New Ordained Local Minister to split time between continents

A Bermudian has been newly ordained to provide spiritual leadership to churches across continents - whilst bringing training between denominations closer along the way.

Rev Cindy Campbell, 63, who will minister to both Christ Church, Warwick, in Bermuda, and St Andrews Church in Newcastle, said the ministerial training team had been flexible and creative as there was only one Church of Scotland congregation in Bermuda.

"I ended up working with Anglican ministers because that's the primary church in Bermuda," she said.

Mrs Campbell, who is married with two children and one grandchild, completed the training whilst also working a 70-hour-a-week job in mergers and acquisitions for an insurance company.

Not being able to make the time requirements laid out, Mrs Campbell said she had found 'so much support' from the Church in accommodating her situation.

Mrs Campbell first entertained ministry after being asked by Rev Barry Dunsmore whilst attending the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

"It's been a journey. When I first started, I didn't go for OLM (Ordained Local Minister) because I didn't think I could meet the requirements as they were set out. But I found the training team was really flexible," she said.

"The Church is looking for new ministers. Sometimes we just need to talk to people and say, 'have you considered this?'"

"When you read the training guidelines, they sound very strict and precise. But what I've found is that people are more interested in accomplishing what the guidelines are trying to accomplish, rather than strictly the mechanics laid out in the guidelines."

Mrs Campbell, whose father was in the Air Search and Rescue for the US Coast Guard and great-grandfather was from Invergordon, was ordained at a service at the Scots International Church Rotterdam on Sunday 8th October.

"It's gone full circle, several generations later!" she said.

Mrs Campbell hopes her corporate background will help her in her new role.

"The Church is now looking at how to become a Church for the 21st century. The 1950s model of Church doesn't work anymore," she said.

"And so, we're going through a lot of mergers and acquisitions. Presbyteries are combining. That's something I did all the time.

"How do you get groups of people who didn't use to work together to work together? We're doing it in the International Presbytery as well, because we're merging how people work across different countries."