New minister ordained at Bo'ness church

Reverend Andrew Brown at Craigmailen Church with his wife and daughter.

Reverend Andrew Brown (27) was ordained at the Braehead church on May 8, with his wife Helen-Louise and daughter Olivia (2) there by his side.

Speaking about his appointment, Rev Brown said: “I’m really happy, especially because of everything involved with the past year.

"I was supposed to move here in March/ April last year, so it's been a bit of a wait.

"This is my first church. So it’s been worth the wait.

"I didn’t really know much about Bo’ness as I’m from Glasgow. But I have found it a really nice place to live and I enjoy meeting people and being able to go for walks around the town.

"We moved here in February but couldn’t meet anyone at first. However, in the last few weeks I have been slowly able to do so, and everyone has been really kind and it has been really nice.”

The young reverend is looking forward to spreading the word of God in Bo’ness.

He said: "I can’t wait to get started properly, what with restrictions easing and more people able to come to church.

"I’m looking forward to getting things back to normal, being able to have services and have a cup of tea after it.

"I just hope that we as a church can help the community, tell people about Jesus and show them our love.

"And then I hope to just be a friendly face in the community, that people can trust and know they can talk to.”

Rev Brown revealed that although the church is in his blood, he very nearly took another path in life. He said: "I trained as a sports coach at university. I really wanted to be a PE teacher.

"Then I started doing youth work at a church in Glasgow and from that – sharing the bible with young folk - led me to becoming a minister.

"My dad is a minister as well so I always went to church. But I said I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps. However, as I got older and more involved in church stuff I felt it was the right thing to do.”

The keen footballer has already been working with Bo’ness Community Football Club. He added: “They do really good work with the local children.”