Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the ordination of a new priest at St Mary's Episcopal Church in Port Glasgow.

Reverend Dr Lisa Curtice has been welcomed to the parish, which has been without a priest for four years.

Lisa has also been appointed to St Fillan's in Kilmacolm and St Mary's in Bridge of Weir, with the three congregations together comprising the Heartland Churches.

But she is far from an unfamiliar face to those in her new congregations.

She said: "I first came to the Heartland Churches on placement two years ago and very quickly realized that this is where I would like to minister.

"My husband John and I are very happy to be living in Port Glasgow, and I’m looking forward to seeing what our three churches can do, together with our ecumenical partners over the next three years, to serve our local communities."

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Lisa trained at the Scottish Episcopal Institute after a career as a university researcher at Edinburgh and Glasgow and as a senior manager in the voluntary sector.

She was the first chief executive of the Scottish Consortium (now Commission) for Learning Disability.

For the past three years she has been the Renfrewshire Regional Curate for the Scottish Episcopal Church, serving all the Scottish Episcopal churches in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.

And for the last 12 months she has been serving at St John the Evangelist in Johnstone.

The Heartland churches' vacancy dates back to the retirement of the Rev David Gifford in October 2020.

Victor Weldin, the Heartland Churches' treasurer, said: "When Lisa came to Heartland on placement, she quickly settled in, and over the two years endeared herself to the three congregations with her warmth, vitality and down to earth approach.

"The congregations are delighted she has been appointed to the Heartland charge and we are all looking forward to working with Lisa over the next few years."

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Around 200 well wishers, including clergy and people from across the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway, were joined by ecumenical partners, both national and local, at the ceremony.

Those in attendance included the Reverend William Boyle from Port Glasgow New Parish Church, Father Matthew Carlin from St Francis of Assisi Church, Captain Ian Arthur from the Salvation Army and Reverend Susan Henderson of the United Reformed Church.

Ms Henderson, minister of the United Reformed Church's Inverclyde cluster, comprising Greenock West, Greenock East and Port Glasgow, welcomed Lisa on behalf of Port Glasgow Churches Together.

The Scottish Episcopal Church's Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway, the Right Reverend Kevin Pearson, conducted the service and preached, and the Dean, the Very Reverend Reuben Preston, read the licence.

Mr Boyle said: "On behalf of New Parish Church, we welcome Rev Lisa back to Port Glasgow and keep her in prayer as she begins this next part of her faith journey.

"In Port Glasgow, we work together, across all church denominations, and I know that we are all very much looking forward to working with Lisa, serving God and the people of this wonderful town."