Mission Partners
The Church of Scotland recruits Mission Partners in response to requests that we receive from our partner churches around the world.
These requests are often for highly skilled and experienced people such as ministers, lecturers, doctors and teachers who meet the needs of a specific project that the partner church is involved with.
Our mission partners are the church's overseas personnel. They work in various roles with our partner churches and institutions in Malawi, Zambia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Israel/Palestine and Pakistan.
If you would like to learn more about the recruitment process for Mission Partners, and to find out where there are vacancies abroad, please visit our Working Overseas page.
Current Partners
Israel and Palestine: Muriel Pearson
Following a career in teaching, Muriel began training for ministry in 2000 and took up the post of parish minister in Cranhill, a Priority Area in the east end of Glasgow, in 2004. There, she worked closely with community organisations and helped develop Cranhill Development Trust. Muriel currently serves on the board of Place For Hope and has trained as a counsellor, an NVC (non-violent communication) practitioner and Capacitar facilitator.
She was appointed to the post of Associate Minister in St Andrew’s Jerusalem and Tiberias in September 2021 and is now in her second year in Tiberias. As well as connecting with local partners and introducing them to visiting pilgrims from Scotland, Muriel is enjoying chaplaincy at the Scots Hotel and Tabeetha School, and regularly blogs at https://murielpearson.com . Her two ‘projects’ are to develop a Galilee Garden as a place for reflection in the grounds of St Andrew’s Tiberias and to update the Museum/Visitors’ Centre which tells the story of the Christian presence here since 1888.
She sees her role as about listening and storytelling and working with people of peace across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories
Updates
Israel and Palestine: Stewart Gillan
Stewart’s first ministry was in South Africa, where he served as parish Minster in Alexandra township and as a researcher with the Commission of the Restitution of Land Rights. He completed his PhD at New College, Edinburgh, where he did field work with communities that had been forcibly removed from ancestral land under apartheid.
Upon his return to Toronto, he became the Executive Director of the Churches’ Council on Theological Education in Canada. It was in Toronto that he met Sarah Ormerod, a soprano and music teacher. They married in 2004, relocating to Scotland and taking up residence in Linlithgow, where Stewart served as minister of St Michael’s Parish Church for the next fourteen years. During this time they started their family, with Imogen making her appearance 15 years ago and Alex 13. They moved to Glasgow in 2018 when Stewart took up a call as minister of St John’s Renfield, Kelvindale. For Sarah, Kelvinside Academy, where she was Head of Music, was just around the corner.
Of his call to become a Mission Partner in Jerusalem, Stewart writes: "I have felt called to the ministry of the Church in Israel and Palestine since my first visit in October 2007 with the Middle East Committee of the then World Mission Council. Our visits over the next four years gave me an introduction to the life and work of our churches in Jerusalem and Tiberias, our three institutions (Tabeetha School, Scots Hotel and St Andrew’s Guesthouse), and some of our Church and Human Rights partners in the land of the Holy One.
"Already the learning curve has been a steep one, with a long way to go. I look forward to sharing in ministry with the Rev Muriel Pearson. Together, we ask for your support in prayer and partnership in this deeply spiritual and strategic ministry with people who have been working for peace and justice in God’s name all of their lives. God being our helper."
Updates
Italy: Fiona Kendall
Fiona works in Rome with Mediterranean Hope, a refugee project created by the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI). Her background in European law and voluntary work with asylum seekers has helped to equip for her role as MH’s European & Legal Affairs Advisor.
Fiona has strong links with the Church of Scotland where she grew up, and the Methodist Church, where she played an active part during a decade spent in Yorkshire. Hers is an ecumenical appointment with the Methodist Church.
Toast and Marmalade Sunday
This simple resource for Fairtrade Fortnight or beyond is to support Fiona Kendall and her work with Mediterranean Hope’s Migrant Programme in Calabria. It offers material for a Sunday service, discussion groups and after church refreshments based on why we should support the purchase of Fairtrade oranges.
Updates
Malawi: Gary Brough
Gary Brough joined Church of Scotland as a Mission Partner in 2018 and he and his family moved to Mzuzu, northern Malawi. In 2022 he took up a new role as Capacity Development Facilitator at the CCAP General Assembly.
He works with the General Assembly and its five Synods in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe to help build the strength and sustainability of their institutions and development projects.
Gary is joined by his wife Jacqueline and three daughters Eilidh, Morven and Caitlin.
Updates
Malawi: Kenneth Ross
Kenneth Ross works with all 3 theological institutes run by the 3 CCAP Synods.
He also contributes to other theological institutions run by our partners in Africa.
Specifically, he supports the Nile Theological College in South Sudan; the Giffen Institute of Theology in Kanyama refugee camp, Kenya; and the beginnings of a theological department in the Igreja Evangelica de Cristo em Mocambique (IECM).
Updates
Zambia: Keith and Ida Waddell
Keith and Ida Waddell are Mission Partners with the United Church of Zambia (UCZ). They have been in Zambia since 1994 and served as Education and Health Secretaries at Synod Headquarters in Lusaka since 2015. They have now returned to Mwandi Mission in Western Province, where Keith is Mission Partner (Special Needs) and Ida, Mission Partner (Health). Keith is focusing on the establishment of a sheltered workshop for young people and Ida, on moving the Mission Hospital to a specialist facility. This is an ecumenical appointment with the Methodist Church.