North coast minister moves on

A farewell lunch was held at Melness Hall earlier this month for Church of Scotland minister Stewart Goudie and his wife Liz.

The couple are moving on after eight years serving the parishes of Melness, Tongue and Skerray.

More than 60 people attended the lunch to wish the Goudies the best and thank them for their service.

The couple were presented with a painting of Tongue Manse.

Both Mr and Mrs Goudie qualified as engineers and worked in that capacity for some years before Mr Goudie was called to full-time ministry. The scattered communities along the north coast were his first charge.

Tribute was paid to them at the lunch for the introduction of more creative services together with a greater congregational involvement in the leading of worship.

Both the Goudies have immersed themselves in community life – Mr Goudie as a member of the Coastguard team and Mrs Goudie as a volunteer driver with Transport for Tongue.

She also had an input in the rebuild of the Kyle Centre at Tongue in her role as a Trustee and treasuer of North Coast Connection.

So the farewell event at Melness Hall was a time of very mixed emotions, expressed in song by the local choir and in speech and stories by others, and ending with the giving of gifts to show appreciation of the Goudies’ hard work and service.

The couple now move on to the parish of North West Lochaber, where Stewart will be inducted as minister on September 1 at Mallaig Church of Scotland.

It is another remote area, this time including several of the nearby Small Isles, so his Coastguard experience might be useful!

The churches at Melness, Tongue and Skerray now enter a period of vacancy before being formally linked to the parish of Altnaharra and Farr under the leadership of Rev Dr. Beverly White Cushman, who has been minister there since early 2017.

The congregations look forward to Beverly’s introduction as minister of the linked charge on October 6.