View from the pulpit

The Rev William Boyle reflects on a successful start to his ministry in Port Glasgow

DURING my training for ministry, I felt a very strong call to the town of Port Glasgow, and I am delighted that I listened to that calling and have now been the parish minister of Port Glasgow New Parish Church for the last three years.

Port Glasgow is situated in West Central Scotland, within the district of Inverclyde. We are truly blessed here to be right next to the River Clyde and surrounded by breathtaking scenery.

Our church is a large building with great facilities in the town centre, right at the heart of the community.

One of the reasons I felt called to the town of Port Glasgow was the people. There is a real strong sense of community within the town. The people you meet here are friendly, welcoming, hardworking and down to earth.

On a Sunday morning we are seeing growth, with around 180 joining us weekly, including 30 children in our Sunday Club with more joining in online. We have welcomed 41 new members since 2020 with a wide variety of different age groups now part of our church family.

Having such a wide variety of people in our church, worship is structured so that everyone feels they are getting something from the experience. For example, we have a mix of traditional hymns and praise songs. Worship is not just minister focussed either, with many given the opportunity to take part in worship in some way, especially our young folk which is very important.

One of our aims was to ensure that we had a church open seven days a week from morning until night, meeting the needs of the community that we serve.

Thanks to the hard work and commitment of our congregation, that’s what has been achieved, providing everything from mental well-being groups such as walking football and walk, talk and breakfast, dementia café, new parish playgroup, sport such as ‘sport in the port’ and Morton in the community. We also have groups for additional learning needs and youth and adult organisations. The list goes on and on.

This growth in the church has also meant that we were able to employ a new member of staff to support the church’s constant use and are looking in to a parish support worker for the future.

School chaplaincy is also hugely important, and I have a great working relationship with our local primary, additional needs and high schools.

As parish minister, I also think it hugely important to get out in to the community, meeting people, being there for people, which is why you will see me at many local events or simply walking the streets or retail park.

Our church is not just a 200-year-old building at the centre of town, it is much more than that, with mission at the beating heart of all that we do.

We want people to feel some connection to our church, to God, even if they don’t walk through the doors every Sunday. It may be from one of our groups, support with funerals, weddings or meeting myself or the congregation out in the community as we get out from behind these four walls and take the love of Jesus to the people of our amazing town.