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The Staff and Assisting Clergy

	Rector:The Reverend Canon Robin Paisley BSc BD I see the Life of Faith as a journey of discovery in which we learn more and more about God's revelation and call to us. My own journey has had some significant milestones: early upbringing in Ireland, study and work as a Physicist, Electronic Engineer and Teacher/Lecturer in various parts of England and Scotland, marriage and the nurture of children and, of course, response to God's call to faith and service as a "Clerk in Holy Orders". Although my early Christian upbringing was in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, I have settled into ministry in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition because it not only resonates with my own spirituality but also because it enables me to experience and reconcile differing Christian traditions. A particular interest I have in ministry is being a Companion in Faith to those whom I have an opportunity to encounter, not only members of my congregation but also visitors and those who I have the privilege of meeting in other walks of life. I look forward to all those meetings in which the presence of God in Jesus Christ may be noticed through the power of the Holy Spirit. The story of Jacob's encounter with God in Genesis 28 is an interesting example and I hope St John's, like Bethel, can be a place which is a "gateway to heaven" and I can play my part in helping people recognise when God is opening the gate.
	Lay Reader: Mr Richard Starkey, BA Richard started his career as a Lay Reader in the Ripon Diocese, served in the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Gulf, then in Iran and has been at St John's since 1969. He leads worship and exercises a valued pastoral ministry. He is an honorary commandant of the St Andrew's Ambulance Corps and a first aid trainer with the Association.
Assisting Clergy
	The Revd David Batson, AKC, BD, FSA (Scot) David is a graduate of King's College, London, and has wide experience in pastoral ministry, school teaching, social work and university teaching.
	The Revd Andrew G MacKenzie, BD Andrew is a Methodist minister attached to St John's, where he was Associate Minister from 1997 to 2002. He joined the RAF as an Apprentice at Halton in 1954, and served for 10 years. He then trained for the ministry at Richmond College, London University, graduating in 1972, and served as a mission partner in Kenya for 12 years. He was the Methodist Church's Inter-Church Secretary in Scotland, and is a former chair of the Scottish Methodist Synod.
	The Revd Joan M Marr, SRN After working as a clinical nurse manager, Joan felt the call to ministry and was ordained to the Distinctive Diaconate in 1991. Before coming to St John's, she spent 6 years at St John's Church in Moffat and for more than five of those years she was 'with charge.'
	The Revd Dr Ann Shukman, MA, DPhil For 12 very happy years I was in rural ministry in North Oxfordshire (the Benefice of Steeple Aston, North Aston and Tackley). I was involved with the full round of parish and pastoral duties with a special brief for Family Services, and 'Mothers and Toddlers' which used to meet in my house until we graduated to the Parish Church. For eight of those years I was a Deaconess, then for two years Deacon and for two years Priest. I was among the first women to be ordained in the Church of England in April 1994. After (first!) retirement I moved to Oxford and was Warden of the St Theosevia Centre for Christian Spirituality which is a residential house in North Oxford devoted to promoting understanding between the Western Churches and Orthodoxy. We ran regular Study Days and weekend conferences. I resigned from there when circumstances - the death of my uncle and the inheritance of Elshieshields - brought me up to Dumfries. (That was my second retirement) I studied Russian at University and have always kept up my interest in that wonderful and tragic country. I spent three months in Moscow in the autumn of 1991 as representative of Keston Institute when all the churches were re-opening and religious life was at last free. In my own faith journey I have been influenced and inspired by the experience of Russian believers under Communism. Latterly I have been working on the great Russian saint, St Seraphim of Sarov, and continue to write and do translations from Russian.