of the Twentieth Century Reformation Movement which was reported as being considered by him to be the 'political arm' of his church. [The Times, 20 March 1972] .

Anti-Catholicism, Unionism, Ian Paisley and politics

In following years he was to become well-known for his protests against ecumenism and Roman Catholicism. These protests took him all over the world, including Rome, Sweden, Switzerland, Kenya, Vancouver and also at a local level throughout the UK.

This culminated in a series of protests against the Papal visit to Britain in 1982, the first time a reigning Pope had set foot on the largely Protestant island. For added publicity, Glass had put himself up as a candidate in the Glasgow Hillhead by-election on 25 March 1982. Under the description 'Protestant Crusade against the Papal Visit' he got 388 votes. Glass had stood for Parliament before; having been a candidate in the Bridgeton parliamentary constituency (Glasgow)of Glasgow, a safe Labour seat, in the 1970 general election. Standing as an Independent Protestant, he received 1,180 votes (6.7% of the poll) [ [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge70/i09.htm Not updated: UK General Election results 1970 ] ] .

On 1 June 1982, Glass and Paisley jointly led a protest march through Glasgow which culminated in a demonstration near the landing site of the Papal helicopter in Bellahouston Park. Glass and Paisley are said to have led the crowd in shouts of "The Beast is Coming", "No Surrender" and "Down with the Pope of Rome" [The Times, 2 June 1982] . Alongside this, Glass had debated at many Scottish and English universities, including Durham and Cambridge. He was recognized as a biblical literalist.

Pastor Glass protested against ecumenism and, as he perceived it, the sins of an increasingly ungodly generation. He regularly preached four sermons a week.

He campaigned against perceived blasphemy on many occasions. He protested against films (The Last Temptation of Christ), plays (Corpus Christi), and comedians (notably Billy Connolly’s crucifixion skit). When protests by Pastor Glass led to an increase in ticket sales for the Glasgow performance of the comic stage version of The Bible by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, the company announced they would like to offer Pastor Glass a free ticket as thanks.

Glass often joined Ian Paisley in his protests against Irish Republicanism and against the Irish Republican Army and papal authority in Northern Ireland. Paisley however once noted that Jack Glass was "a bit of an extremist".

Death

In January 2003, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Throughout his intense treatment of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, he continued to preach twice weekly, protesting and taking part in hours of filming with the BBC (they had requested to document his life). The documentary "The Devil and Jack Glass" was screened in January 2004. He died on the 24th of February that year.

In Popular Culture

*Pastor Jack Glass was portrayed by Scottish folk artist Dick Gaughan on the 2006 album Lucky For Some in the song "The Devil And Pastor Jack" [http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/songs/texts/pastorjack.html] .

References

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3522753.stm BBC on Glass]
* [http://www.zionbaptists.org.uk/pastorjackglass.aspx Zion Baptism]
* [http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=224442004 Jack Glass Cancer]
* [http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries.cfm?id=225132004 Jack Glass Dies]
* [http://www.cpa.org.au/garchve06/1273review.html Dick Gaughan's Song]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1037583.ece Obituary, the Times, 5 March 2004]