Talking Ministry: Rev Lorna Tunstall reflects on the journey that has led her to the Highlands

Life has taken an unexpected turn for a former telecommunications professional, who has swapped dreams of retirement in Spain for the busy life of a minister in Sutherland.

Rev Lorna Tunstall, who is the minister of the linked charges of Clyne, Kildonan and Loth Helmsdale churches in Sutherland, discussed her path to the pulpit as part of the monthly Talking Ministry series.

I'm not sure I made the decision to be a minister – I'm not sure anyone decides that – I truly believe it is God's call, that sense of God knocking you on the head and saying he has a plan, to the point you cannot ignore it any longer" Mrs Tunstall said.

"If I'm truthful, I thought that I would be retiring early to a village in Spain. I certainly did not imagine myself going back to university, doing a degree and becoming a minister."

Mrs Tunstall attended church with her mother and sister as a child, but after university, like many of her generation, she stopped going to church so regularly as she became an adult.

That changed after she and her husband Mark moved back to Scotland and settled in the Perthshire village of Inchture.

"A lot of it was to do with that feeling of fellowship. There was just something lovely about automatically feeling part of the church family again," she said.

As she became more involved in the church, Mrs Tunstall trained to become one of three members who were authorised to preach and help support minister Rev Dr Marjory MacLean and her assistant, Rev Professor Alison Jack, cover the four congregations they were responsible for.

Mrs Tunstall added: "Marjory and Alison must have seen something in me and advised me to go to a vocations conference, so I did and thought it was wonderful, but still felt ministry wasn't for me."

Instead, she became involved with the World Mission Council, a role she greatly enjoyed. At a residential conference, while serving the Council, she had encouraging conversations with a number of ministers and it was here that she accepted she could not ignore the call to serve any longer. Mrs Tunstall enrolled in the discernment process and was accepted as a candidate in training, becoming a student at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity, New College.

Resuming student life at 50 was a challenge, but an even bigger challenge was to come in her final year when she was diagnosed with cancer.

"At the time, I didn't even know if I could continue with my studies and my ministry, but I had surgery, I had radiotherapy and I did that all the whilst doing my final year and sitting my exams," she said.

"I graduated with a 2.1 and it's really the only time I have patted myself on the back and said: ‘Well done you!'

"It was a challenge, but my faith and my studies got me through and gave me something bigger to focus on. Everyone at New College was wonderful too and just kept me going."

Mrs Tunstall went on to complete her probationary period at Barnhill St Margaret's Church in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, but it was a 10-week placement at Dornoch Cathedral with former Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Very Rev Dr Susan Brown, which introduced her to Sutherland, where she was to return for her first charge.

"I just fell completely in love with the place," Mrs Tunstall said.

"Susan used to talk about Dornoch being ‘a thin place' where the boundary of heaven and earth just seemed to merge and I feel that throughout Sutherland. The beauty of God's creation is just all around you – and my maiden name is Sutherland, so it does feel like I've come home."

Each month throughout 2022, the Talking Ministry series will share a personal story from those serving in Christian ministry, as well as discernment resources filled with questions, prayers and reflections to help encourage your own reflection on how God might be calling you.

You can read Rev Lorna Tunstall's full interview and access the resources for September on our Talking Ministry page.