John Glass


1695 - 1773

Sect leader. Born in Auchtermuchty (Fife), the son of a church minister, Glass was educated at Kinclaven, Perth and at the University of St. Andrews. He served as minister at Tealing (Angus) from 1719, where he proved to be a popular preacher. However, Glass grew to deprecate organised religion and preached simple faith. In 1728, he founded the Glassites which admitted members following a Holy Kiss and took an absolutely literal interpretation of the scriptures. Glassite meetings initially took place outdoors and the church became known as the Kail Kirk because of the cabbage soup, often served at the close of a service. His son-in-law Robert Sandeman (1718-71) developed the sect into the Sandemanians in England and America. Both sects indulged in weekly love-feasts, abstained from eating blood or strangled creatures and prohibited games of chance and college education.

Glass died in Dundee.


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