September 2025: Rev Alex Currie

My ministry: Rev Alex Currie, retired Minister of Word and Sacrament, St Ninian's Priory, Glasserton & Isle of Whithorn

Originally from Glasgow but happily settled in Wigtownshire with his wife Kirsty, Rev Alex Currie retired from full-time ministry in June. A father of two grown-up sons, he also served the community as a retained firefighter.

When did you become a Christian?

When I was in my teens in Glasgow, we had a new minister, Rev Martin Allen, who was a major influence on me and it was through his ministry that I became a Christian.

I was all set to become an accountant after school, but I failed my exams and I wasn't going anywhere.

I remember saying: ‘God, if you are there and You really have a plan for my life, you'd better reveal it because I don't have one worked out.'

After that I worked in a homeless shelter run by Christian staff called Kirkhaven for five years. I really enjoyed that and the officer in charge encouraged me to speak to Guilds and mens' groups about our work. That gave my confidence a big boost because I could talk about something I was passion about, I felt comfortable doing that.

I still felt I could never be comfortable standing up to speak in a pulpit and I didn't even have Higher English so I had to go back to night school to qualify, but those hurdles were overcome and I went to university to train for ministry.

What drew you to rural ministry?

For my placement, I went to Durness in Sutherland and stayed in a caravan. My supervisor, Tony Fowler, was the minister in Kinlochbervie, 26 miles away. He gave me a list of folk and said: ‘there's the village, go visit.'

I literally visited the whole of the community in those nine weeks. It was a revelation, I really felt that I wanted to work in a rural community.

I always thought it would be rural ministry in the north, to the extent that my wife Kirsty even started learning Gaelic so she would know what the congregation was saying about my sermons.

We never thought of heading south, but in 1990, the interim moderator in Whithorn wrote a letter to every ministry student, because the congregation wanted somebody younger.

I applied and have been here ever since.

Our great claim here is that Whithorn is the cradle of Christianity in Scotland. There is a Latin inscribed stone in the museum that is the earliest Christian stone in Scotland, so we would say that Whithorn is where it all began.

The hairs on the back of your neck can rise when you start to think that this is the one parish in the whole of Scotland where there has been this unbroken tradition of Christian witness for all these centuries – the holiest of holy grounds really.

But that was never the attraction. I just wanted to work in a parish where I could get to know the people and the people could get to know me, and that was what the congregation was looking for.

What is the attraction of rural ministry for you?

Stranraer is 35 miles away, the hospital in Dumfries is 66 miles away so you are quite isolated here, but I had a parish of 2,000 and I knew and know everybody.

But there were times in the first five years when I could have walked away.

One of the reasons for that was that I took a very strict line on marrying people at first and if couples lived together, I wouldn't take their wedding.

Then an older minister told me I was making more of the building than I was of the people, so I changed my view and changed the vow slightly, then I went and visited every person I had refused.

That was the turning point and when I decided that I had to stay.

Another turning point was the sinking of the Solway Harvester off the Isle of Man with the loss of all crew. How did you as parish minister support the community?

The Solway Harvester sailed out of the Isle of Whithorn. There were seven men lost from a community of 2,000.

One of the crew was sick, so the skipper's brother joined the crew. I'd conducted his wedding, I baptised their first child, and his wife almost delivered our second son. Some of the boys who had been in the Boys' Brigade with me were on the boat, so there was all of that.

It was a national and international story and I became the family spokesperson.

I have a cutting which says that the minister in Whithorn never slept for 48 hours and that's true. I sat with the skipper's partner until I knew that we'd lost him then I went around the other families. I then had to prepare for the service on Sunday, knowing the whole community would be there. The

BBC wanted to screen it and I wondered if we should allow that, but one of the elders said that of we did, then at least we would have some control over it.

I went over to the Isle of Man when they raised the Harvester and then there was the court case which I went through with the families.

It was a strange time. It was a privilege and it was a great burden and even talking about it 25 years on, I get quite emotional. But I had a wedding three years ago for the daughter of the boy who had gone on board to make up the crew, so it has come all the way round.

On the back of my involvement with the Solway Harvester, I was invited to Balmoral and that was a surreal experience.

A wee boy from Rutherglen who left school with not a lot to find himself staying with the Queen for a weekend is quite hilarious. It was as if God said: ‘you've had all the trauma and all the grief, here's something to enjoy.' And I certainly did enjoy Balmoral.

What memories will you take with you from your 35 years?

One is my youth work and being able to have children come to the church and enjoy worship.

I have been school chaplain for the 35 years I have been here and have had a good relationship with the different head teachers to the extent that I hope I will still be there at the Christmas dinner this year. That level of engagement has been a blessing.

Being able to go into the school and have that relationship is one of the things I am going to miss.

In a strange sense, it's also been a great privilege to travel with folks through illness. The cancer journey is something that you make on a regular basis.

I have a strong emphasis on preaching and that was important to me with a morning service, an evening service and a midweek Bible study. But hopefully folk could see that being played out in everyday life.

I joined the Fire Service because I missed male company, but I enjoyed that too and I think folk saw that you were playing your part in the life of the community: sleeves rolled up and I'll show you my works and hopefully you will listen to my words. There have been opportunities for that along the way, some that I have facilitated and others that have come my way.

We have been very happy here and I would love to see someone else have the same happiness.

What are the qualities you need to be a rural minister?

If you are a people person and show that, then that can be a big strength. I enjoy the company of other people, I always have.

I remember a minister in Newton Stewart saying that the whole rhythm of rural life affects the church and it does. I had to readjust to that pace.

That's a two-edged sword, but if you are happy to sit with folks and spend time with them, that is a blessing.

There is no place to hide, everyone knows who you are, but it's a great privilege to feel that you belong.

More information

If you would like to consider how God might be calling you to serve at this time, you may want to discuss further with your minister or be in touch with your Presbytery to explore local opportunities.

If you are interested in exploring a call to the recognised ministries of the Church, you can find more information on our vocations page and can contact ministry@churchofscotland.org.uk for a Discernment Conversation with one of the Recruitment Team.