February 2024: Stuart Finlayson
The Church of Scotland's Talking Ministry series shares personal stories from those serving in Christian ministry, along with resources filled with questions, prayers and reflections to help encourage reflection on how God might be calling you at this time.
For February, Rev Stuart Finlayson speaks about his role as community pioneer minister for Forres and West Moray.
My Ministry: Rev Stuart Finlayson
A pioneer minister, building new connections in his home community of Forres and Moray, specifically with an aim of reaching out to those without an active church connection.
Married to Siân and father to daughter Lowri (9) and son Gethin (5), Mr Finlayson lives in Forres where he is also trustee of a new local charity that provides a social space for young people age 11-16 at the weekend as well as chaplain to his home town football club, Forres Mechanics.
What led you to consider ministry?
In 2015 I was working for a local removal company and I was sent to Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire to help move someone to Inverness. The only thing we knew about him was his name, but we worked out he was a chaplain because he had a study full of books.
I asked why he chose chaplaincy, and he told me that he had joined the army as a young man, but it didn't work out due to his behaviour and he left soon after. After he left, a friend invited him to church. That led to his becoming a Christian and training as a minister. He rejoined the army as a chaplain and now he was a captain.
To hear how he had changed because God was calling him to himself was really inspiring for me.
I had been married for three years by that point, but I was still searching for something.
We'd already been going back to church, initially because we wanted to get married, but my wife, Siân, has always had a strong faith. I was brought up in the church, but this was a nominal thing really. Our minister, Rev Penelope Smirthwaite, recognised my faith was slowly growing and asked me to do more things in the church. Then the session clerk asked if I'd thought about the ministry and my response was: No way! I am not a minister.
At the time I thought that to be a minister you had to be squeaky clean and have everything worked out and that certainly wasn't me.
Then I met the chaplain and was really inspired by what he had to say.
I went for a walk with Penelope around Brodie Castle to help me work out what I should do, because I had the feeling that God was calling me to something, but I didn't know what. After talking things over with Penelope, I went home and told Siân that I was thinking of applying for ministry.
I remember sitting on the stair in our house and praying: ‘Lord, if you want me to apply, I will, and if I stop along the way, I'll be fine with that because I've tried to listen to you.'
So, I made the application and all the anxiety I had been feeling disappeared.
To hear how he had changed because God was calling him to himself was really inspiring for me"
What were the high points of your training?
I spent my discernment with Rev Bob Anderson at Rothes and Knockando. That was a brilliant time because Bob allowed me to develop my prayers as well as preach and I got a lot out of that.
My first placement was at Buckie North Church linked with Rathven with Rev Isabel Buchan, which was a traditional parish ministry. I felt it was what I needed as I had to learn the basics of parish ministry because I was never an elder.
I started attending Highland Theological College (HTC), then I heard about someone developing a new charge in Inverness.
I had already been to a conference where I heard about pioneering ministry and the Forge Scotland church planting course. That had been a definite shift for me and made me realise that maybe God wasn't calling me into traditional parish ministry.
So, when I heard about Rev Scott McRoberts trying to replant St Columba's, a church that had been dissolved in Inverness, I joined him at Drummond School, which is where they met.
I was blown away because I didn't know you could have church in a school, but also it was full of young families. I was just struck by the newness and the excitement with lots of people who were ready to stand up and support the minister and share the load.
I was supposed to be there for 26 weeks, but it was cut slightly short because the pandemic started. Then summer came around and I had to do a full-time placement. I had exhausted all the potential locally, but still couldn't travel, so I asked online if anyone had any ideas.
My friend, Rev Alastair Duncan invited me to join him at St George's Tron, so I spent six weeks on a virtual placement. All the services and midweek groups went online and I would prepare the service and preach on Zoom. I did manage to get down a couple of times in between lockdowns, but the biggest lesson for me was that church did not necessarily have to look like "church". St George's Tron was open between lockdowns, and, as a social enterprise, it was continuously serving its community.
When that placement ended, Alastair said I could stay on unofficially, so I did and led some things online. That included working with young people of university age. That showed me that there are young people out there who have faith and want to be involved.
For my probation placement, I went to Elgin St Giles and St Columba South with Rev Sonia Palmer. She was also interim moderator at St Laurence Church in Forres, and that enabled me to try lots of things that I had been thinking about as I was going through my training.
I had enrolled onto the Forge pioneering and church planting course, so I was given freedom to explore all these things I was learning at the same time I was taking part in more traditional ministry.
What is your current role?
I was ordained at St Laurence Church in October 2022 and I have been working as a community pioneer minister ever since.
Last June, we were permitted by Inverness Presbytery to plant a new worshipping community: Forres Community Church (FCC).
FCC is a disciple making network and new worshipping community. That means that our focus is on making disciples and forming a discipleship network who then go on to become disciple makers in turn. We are serious about Jesus' command in Matthew 28.
By forming small house groups, or discovery groups, we can invite people who have been asking themselves the big questions to gather round the Bible and help them discover for themselves what the Bible is saying. Through that, we know that lives can be changed, and therefore, the community can be changed as well.
The wonderful thing about our discovery groups is that no-one person is teaching or telling you what the Bible is saying. The group leader follows as process and is always asking questions and trying to guide those in the group to discover the truth for themselves.
The hope is that you can experience the truth of the Bible profoundly and choose to be obedient to what is being said. Each week we all make "I Will" statements based on what we've discovered from the passage, and we encourage each other to say who we are going to share that truth with. Being kept accountable to the group is important because we want to see growth in each other through support and encouragement.
