Sutherland churches appoint new minister
A minister appointed to lead two Church of Scotland congregations in Sutherland will find echoes of her old job in her new calling.
Lorna Tunstall, a former telecommunications project manager, will take up the post on Friday via video conference.
She will be ordained and inducted into Clyne linked with Kildonan and Loth Helmsdale churches after being unanimously chosen by members of the linked parishes.
Mrs Tunstall and her husband, Mark, will move into a manse in Brora which she describes as something of a “homecoming”.
In 2017, the couple stayed there for 10 weeks as she undertook a training placement at Dornoch Cathedral with the Very Rev Dr Susan Brown, a former Moderator of the Kirk’s General Assembly.
She said: “I am overjoyed and thrilled and terrified in equal measure.
“I couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome by members of the congregations.”
Mrs Tunstall studied theology at New College in Edinburgh from 2016-19.
While at Dornoch, she also worked with Dr Brown’s husband, the Rev Dr Derek Brown, who is a NHS chaplain at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
She had a placement at Letham St Mark’s Church in Perth and spent her 15 month probation at Barnhill St Margaret’s Parish Church in Broughty Ferry.
Mrs Tunstall is a former member of the World Mission Council of the Church of Scotland which is now part of the Faith Impact Forum, convened by Dr Brown.
