James Harkness (born 20 October 1935) is a Church of Scotland minister.
Biography
Harkness was born in Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway on 20 October 1935 and educated at the University of Edinburgh.
He was ordained on 21 June 1961, and became Assistant Minister at North Morningside in Edinburgh. He joined the Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) in 1961 and served four years with the King's Own Scottish Borderers and four years with the Queen’s Own Highlanders. He was in Singapore between 1969 and 1970 and then Deputy Warden of the RAChD Centre until 1974. He was then Senior Chaplain in Northern Ireland (1974–75) and then the 4th Division (1975–78). He was Assistant Chaplain General in Scotland (1980–81), Senior Chaplain to the 1st British Corps (1981–82) and to the BAOR (1982–84). In 1985 he became Deputy Chaplain General to the British Armed Forces after which he was Chaplain General from 1987 to 1995 - the first non Anglican appointment. He retired from ministry in 1995.
He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1995 to 1996 when he became Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland - a post he held for a decade. An Honorary Chaplain to the Queen in Scotland, he has been Dean to the Venerable Order of St John since 2005. He was appointed Officer to the Venerable Order of St John in December 1988 and Knight of the Venerable Order of St John in January 2012.
Upon the death of James Simpson in May 2024, Harkness became the oldest surviving former Moderator of the General Assembly, as well as the earliest in post, with John Cairns being the only other Moderator to serve before 2000 who was still living.