New Stirling minister celebrates her journey to ordination

An ordination service is one of the most important events in the life of any new minister of the Church of Scotland, marking the next stage in their spiritual journey as they complete the qualification process.

However, ordinations do have a lighter side with Rev Trish Archibald describing her own ordination at Stirling North Parish Church as "like the best party ever!"

One of the reasons why her ordination at Stirling North was so special was that it brought together people who have been with her through every stage as a Christian, from her first commitment to her new role in ministry.

"One of the nicest surprises was that my minister when I was a teenager in Kinross, Rev Leslie Barr, for whom travel is difficult as he uses a wheelchair, was determined to come. That was just the loveliest thing," she said.

"He came and he sat right next to me."

Others joining her for the ordination included friends from her current home town of Callander, peers from her training cohort, members of the congregations of St Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow, where she worked as part of the ministry team, St Serf's Church in Tullibody and Cambusbarron Church in Stirling where she completed her placements, and a busload of visitors from Baljaffray Church, the vacant charge where she spent her 15-month probation.

"I was totally overwhelmed," she said.

"Ordination is not just about the person getting ordained. It is about all the people – your parents, your spouse, your children and all the others – who have supported you."

Chief among these are husband Gareth and children Rachael, Naomi and Sophia.

Mrs Archibald said: "Deep down, for a long time, I knew I was supposed to go into ministry, but I have worked in churches and I know that ministry comes with a cost. It comes with a cost to your family, and it is something I thought about and prayed about for a long time.

"Now I have reached this point, I am so glad I have done it. Ministry is a huge privilege and every single door has opened for me."

Mrs Archibald's path to ministry was slightly different to some of her fellow trainees, having already graduated with a degree in Divinity with Religious Studies from the University of Glasgow.

This was followed by a post-graduate qualification in community work which led to a career in youth ministry, in congregations and with Scripture Union Scotland. She also worked for the charity Prospects Across Scotland, helping churches provide a welcoming environment for people with learning difficulties.

This meant that when she did apply for ministry, she was already well on the way to having the qualifications required and even though she was asked go to complete a Master's in Theology, it meant the process was quicker than for some of her contemporaries.

In addition to her church placements, Mrs Archibald also had a chance to experience hospital chaplaincy with NHS Lothian with a placement at St John's Hospital in Livingston.

Bringing the Bible to life

During her training, she also had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land twice, first with fellow students from The University of Glasgow and New College in Edinburgh, then later thanks to a scholarship from the Friends of St Andrew's Jerusalem.

This allowed her to spend a week with Sindyanna of Galilee, a fair-trade olive oil producer led by women from both the Arab and Jewish communities, and another week working with reconciliation charity Wi'am in the West Bank.

"That was something I will remember for the rest of my life," she said.

"Wi'am is Arabic for unconditional love and the idea is that they work with Palestinians to bring about reconciliation.

"Life in the West Bank is extremely hard for families. Due to the many complex problems people suffer, men often get frustrated and can take that out on their wives. The wives take it out on their children so there is this cycle of violence. Wi'am works to bring about peace within families and within the Palestinian community. In Scotland, people have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but somewhere like Palestine, it's not PTSD because it is never ‘post'. It is constant trauma after trauma. It's a hard place and it's hard not to be deeply moved by the courage and struggles there."

Visiting the Holy Land also allowed Mrs Archibald to see places she had read about in the Bible.

"It brought to life things like when Jesus goes into the desert and gets tempted by the Devil," she said.

"In my mind, Jesus had to walk for days to get to the wilderness, but it is right there, next to the River Jordan. It's also the culture and the people. There are a lot of people in Bethlehem who say they are descendants of Jesus' family and you look at them you realise they might be right."

All these experiences, in Scotland and Palestine, will help her in her new role as assistant minister at Stirling North until she is able to secure a charge of her own.

Having effectively been sole minister at Baljaffray, she is enjoying being part of a ministry team.

"It's a wonderful church and I'm very grateful to be here," she said.

"There's a lot going on, such as Toasty Tuesdays, where in four weeks we made over 1,000 toasties for local people.

"It all happened really fast. I didn't know where I was going to be an assistant minister. I got the contract about three days before I started, but I know this is the right place to be."