It is the first time since the departure of the Rev John MacLean seven and a half years ago that Lairg Free Church has had a permanent minister in place.

Said Mr Forbes: "I took a degree in engineering at Cambridge University after leaving school, and afterwards I was employed in accountancy work in Paisley and Inverness before deciding to go in for the Free Church ministry. I began a three-year course in the Free Church College in Edinburgh in 2005, where I obtained a Bachelor of Theology degree in 2008, and during this time I spent eight weeks in Lairg last year on a summer placement, along with my wife Mary from Shawbost in Lewis and our daughter Katherine, then aged one. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and this was why I was so pleased to accept the call to Bonar Bridge and Lairg as my first charge. We now also have a son James who is eight months old."

There were around 250 people at the ordination service, including members of neighbouring congregations, members of the Church of Scotland and APC Church congregations in Lairg, five ministers from the Northern Presbytery of the Free Church which extends from Rosskeen to the north coast, and guests from Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Lewis, as well as family members.

Describing the ceremony in the church in Lairg, Mr Forbes continued: "The Rev John de la Haye, Free Church Minister in Wick, presided and put the ordination vows to me and I was then ordained and inducted to the pastoral charge of Bonar Bridge and Lairg church. This was followed by a social gathering in the village community centre where a number of presentations and speeches were made, after a magnificent buffet prepared by the ladies in the congregation.

"The presentations began with one to myself, my wife and our two children. We received gifts and a large bouquet of flowers from Hector MacLennan from Dalmichie, Dolly Renwick from Strath Oykel and Cameron and Annie Rose Munro from Altas. This was followed by a presentation to Stuart Gamble from Embo, by Elizabeth Ross from Lairg. Stuart, who is a lay preacher, had taken the place of a Free Church minister for Lairg school children. Next on the programme was a presentation to Ronnie Morrison of Tain by Andrew Calder from Bonar Bridge. Ronnie had been the interim moderator at Lairg, which has been vacant since the departure of the Rev John MacLean to Skye in 2001. Finally a presentation was made by Sandy Gunn from Bonar Bridge to Margaret Maclennan from Lairg and Mary Campbell from Bonar Bridge, who had provided hospitality to the visiting preachers during the vacancy.

Newly ordained minister for Bonar Bridge and Lairg Free Church, the Rev John Forbes and his wife Mary with their two children, eight-month-old James and Katherine, aged nearly two. Liz Quinn

"Welcoming speeches were then made by some of the visitors. The Rev Kenny Stewart from Dowanvale Free Church in Glasgow, which we had attended while living in the west end of the city, gave a witty description of his association with Mary and myself. We had met while attending his church and its activities and our romance bloomed there. Mr Stewart later married us as well as baptising our children. Then Professor John McIntosh of the Free Church College in Edinburgh, who was a lecturer in church history, spoke about the Christian heritage of Sutherland. This was followed by speeches of welcome from local residents, the Rev J L Goskirk of the Church of Scotland in Lairg, and the Rev Alex Murray of the APC Church, now retired to Migdale. Finally, one of my fellow students, Ewen Matheson, who is going to a charge in North Uist, shared a few anecdotes of our student days.

"It was a great evening and I'd like to pay tribute to everyone who made it so enjoyable. I'm now really looking forward to the start of my work in Sutherland and getting to know all the local people."

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