Minister Douglas bows out with special wedding
A minister’s work is never done – even when they are officially retired.
However, despite his retiral, the minister at Stewartfield Church Douglas Wallace doesn’t mind officiating at a special wedding.
That’s because love blossomed for the happy couple through the church.
That has been just one of the many happy memories, Douglas, 64, will take from nearly 20 years in East Kilbride.
“It’s a lovely way to finish my time at Stewartfield and when I was asked to marry the couple, even although I had officially retired, I had no qualms,” he told the News.
“It was just lovely to watch their friendship and relationship grow and it will be an honour to marry them.”
Douglas was appointed a new charge minister by the Church of Scotland in 2001 after previously ministering in Fernhill in Rutherglen.
Stewartfield proved a different challenge with no church building as such, the whole ethos was very much about going out into the community, with Stewartfield Community Centre and the National Museum of Rural Life providing space for services.
But with a dedicated band of volunteers and members, Douglas, originally from Greenock, soon helped establish a small – but vibrant – church community.
He went on: “There hadn’t been a church in Stewartfield before I came so it was very different to the more traditional established parish I had been in before.
“The area was designated as one for a new charge and there was a very practical approach taken to try and find out what kind of church would fit the area.
“It was a very simple start. Safeway, as it was then, allowed me to hold a simple meditation and prayer gathering for Advent in the cafe.
“And one of the local members made an Advent crown which we placed on the table.”
The partnership with Safeway – now Morrisons – continued with the church raising funds for Cash for Kids and other charities and Douglas even penned a small book called Sage and Sane Sayings of Stewartfield.
Central to Douglas’ time at Stewartfield has been using creativity to express faith with numerous arts and crafts projects with local schools as well as partnerships working with other churches in the area.
“It’s been wonderful encouraging people to express their faith through their own creative energy and the majority of ideas have been taken forward thanks to the church members and the wider community,” he said.
“I am really grateful and appreciate that they have just ran with it and I am consistently amazed with what people can do.”
He has also taken on a number of chaplaincies at local schools including Duncanrig Secondary and Kirktonholme Primary as well as the sea cadets and elsewhere.
And he was touched when a cadet spoke about his work at his last service with them.
“I was presented with a long-service medal at the end of the service, which was lovely,” he said. “And I was especially touched that one of the cadets, who was 14 or 15, stood up and gave a speech about my involvement with the organisation and my role as a chaplain. It was a real treat.”
And ideas developed at Stewartfield have now been taken forward by the Church of Scotland elsewhere including the cafe church held in Morrisons on a monthly basis which sees people gather, worship and enjoy each other’s company and discussion over a cuppa and a bite to eat.
With retirement ahead, Douglas is looking forward to developing hobbies and spending more time with family including wife Janet, his two grown-up children and granddaughter.