First female Kirk minister Effie Irvine

Tributes have been paid to the first female minister to be ordained and inducted into a Church of Scotland parish.

The Rev Euphemia Irvine has died at the age of 93.

Mrs Irvine, known as Effie, made history when she was ordained to the linked charge of Campsie Trinity with Milton of Campsie on June 1 1972.

Although there were other women ordained earlier to the ministry of the Church of Scotland, she was the first to be ordained and inducted into a parish.

Paying tribute, former Moderator of the General Assembly, the Very Rev Lorna Hood described her as a “great communicator and exceptional pastor” and “an inspiration”.

Mrs Irvine, who grew up in Glasgow, was a housewife for 16 years before becoming a religious studies teacher.

In 1951, Effie married Alex Irvine and, after speaking at a woman’s meeting in her own church, she began to be asked to speak to others.

She previously wrote: “I realised that if I were to be doing this kind of speaking which involved a gospel message, I’d need to be educated.”

Accepted for correspondence courses at London University, she aimed to obtain qualifications to study in the divinity faculty of Glasgow University.

Subsequently, she enrolled for a bachelor of divinity degree.

The Rt Rev Derek Browning, Moderator of the General Assembly, said: “She overcame in a very short time the initial controversy that surrounded her appointment by going on to win people over by being an excellent minister to her community and gave tremendous support to those in her parish.

“Effie was one of the pioneers and blazed a trail for women to serve the Church in this way.”