Beloved minister celebrates 60th anniversary of induction in church
Decades of service to the church and the community is being celebrated this week by Rev Dr John Barr.
On Monday the 92 year-old, known as Jack, celebrated the 60th anniversary of his induction as a minister in the Church of Scotland.
Coming from a family of ministers, his father Robert was a lawyer before serving in France in WWI, returning home and retraining to become a minister.
Jack’s two younger brothers, George and Robin, were also both active in professions before turning to the ministry.
Jack went to Glasgow University during WWII and trained as an engineer, specialising in airplanes.
After the war he worked on jet engines and was still working as a senior lecturer at Glasgow University when he started to train for the Church of Scotland ministry.
He had placements with Rev Tom Allan, working in the streets of central Glasgow and his first charge was Trinity Church, Pollokshields.
He saw the church through a merger to become Glencairn Church, then was called to St Andrews, Frognal in West Hampstead, London.
Daughter Jenni Barr said: “The five years there were a stimulating time for him, with a transient but lively congregation.
“His last parish was that of the Old Kirk in Kilmacolm, where he served 10 years as their minister.
“Returning to engineering (in the 1970s it was not easy for ministers to finance a retiral home), he was available, if travelling through work abroad, to preach in the Scots Kirk and take communion.
“In retiral, he has been active in Auchterarder Parish Church, Alloway Parish Church, Jordanhill Church and, more recently, Dunblane