Friday May 15 2020
It will be a very different ceremony to install the Moderator-Designate of the Church of Scotland in 2020.
But the Rev Dr Martin Fair, minister at Arbroath: St Andrew’s, whilst naturally disappointed, is philosophical about the cancellation of the centrepiece of the central Church’s year.
“Since 1689, look at what the world has been through and there has always been a General Assembly and here we are now with the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic and there is no General Assembly. That is a measure of how serious this is.
“You have got to acknowledge that people are dying out there and the world, economically, is dealing with intense pressure and the NHS is going to be stretched to the limit. Whether the General Assembly takes place is a small matter really compared to all of that.”
As a result of the pandemic, Martin’s first few months will not be the typical time of a newly installed Moderator, but will be spent back in his parish in Arbroath, rather than in the Moderator’s residence in Edinburgh. In the wake of the shutdown and faced with an empty diary until the crisis subsides, he has returned to Angus and made the return journey by rail, in keeping with a pledge during his year in office to use public transport wherever possible.
The inconvenience of this pledge will be multiplied by an accident in 2017 which left him with limited movement in his left arm.
“It was a huge life lesson for me suffering this accident. Before that happened I would have considered myself to be self sufficient. I did not need anyone’s help. To go from that to needing help washing, eating and everything you can imagine by way of daily functioning was a life lesson.
“I wish it had not happened, but good has come out of a bad thing. It has taught me a whole lot. It gives one a new perspective in life. It helps me to better understand those who have to live with that all their days.
“Although it is problematic, there are so many people with much harder situations.”
Martin was one of two sons born into a churchgoing family in Thornliebank on the south side of Glasgow. His wife, Elaine, was born in the same month and the couple lived in the same street and grew up together at Thornliebank Primary School and Woodfarm Secondary School, church and university, before marrying in 1987.
Martin credits his local church with sowing the seeds of faith that ultimately led to his call to parish ministry.
“What was significant was a new minister, the Rev Ian Purves came when we were aged about 12 or 13, and created a youth group. There were about a dozen to 15 of us in that group at the beginning and many more who were involved along the way. Fourteen of us still meet up and of that group four became ordained ministers of the Church of Scotland and there were at least five marriages. (Two of the group, the Rev Catherine Beattie minister at Giffnock South and the Rev Gregor McIntyre, minister at Clydebank: Faifley will serve as his moderatorial chaplains).”
The Youth Fellowship took a couple of services with the congregation each year.
“I got asked to preach when I was about 17. I think it went reasonably well. The minister said: ‘you need to definitely think about having ministry in your life’.”
I was set to do a politics degree at Strathclyde University. I was not really thinking about a career in the Church, but it was Glasgow in the mid-1980s and it was recessionary times. I was going to be a social worker or completely unrealistically I thought I was going to be the head of housing at the then Glasgow District Council, or something like that. I was going to be involved in real life.
“The only job I eventually got was in Leeds but with the Church of England as a youth worker. It was during that time that the prayers, thoughts and possibilities coalesced. I decided I would go into the ministry.”
Divinity studies followed at Glasgow University. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Glasgow in Glasgow Cathedral (among a group of 17) in July 1989 and completed his probation at Christ Church in Bermuda.
“We found a church that was absolutely thriving and we built the youth group up to way over 100 kids. They were just a good church doing really good ministry. It inspired us for coming home. If it can be done there, it can be done here.
“We made lifelong friends in Bermuda and we’ve returned there, most recently last year for the 300th anniversary of the church.”
As probation drew to a close, Martin spent time scanning letters about vacancies from the central Church and the pages of Life and Work.“Because I had been out of the loop it was agreed that I would do six months’ reacclimatisation in Scotland. There were letters going back and forward and I was saying to send me to any church in Glasgow. Word came back that it would be Dundee: St Mary’s. It turned out the late Very Rev Dr Bill Macmillan was Moderator that year. A locum was looking after things and I would be serving with him. I still think that was absolutely providential.
“The vacancy came up in Arbroath: St Andrews. If we had been living in Glasgow there was no way I would have ever thought about it. I thought I was going to minister in Glasgow. We found ourselves in Dundee and looking at the list, Arbroath was close by – only 15 miles away.
“I remember going to look – it was a dreich, wet autumnal day and we drove through to Arbroath and St Andrew’s. There was nothing to commend it and draw us to it, but something genuinely stirred within us.
“The next day Elaine and a friend came through on a Sunday morning and went to the Church. Elaine came home and said it was great, so welcoming and definitely worth checking out.”
Martin was called to the charge on January 28 1992 and Martin and Elaine (followed by sons Callum, Andrew and Fraser) have been there ever since. Having been born near the birthplace of William Wallace, Martin found himself in a church across the road from Arbroath Abbey, where Robert the Bruce signed the Declaration of Independence 700 years ago this year.
Martin sees his appointment as part of the town’s ‘big year’ and describes it as ‘an honour for the town’.
Arbroath will also be woven into his Moderatorial outfit – a frock coat.
“I have a friend who has designed a special tartan to mark the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath.
“I will have touches of tartan added to the cuffs. It will give me a talking point. Every single thread in that tartan means something.”
In nearly 30 years in Arbroath, he believes his ministry has involved three separate jobs.
“The first was me doing it all because that is how it was. There is a minister, a congregation, youth group, visiting. That was the norm at that time. After a certain number of years it became clear to me that I was going to be a bottleneck.
“We genuinely needed to sort out development and the next phase of ministry was about the people of God. We began to take it seriously, identifying gifts, skills, experiences and freeing the congregation up to say they could have roles to play in the church and the outreach.
“My main focus in that period was raising other people up to do that ministry. I was doing less of the jobs, but was freed to learn and was just encouraging, equipping and enabling. It was so rewarding with people finding themselves and growing in confidence in their own lives.”
The third phase came when the church asked the question: ‘We have built up a strong church so what do we do so we can begin to impact the community at large?’, and resulted in the setting up of the Havilah Project and three related projects, principally helping addicts and people with mental health issues.
Martin says: “The power of it is not about church organisations as such, important as they are, a lot of what we do is about actually just trying to make a difference in the community. Meeting needs where they are greatest. There is a big emphasis on mental health.”
Mental health will be one of the key themes of Martin’s year. He is passionate about underfunding of services in a much needed area of healthcare. As an example of the pressures facing those in need and health care staff he talks of a young man he worked with who had tried to take his life three times in a short period but was told he would need to wait 18 weeks for a referral at a time of crisis.
As someone who has steered his own church through change, Martin recognises the value of the Church at a time of uncertainty and change not just in the Church of Scotland but in wider society.
“At this point in time the Church is on its knees, not in a negative sense, but in a serving sense and in a praying sense. Our fundamental provision should be that all the things that the Church does to serve people.
“I honestly still feel as enthusiastic and encouraged and just up for it from the day I started. I have said through the years if I thought the Church was dead then I would have quit and done something more useful with my life.
“I am absolutely convinced that God’s not finished with Scotland.
“The Church we are going to see in the days to come may not be recognisable from what we know but it will be there.
“I think as I have ministered probably what people have said to me most is that I am an encourager and an inspirer and that is what I hope to do in this coming year. I hope I can be someone who will enthuse and encourage all as a church to remain faithful and to believe that God has a future for us and that we continue journeying towards that.”
A longer version of this interview appears in the May edition of Life and Work. Subscribe here.
Dr Fair will be running an online quiz in aid of Christian Aid, starting at 8pm on Saturday May 16. You can join in on his Facebook page.
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