Ardchattan’s Rev McCormick prepares for move to Callander
AFTER 33 years the Reverend Jeffrey McCormick is leaving his ministry of Ardchattan parish churches for pastures new.
Mr McCormick, who arrived from Glasgow with his wife Fiona to take up his first charge in Argyll in 1984, is now moving closer to their homelands at Callander Kirk in Stirlingshire.
‘I am an ecclesiastical crofter. In a rural parish there is not a complete job,’ he said. ‘I always had a desire to work in the country. I did not think I would spend quite so long. Maybe as I go into the last 20 per cent of my ministry, I should do something different. I prayerfully considered it, and I thought maybe there is something here.’
The Ardchattan parish churches serve the communities of Benderloch, Bonawe, Barcaldine, North Connel and surrounding areas. A part of the Church of Scotland, there are two churches in the parish: Ardchattan Kirk on the shores of Loch Etive, and St Modan’s Church in Benderloch.
‘I am the fourth minister 100 years,’ Mr McCormick recalled. ‘There have been two McCormicks and two MacDonalds. The role has changed, but the core responsibility has stayed the same: holding the Sunday service and standing with people on days of celebration and sadness.
‘The community here has changed quite significantly,’ he said. ‘When I came here the road was very quiet at nights. People did not move about. There used to be six people in North Connel who were not related. That was a lesson for ministers: whatever you say is going to be about some of their relations. That has broken down. There are more dormitory commuters. Folk do not know each other in the same way.
‘What I do in Ardchattan has very little resemblance to what I was doing 30 years ago. My predecessor went to meetings in a horse and cart. In Ardchattan, you spend a lot of time in the car. I routinely travel 40 to 50 miles for a meeting. I shall not miss the long roads around almost unending Argyll lochs. In Ardchattan, I do not have any colleagues.’
Callander, he said, is a bigger place with a number of different churches.
‘It is more of a hub for Stirlingshire,’ he explained. ‘There will be more people in church on a Sunday, which will be a bit easier. A small group of people can take things personally.’ It is very difficult for a congregation of four people not to think the minister is speaking to them directly, he added.
Mr McCormick and his wife – a teacher at Rockfield Primary School – raised their three boys at their Argyll home, and he said he will miss the area ‘so much’.
‘I will miss all the wonderful skies, and the people of all ages. In Argyll, it is just possible to speak your mind and people will accept it. I have always found the people in Argyll honest and positive. They have a great sense of humour.
‘I shall miss most the many people who over the years have been supportive and encouraging. It has been a tremendous blessing for me to be here.’