published 19 April 2024
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A church in Barrhead has welcomed a new youth and community worker to help connect with the local community.
Graham Currie, who lives in the area and holds a degree in Community Education, will be employed by Barrhead St Andrew’s for at least the next three years.
Funding for the innovative role was only available due to the recent sale of a church building that was no longer needed when the congregations merged 11 years ago.
St Andrew’s minister Rev Tim Minard said: “This is an exciting new chapter for the congregation.
“We are thrilled to have Graham join us.
“This post is a concrete statement of our commitment to engaging with young people and the wider community and making the Christian faith relevant and accessible.
“It’s a wonderful legacy from our previous church building sale, and an example of how bricks and mortar can be transformed into something more over time.”
As well as working alongside key church leaders, Graham will work closely with colleagues in the local authority’s Community Learning and Development team.
He will seek further opportunities to engage with young people and the wider community.
Graham, who also served as pastor of Hopewell Evangelical Church in Paisley until 2021, said:
“After being actively involved in the life and witness of a number of local churches in the West of Scotland and having lived in Barrhead for over 25 years I am delighted to take up this new role at St Andrew’s as a Youth and Community Worker.
“It is my firm belief that because every young person in Barrhead is made in God’s image they have great potential to be fulfilled and it is my role, in partnership with Community Learning and others, to help them realize this.
“I’m contacting all the wonderful organizations that support young people in so many ways and trying to create opportunities to bring forward our own ‘specialty’ as a church, which is helping young people explore faith and spirituality and hopefully find faith for themselves. Days.
“Jesus said “Go” so we go!”
There will be an official commissioning service for Graham held at St Andrew’s Church on Sunday 28 April from 11am.
