CORE TEAM

Lynsey Paterson

CO-Director Forge Scotland

Lynsey has a background in healthcare, where she previously worked as an Advanced Practitioner Speech and Language Therapist with a special interest in Autism. For the last ten years, Lynsey has worked in the voluntary sector as a Service Manager helping to develop and grow a local based charity for families of autistic young people. Lynsey is a Church of Scotland elder at St Madoes Church and has a strong desire for mission. Lynsey graduated from Forge in 2017 and has been an active part of the Forge community ever since. Lynsey co-leads a Presbytery Missional Initiative in Perthshire called InTogether which aims to serve families with children with additional support needs. Lynsey has a passion for a church where all abilities are welcomed and included as the body of Christ and she has been involved in training churches and other Chritsian Organisations to help them be more inclusive. Lynsey is married to Craig and they live in Perthshire with their teenage daughters where they enjoy walking their dog in the beautiful countryside usually followed by coffee and cake in one of the many coffee shops!

ALAN MCWILLIAM

CO-Director Forge Scotland

Alan is an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland and is currently helping to replant Ruchazie Church of Scotland, Glasgow. Through consultancy, training and support Alan works with many denominations, agencies and others to see new church plants and mission projects established. He is also the European Director of Forge – a training and resourcing organisation for new missional expressions of church. Alan has a strong desire to see the Church break out into new patterns which will be effective in communicating the gospel to the people of Scotland. He is married to Diane, has two sons, a daughter in law and is a fervent Rangers FC supporter.

Lynn ALEXANDER

Lynn has been a staff pastor in two large churches. After studying theology & being around missional communities in her church, she went on to plant something small but beautiful called Family Tree. It aims to show people outside the church that, just like a real family tree, there is a place for everyone to belong; to feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. She loves to include children and families in everything Family Tree is & does, which often involves being outside of a building!

Lynn leads pioneer huddles for Cairn, having previously done so for 3DM & Kx in England. She wrote a book about intergenerational discipleship called ‘Children, Families and God’.

She is also a qualified secondary teacher working part-time in Glasgow and loves her family, lifting Olympic weights, live comedy & trying to beat Alan at Uno!

Gordon Cheung

Gordon Cheung is based in Glasgow and helps led a new local Christian community called The Well.

Berdien Ringland 

Berdien is involved in administering our core operations and responsible for Operations and Communications within Cairn. She is originally from the Netherlands and recently moved to Glasgow. She is married to Stuart. Prior to moving to Glasgow, Berdien lived as a missionary for 10 years in South East Asia where she pioneered a children’s home and the Middle East where she pioneered a missions base for Iris Ministries. Berdien is passionate about missions, societal transformation and discipleship. She loves to travel, spend time with friends and hiking.

Peter Neilson

After 40+ years of ministry within the Church of Scotland in a range of roles from parish ministry in Glasgow and Edinburgh city centre to national roles in mission and supporting church-planters, Peter retired in 2013 from his role as a freelance mission consultant. He lives in the East Neuk village of Crail with his wife Dorothy where he is still involved in preaching and teaching in the Presbytery of Fife. He was involved from 2004 in establishing Invest, the predecessor to the Forge course. On the family front, Dorothy and Peter have three married daughters and six grandchildren.

Fiona Morrison

WESLEY WHITE

Wes grew up as a missionary kid in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo where his parents served in medical missions. After serving as a pastor in the United States for fifteen years, Wes and his family moved to Glasgow to start the Mosaic Community, a church-plant of Christian Associates International. As well as lecturing at undergraduate and postgraduate levels Wes is the Centre Co-ordinator of Neopolis, The Scottish Centre for Theology and Ministry in an Urban World based at the college.

Wes is married to Cynthia and they have five children and five grandchildren. He loves the odd mix of jazz and Gustav Mahler.