Our Team

  • Rev Chris Hay

     

    Originally from Manchester, I married a Scot – my husband Mike – after meeting as trainee accountants in Sheffield. Since then, we have been moving further and further north leaving Sheffield with a young family in 1995 for Glenrothes and in between the lockdowns on to Arbroath. ..

    Having spent over 15 years as a bookkeeper in a garage in Kirkcaldy the time seemed right to answer God’s call and with the support of family and many of the local Fife churches where I learned through placements, I embarked on the training for ministry.

    Ordained and inducted to the former Arbroath West Kirk, now one of our worshipping centres, at the end of 2020, it’s been a joy to be working with Peter, Carla, Keith and more recently Judith in our united congregation in the varied life of our centres, in local schools and residential homes, sharing God’s word and love in the community.

    Mike and I also enjoy time with the family – which now includes grandchildren and a spot of ballroom dancing.

  • Carla Ingram

    I grew up in Arbroath and was baptised and attended the former Arbroath St Andrew’s church.

    I attended Colliston Primary School and Arbroath High School. I completed an undergraduate degree in Social Science at Edinburgh Napier University in 2017 and went on to graduate with a Master of Letters degree in English Language Teaching from the University of St Andrews in 2018. ..

    After the completion of my studies, I became Youth Work Coordinator with the former Arbroath St Andrew’s congregation. In February 2023, I became a Ministries Development Staff member as Children & Family Worker in the Arbroath & District Church. My favourite time of the work year is our Holiday Club weeks, and I am also particularly passionate about our work in our local primary schools.

    When not working, I love baking, eating cake, Girlguiding, going to the gym and crafting.

  • Rev Judith Macleod

    I joined the ministry team here in 2025. I moved from Inverness with my husband Calum.  We both grew up in Inverness, and later met there although by that time we were both living in different parts of Scotland. ..We eventually returned to Inverness where we got married and had our son.
     
    My background is in teaching, as well as spending a period working for a Christian environmental charity Eco-Congregation Scotland. I felt that God was calling me into ministry and began my training in 2020 studying at Highland Theological College. I was ordained in Inverness in December 2024 and spent a few months as an Assistant Minister with St Columba church, where I had been in the final stages of my training. 
     
    When I am not working I am happy spending time doing practical things such as cooking, baking, and crafting. I like going to the theatre, cinema and reading a variety of genre of books. I am interested in the world around me and like to spend time outdoors, exploring the countryside and towns, or simply spending time in the garden.  

  • Rev Peter Phillips

    I was born in North Wales, but was raised from the age of three on the edge of Tiverton in Devon, a town similar in size to Arbroath.

    During school years I had in mind to work in meteorology. ..I already had a place at university for that purpose when I first heard the insistent voice of God’s call. After working for a short time in an ironmonger and in a textile factory, I spent twelve months volunteering in the church before embarking on my ministerial training in Manchester. After a further twelve months in Aberdeen, where I met my wife, Rona, I was ordained in 1995 into United Reformed Church ministry in Bishop Auckland in County Durham.

    After Rona and I married in 1996 I was inducted to a charge in Edinburgh before coming to the Church of Scotland and to Colliston, Friockheim and Inverkeilor in 2004.

    Rona works as a healthcare chaplain with NHS Tayside and together we have two sons, Jonathan and Joshua, who are both now young adults.

    I am delighted to be part of the Ministry Team for Arbroath and District Church of Scotland, and I am excited to embrace the possibilities that this new pattern of church life will mean.

    When I finished in Manchester, my cohort were each asked for a favourite Scripture verse. I chose John 3: 30 where John the Baptist says of Jesus, “He must increase, I must decrease”. In the end, it is the life and the light that we find in the Lord that must sustain us, and I pray that together we can increase his light to the people of Arbroath, its rural hinterland, and beyond.

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