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Frank is revving up for retirement

A minister who has fronted countless campaigns in Gourock is stepping down from the pulpit. Reverend Frank Gardiner has been at the helm of Old Gourock and Ashton Parish Church for the last 28 years.

In that time his church has led fights to save the IRH, the Rankin Maternity Unit, and Garvel School for the Deaf, as well as campaigning against the Trident nuclear submarines on the Clyde.

He also helped bring school pupils in the town together for joint concerts and services in a stand against sectarianism, long before former First Minister Jack McConnell made it a national priority.

Now, as he prepares to step down, the people of the town are showing their appreciation with presentations and dinners.

Reverend Gardiner, 65, said: “We have always taken up any issues where we thought we should have a voice. We were the first church to have a motion passed at the General Assembly about Trident subs before it was an issue.”

The father-of-three is also particularly proud of the efforts both he and St Ninian’s Roman Catholic Church priest Monsignor Tom Monaghan, along with other churches, have made in forging greater links between the two secondary schools and three primaries in the town.

Full story at Greenock Telegraph.