A FORMER computing teacher who is being ordained as the Church of Scotland’s first Asian female minister has told how she hopes her induction will be an inspiration to others.
Aquila Singh, who was brought up in the Christian faith from birth, is being ordained and inducted into Fernhill and Cathkin Parish Church in Rutherglen in the milestone in Kirk ministry.
Miss Singh said she did not feel like a trailblazer but told how she has had "double takes" when wearing a clerical collar for services as a minister in training.
She said: "I think being a female Asian is a bit of a challenge for some people.
"When I've put my clerical collar on I do get double take, seeing an Asian woman in a collar.
"Maybe there are some who think 'if she can do it so can I'."
Miss Singh, 55, who was born in Pakistan and moved to Scotland when she was two, is also following in her paternal grandfather’s footsteps.
He was a minister for the American Mission Presbyterian Church in India, who converted from Sikhism and who was instrumental in building a place of worship in Moga in the Punjab region in 1934, but whose calling meant he was cut off from his family.
Miss Singh, who was raised in Glasgow and also had an uncle on her mother’s side who was a Christian minister in Lahore, Pakistan, said she feels "blessed".
“I don't feel like a trailblazer but I like to think that maybe I can break down some misconceptions about who can be a minister.”
Miss Singh worked at Belmont House School in Newton Mearns near Glasgow before training for the ministry.
She discovered that she was suffering from a debilitating vision condition called Meares-Irlen syndrome while studying for a Bachelor of Divinity honours degree at the University of Glasgow but managed to overcome the challenge to graduate.
Miss Singh, who wears special glasses to help her read, said Rev David Black of Pollockshields Parish Church, Glasgow - her home congregation - encouraged her to attend a ministry candidate conference in Dundee in June, 2011.
She has also worked at Govan and Linthouse Church under the tutelage of the late Rev Dr Moyna McGlynn, who died in August.
Miss Singh said: "She always believed in me. I'm sad she won't be there."
She has also worked at Langside Church and Newlands South Church, both Glasgow, and Paisley Abbey, and spent 10 weeks as a locum minister in Bettyhill, Sutherland.
Miss Singh's first service in her new charge is on Sunday and her first baptism is the following week, after being ordained on Thursday.
Rev Dr Graham Blount, joint clerk of the Presbytery of Glasgow, said: “It is always encouraging to see a new minister take up their first charge.
“Each one brings something unique to the life of the church.
“Aquila is well known and liked in Glasgow Presbytery, and we are delighted to see her begin her ministry in Fernhill and Cathkin.
“It will be an exciting night for the congregation and for Aquila as they begin a new journey together.”
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