The United Free Church of Scotland has announced the Moderator Designate of its 2007 General Assembly as Rev David Cartledge B.A., who was minister of Milngavie United Free Church for 21 years.

Rev Cartledge retired to Hilton, Ross-shire, where he is currently serving as the Interim-Moderator of Balintore UF Church. The United Free Church General Assembly will meet in Edinburgh from 7 to 9 June.

Born in Yorkshire he became a Christian during the 1955 Billy Graham Crusade relayed to Bradford from Kelvin Hall, Glasgow. He studied at Methodism's Cliff College, Derbyshire, prior to serving as a youth worker for seven years in the Wesleyan Reform Union of Churches with its headquarters in Sheffield. During his time in youth work he travelled the length and breadth of England and included visits to the only Wesleyan Reform Church in Scotland, Clydebank Central Church, where he met Alice McAusland, later to become his wife.

From 1969 to 1973 he served as minister of a circuit of six rural churches centred on Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, five of the churches being in mining communities. Feeling the need for further study he became a student at the London Bible College, now the London School of Theology, where he gained a London University Diploma in Theology, finally graduating with a BA in Theology (Hons). He married in 1978 and returned to Sheffield to be minister of Sharrow Vale Wesleyan Reform Church.

Four years later he transferred to the United Free Church of Scotland, a move which marked the beginning of his longest ministry, serving the congregation in Milngavie and the community of Milngavie. Mr Cartledge has especially happy memories of united church activities in Milngavie, of friends and colleagues he worked with from other churches, and of school chaplaincies. His enthusiasm for chess enabled him to establish a lunch time chess club at Craigdhu Primary School with its members taking part in a yearly UK Chess Tournament.

He has served as Convener of two General Assembly Committees, the Ministry Committee and the Panel of Doctrine. His wife Alice taught in Braidfield School, Clydebank, in schools near Sheffield, and was Principal teacher of RE in Bearsden Academy until her retirement. Son Iain has this year graduated from Hallam University, Sheffield, with a BSc (Hons).