Rev. Andrew MacLeod
Andrew grew up in the Isle of Lewis and came to the Seaboard in 2017 to take up the position of Assistant Minister of Tain and Fearn Free Church. He is a keen runner and serves as chaplain for Brora Rangers Football Club in the Highland League.
Click on the images below to enlarge
1. The view from the pulpit
I stand in this spot every week. It is a viewpoint that few in the community ever see. Personally, it is a privilege to stand there because this is the calling the Lord has put on my life. Called to these villages as a preacher, called to this congregation to share the Gospel. I get to observe the sea of faces grow spiritually, week after week.
2. Lockdown preaching
In total contrast to Photo 1, this is behind the scenes of what became the “norm” for 18 months. The congregation were enabled to see us as the preacher every week, but as we recorded our services, we never saw them. While we had to stop physical services in our church buildings, we never stopped preaching the Good News to our community. My dining room has seen no meals on it, my wife’s new pictures for the wall have yet to be hung and won’t be until the camera will be packed away. Will it ever be packed away?
3. Preaching in Egypt
While the people couldn’t come to us, we came to the people with the Gospel. The Faith Mission led this outreach event called, ‘Drive-In services. Anyone was welcome; locals, visitors, tourists, but to maintain social distancing they just remained in their cars, wound down their windows, listened to the preaching and participated in the singing. The reason I am in these villages is to preach the Gospel to as many people as I possibly can. Opportunities like these are precious to me.
4. Change
Coming from the Isle of Lewis, where the land remains fairly consistent all year round, then moving to Easter Ross where the soil is so rich and the fields are constantly changing. It amazes me every year now to see how any one of these fields can change colour in a matter of weeks. The produce from these worked fields is also a vital part of community life in our villages. It made me think though, these fields are constantly changing, and so our lives move on from one stage to another, but the God of the Bible is the same; yesterday, today and forever.