David’s got a new calling in life
Chartered surveyor is ready for minister role
Kenneth Speirs
A chartered surveyor is swapping his desk for a dog collar as he takes up a new role as a church minister.
Reverend David Scott, 47, is a long- time member of Paisley’s Oakshaw Trinity and familiar face in the church’s Boys’ Brigade.
And now the proud Buddie is heading east to take the helm at two Edinburgh churches.
His new life as a man of the cloth comes hard on the heels of a career as a chartered surveyor with well- known Paisley firms, having studied for a degree in Land Economics at the then Paisley College
“I was a partner with R & W Hall, and I also worked for Graham & Sibbald in the past,” the dadof- two told the Paisley Daily Express.
“But I had already started exploring the route to ministry.
“I’ve been in the church all my life with the Boys’ Brigade.
“The 14th Paisley company was a big part of my life.
“I was an officer and the company captain, which I had to give up as part of training for ministry.”
David, a former Renfrew High pupil, thought long and hard about becoming a minister before taking the formal steps towards a career in the church.
“Eventually I thought I’d better give this a shot,” he said.
“If it doesn’t work out, fair enough, but I thought if I don’t do it now, it will be too late.
“So I went through the process and it all fell into place.
“I trained through the United Reformed Church (URC).
“I did a Bachelor of Divinity at Glasgow University and I graduated in June last year.”
And there was also training at the URC college as David got closer to becoming a minister.
“I finished up with them in December and had been looking for churches to go to for the last six months,” he said.
“My last placement was in Edinburgh between the two churches I’m going to, so it’s worked out that’s where I am going to end up.”
The decision to become a minister came from the heart, said David, who is married to Nova, who is headmistress of Williamsburgh Primary School, in Paisley.
“It’s that clichéd thing of having a sense of calling there.
“You do things, even in my job as a surveyor, and you’re thinking this is fine, but I feel a sense of coming into ministry more.
“You can see you can make a difference, you’re a presence, and people were encouraging me to explore it.”
David will be ordained into to Saughtonhall and Duke Street United Reformed Churches next month.