100 years on, we celebrate Eric Liddell—the missionary who flew as he ran

by Cheon Young Cheol

Nicknamed “The Flying Scotsman,” Eric Liddell’s achievements in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris—one of which was his famous gold medal finish in the 400m race—have been immortalised in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.

What made the win remarkable was that Liddell never intended to run in that race but decided to take part in it after discovering that the heats for the 100m race (his favoured event) were scheduled on a Sunday.

A devout Christian, Liddell declined to run on the Lord’s Day and instead trained fervently for the 200m and 400m races—clinching bronze in the former and his legendary gold win in the latter.

One hundred years since his win on the track, Liddell, an accomplished athlete and missionary, was lauded during a service at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland on 22 June.

The sermon at the service was delivered by Rev. Lindsey Sanderson, Moderator of the United Reformed Church National Synod of Scotland.

In an engaging sermon, she celebrated Liddell’s roots as a Scottish Congregationalist.

Sanderson preached from Micah 6:6-8 and Matthew 5:1-12, weaving together God’s call to service with Liddell’s own sense of calling.

She also shared stories of how the teenagers at Morningside Congregational Church—where Liddell led Bible study sessions—formed a fan club, and how she had related to Liddell’s dedication to his faith after watching Chariots of Fire as a child.

Born in North China in 1902, Liddell retained strong family links to Edinburgh, and spent time with his family at Morningside whenever they visited the UK.

Following his Olympic triumph, Liddell trained at the Scottish Congregational College during 1924 and 1925 before returning to China as a missionary serving with the London Missionary Society, predecessor to the Council for World Mission.

Seven years later, Liddell was ordained by the Congregational Union of Scotland in 1932 and he continued his missionary work in China until where he was imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp in 1943 during WWII.

Liddell, unfortunately, passed in 1945, just five months before the camp was liberated.

Today, the Morningside United Church is still heavily involved in supporting The Eric Liddell Community as part of the congregation’s ministry on “Holy Corner” in Edinburgh.

A series of events and activities were also planned for the Liddell centenary celebrations from July through August including stage plays, a BBC radio broadcast, and the opening of Eric Liddell Peace Garden which will be located behind the Morningside United Church’s building.

This story has been abridged and reproduced from https://urc.org.uk/eric-liddell-olympic-gold-centenary-celebrated-at-st-giles-cathedral/. For more information about this summer’s Eric Liddell events, visit www.morningsideunitedchurch.org or www.ericliddell.org.

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