Israel and Palestine: Stewart Gillan
Stewart's first ministry was in South Africa, where he served as parish Minster in Alexandra township and as a researcher with the Commission of the Restitution of Land Rights. He completed his PhD at New College, Edinburgh, where he did field work with communities that had been forcibly removed from ancestral land under apartheid.
Upon his return to Toronto, he became the Executive Director of the Churches' Council on Theological Education in Canada. It was in Toronto that he met Sarah Ormerod, a soprano and music teacher. They married in 2004, relocating to Scotland and taking up residence in Linlithgow, where Stewart served as minister of St Michael's Parish Church for the next fourteen years. During this time they started their family, with Imogen making her appearance 15 years ago and Alex 13. They moved to Glasgow in 2018 when Stewart took up a call as minister of St John's Renfield, Kelvindale. For Sarah, Kelvinside Academy, where she was Head of Music, was just around the corner.
Of his call to become a Mission Partner in Jerusalem, Stewart writes: "I have felt called to the ministry of the Church in Israel and Palestine since my first visit in October 2007 with the Middle East Committee of the then World Mission Council. Our visits over the next four years gave me an introduction to the life and work of our churches in Jerusalem and Tiberias, our three institutions (Tabeetha School, Scots Hotel and St Andrew's Guesthouse), and some of our Church and Human Rights partners in the land of the Holy One.
"Already the learning curve has been a steep one, with a long way to go. I look forward to sharing in ministry with the Rev Muriel Pearson. Together, we ask for your support in prayer and partnership in this deeply spiritual and strategic ministry with people who have been working for peace and justice in God's name all of their lives. God being our helper."