The Scottish Missionary Association began in 1963 by Elders Ralph Hardy and Stephen Evans.

The main function of the association was to plan reunions to enable the returned Scottish Missionaries keep together. The 1st reunions were heldin the East Millcreek Stake Center twice a year at conference times. A few years later the responsibility was turned over to James H. Pingree who had married Janice Barben, she also being a returned missionary from Scotland. The mission presidents all have desired to continue to keep the missionaries meeting together. Therefore the number of people coming to the reunion began to enlarge and it was then moved to the Olympus Stake Center to accomodate them all. It has remained at this location now for over thirty years. It was also decided that the all-mission reunion would be held every April with October reunions being held with individual Mission Presidents if they do decided.

Jim and Janice Pingree have seen to it that every year a mailing is sent out to all of the returned missionaries notifying them of the impending reunion and of any other news worthy information. When Sister Janice Pingree passed away in 1992 her sister Bonnie Richards accepted the task of keeping the addresses of the missionaries up-to-date. Since that time they have now been computerized.

The association has also called a Vice President representing each of the former Mission Presidents. They function in helping plan the missionary reunion every April. These individuals have been very faithful in their help to keep the missionaries of Scotland together. Some of them have been serving for over 30 years in this assignment.

Since the mission was organized in 1961 under the direction of President Bernard P. Brockbank there have now been 19 other Mission Presidents that have served in Scotland. Currently President Randy Wilkinson is the 20th mission president to preside over that great land. It is hopeful that the Scottish Missionary Association will continue to act as the glue holding the missionaires of Scotland together.

James H.Pingree 2001
president@scottishmissionary.org

After I served my mission in 1996, the Internet caught my eye and I started to experiment with HTML. We used a free service by GEOCITIES for well over 3 years, then jumped over to FREESERVERS for 2 years. Back then our site didn't have any searching abilities and you couldn't register. You basically sent me an email (by filling out a form) and I manually added you. It was in the year 1999 that I started to develop internet applications and began to re-work our site to give visitors the most from their visits.

In 2000 James Pingree suggested we join forces and offered to help host our new site. Since that time my goal and dream of keeping returned Scottish missionaries in touch has become a reality. It fills my heart with joy to receive emails from fellow returned missionaries telling me how great it was to contact old friends.

One day I'm sure you'll receive the 'Scottish Missionary Association Newsletter' by email rather than snail mail. I think we're close to that goal. We have about 40% of returned Alumni registed on this site. Not everyone keeps their profile / email address upto date, so we still opt for the snail mail delivery at the present time. We may get some addresses wrong, but if you're reading this then you already know where to go to find out the latest information.

So by registering you're also helping us keep costs down. This website costs just under $85 USD per year for the hosting provider and domain name. Of course my time is and always has been (and always will be) free.

This site is a love of my life, (even though the past 3 years have lead me away from maintaining an active site). I'm sorry for my lack of webmaster'ness. I hope to make this site dynamic enough so it's users can keep it upto date, rather than relying on me all the time. I'm almost there, thanks for your patience.

Ian S. McMurray 2007
webmaster@scottishmissionary.org