And you don't have to come as a fully formed Christian. A disciple is a learner. There is a view that disciples are people who have been in the church for a long time. That can be true, but disciples can also be a rag-tag group of people who know nothing about Jesus and just want to know more.
We also organise what we call "Kingdom Breakthrough Events". These are community outreach events that invite the wider community to come and be blessed by the church. We have done things like summer spiritual fayres where we have offered ministry of healing, reconciliation, and prophecy; we have hosted a Mother's Day gathering called "Hope Sunday" aimed at blessing the mums in the town; and of course, there is our Kingdom Christmas Celebrations when we've had Santa grottos in local community centres, a sleigh that takes Santa around the town meeting kids and giving small gifts, finished off with a carol service. Our breakthrough events are always done with other Christians who come to help us do the work. We've been so blessed to have support from Cairn Movement, Forge, Iris Ministries, Refuel, the Filling Station, and loads of other folks from all over Scotland.
Locally, we are becoming a place for unchurched people who are sensing that God is reaching out to them. Those who want to learn more and work on that curiosity. There's not a month goes by without us getting a message from people saying they want to come. Not all have yet, but we are seeing success and people committing to Jesus.
FCC is going to the first Scottish Church Planters conference in April because lots of people ask us questions and want to draw on our experience. We're not experts in this by any means, but we're happy to share our belief that the first thing we have to do as Christian disciples is listen to what God says.
What lessons do you think your experience in Forres might have for the wider Church?
Lesson one is learning to trust again. Trust that God has everything under control. There is nothing happening now that is a surprise to Him. We all have gifts and skill sets which He has given us, and He put us into this age for a reason.
Secondly, I believe there is a breaking through of the ministry of the Holy Spirit unlike we have experienced in this country for a long time. Many young people say they are "spiritual but not religious". They are asking questions and seeking answers.
We can help them with that because we provide a safe place to ask these questions. People can be reluctant to go into a church because they think it is for fully formed Christians. We offer them a way to come in and be assured that they don't need to have all the answers.
Why do you feel pioneering ministry is such a good fit for you?
I think that my entire life, God has been funnelling me towards this point.
As someone who believes in God given potential in the fivefold ministry we read about in Ephesians 4 – apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd and teacher – I see my primary gift as apostolic, followed by teacher.
I'm not saying I'm an apostle in any way, but I have a knack of being able to bring people and resources together from further afield and seeing the bigger picture.
I'm a church planter who is also a Church of Scotland minister, so teaching and preaching is also part of who I am, but that is not the area I am focussing on just now.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Of all the things that motivate me, the first is obvious: Jesus is my saviour and Lord and He has called me to this particular purpose, and even if I can't do it right, I am going to try and be faithful to what He has called me to do.
Then secondly, I am very motivated by helping people, the Church and the wider community see that the Church is not the building they are in. Buildings can be hugely important to people and I recognise that, but if we can help people where they are, and minister in ways that really show the love of Christ, I'm sure we will see more of them saved.
And that is going to require doing things differently from the way we have been doing things over the last 60 or 70 years.
February Discernment Resources
Why am I here?
At different times in our life we will experience significant change. Change can be planned or unplanned, and sometimes we have little control over the circumstances that might arise. Sometimes it can lead us to ask questions about what God might have planned for our lives? As God's people we trust and believe we are in God's care, no matter the twists of the journey, but it doesn't mean we can't ask searching questions!
Keeping trusting that God is still active in the world, trusting that God still cares, even if we have a healthy dose of doubt in the midst, can show an active and questioning faith which is consistent with so many individual stories in the Bible.
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Despite our belief that ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.' Hebrews 13:8, faith invites our questions.
Just as we can ask questions of God, so too we ask questions of ourselves to gain a better understanding of who we are, as unique individuals, and part of God's creation. There's always so much to learn about ourselves and our faith, and the world around us, that learning should never stop.
If we understand that God's presence is with us, then in our questions might we also be ready for God's invitation to a new direction and opportunity to walk a different path? It is possible, that God would speak to us about a new shape our lives will take in the days ahead. Are we listening?
We have been made for more than the everyday grind. We have something to offer to the story which is still to be written for our communities, towns and cities. God has a plan for how he will use our lives for his glory.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"Isaiah 6:8
It might be easy to be overwhelmed by possibility or discouraged by our own limitations. That's why we take time to reflect on the lessons learned by us and the things quietly spoken by God. He doesn't look to us for our great ability. God looks for our availability. Will we say ‘Yes'?
To contemplate/discuss
What have I learned about myself throughout this last year?
What have I learned about my faith in this last year?
What has God been showing me and saying to me about his work in the world and my part in it?
Am I ready to explore fresh opportunities? What could they be? What might my next step be?
How does this make me feel?
What might stop me?
Prayer – John Wesley's Covenant Prayer
There are two great days in a person's life – the day we are born and the day we discover why.
William Barclay
"I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen."
More information
If you would like to consider how God might be calling you to serve at this time, you may want to discuss further with your minister or be in touch with your Presbytery to explore local opportunities.
If you are interested in exploring a call to the recognised ministries of the Church, you can find more information on our vocations page and can contact ministry@churchofscotland.org.uk for a Discernment Conversation with one of the Recruitment Team.
More information
If you would like to consider how God might be calling you to serve at this time, you may want to discuss further with your minister or be in touch with your Presbytery to explore local opportunities.
If you are interested in exploring a call to the recognised ministries of the Church, you can find more information on our vocations page and can contact ministry@churchofscotland.org.uk for a Discernment Conversation with one of the Recruitment Team.