Heavenly partnership - married minister couple provide spiritual leadership at Glasgow church

The new ministry team at Glasgow's Knightswood Anniesland Trinity Church already know what it is like to work with each other.

Not only have they run a business together, they also happen to be married, and as of this week, will have something else in common – they are now both ministers of the Church of Scotland.

On Thursday evening, Rev Aaron Marshall was ordained and introduced as the new associate minister at Knightswood Anniesland Trinity, where he joins his wife Rev Hanneke Marshall, who is currently serving the congregation as interim minster.

Aaron said: "It's an unusual position to be in as an associate because I have been able to learn a little bit about the congregation before coming into this role.

"I have been able to attend the church and get to know folk. It is a lovely congregation and that has helped me see the potential that is there. You typically don't get an insight like this when you are applying for a charge."

Aaron will support Hanneke through her remaining time with the congregation, which is expected to last until next summer. He will be involved with leading worship; and supporting the pastoral care, discipleship, and mission and outreach teams. In the spring, the recently united congregation hopes to begin the process of looking for a permanent minister.

This also coincides with major renovation work which will see the Anniesland congregation move out of the building and use their St David's building in Knightswood until the work is complete.

"There will be a lot of upheaval," Hanneke acknowledged.

"That is why I am pleased that Aaron will be there, providing continuity and helping the congregation journey on to get to the other end of this."

"There is a real sense of turning a corner. Attendance has been going up, and we have had new members join us in the past year. I think there is just so much potential."

Going where the heart leads

Hanneke studied theology and trained to be a minister with the Dutch Reformed Church, now the Protestant Church of the Netherlands, but never practiced in her home country.

Her studies took her to Durham University in north-east England, where she met Aaron, who was training as a teacher. The couple married and settled Cheltenham, where they worked as teachers before moving to Northern Ireland upon the birth of their first child to be closer to Aaron's parents.

Although the couple started their own business, Hanneke began exploring ministry again.

"I just felt that this was where my heart was," she said.

That led to the family moving to Scotland, which offered more opportunities for women ministers, first as a probationary minister at Duns in the Scottish Borders and then at her first charge, St Machar's Ranfurly in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, where she remained until it united with the neighbouring Freeland congregation.

She had been looking at moving to another charge, but instead opted for interim ministry.

"It's a good fit for me. It can be intense, but I like it and it has allowed us as a family not to have to move at this stage," she explained.

"Interim ministers are appointed by the national Church and placed in congregations where there is a request for interim ministry, usually because of certain circumstances like a congregation moving through a difficult union or the sudden loss of a minister."

Meanwhile, Aaron began thinking about ministry and made initial enquiries while living in Northern Ireland.

Although he enjoyed a satisfying career with Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Aaron still felt that sense of call. The Church of Scotland accepted him for ministry training, and he completed a divinity degree at the University of Glasgow, followed by placements at Renfrew North and Glasgow Maryhill Ruchill churches.

However, with children still at home and his parents in Northern Ireland needing his support, he was not certain he could become a full-time minister of a charge and began considering chaplaincy – which he was

able to explore with a placement at Inverclyde Hospital in Greenock – or associate ministry.

His probationary period at Kilbarchan linked with Howwood in Renfrewshire with Rev Stephen Smith, which he describes as "hugely rewarding", was extended by six months to allow him to remain as an assistant minister.

Passing on the message

However, with ministry recruitment paused while presbytery planning was in progress, and the assistant ministry scheme coming to an end, he returned to work with SDS until the Knightswood Anniesland Trinity opportunity came up.

"Associate minister roles are few and far between, and if it had been anywhere in the Glasgow or Clyde Presbytery area, I would have had a look at it," Aaron said.

"It just happened that it was in a congregation that I knew of through Hanneke"..

"I took five years to train, so I am delighted to be able to use those skills for the Kirk and the associate role allows me to focus on many aspects of ministry I enjoy."

"I enjoy preaching, I think that is from being a teacher, because I really enjoy sharing what I have learned and passing it on."

"Many of my previous jobs also had a pastoral element of walking alongside people on difficult journeys. The associate role allows me to focus on pastoral issues, develop mission and discipleship and be with people on their journey."

Although they are used to working together, the couple's new partnership will bring its own challenges, which is why Hanneke is determined that neither of them will "talk shop" out of working hours.

"We want to make our 25th wedding anniversary next August," she laughed.