A GREENOCK pastor who hadn't been brought up as a churchgoer is celebrating 30 years of service in the ministry.

Pastor Paul Coventry has been leading the congregation at Greenock Baptist Church since 2010 and they joined him to mark the milestone.

He says the three decades have passed very quickly as he has found his work very rewarding.

Paul, 58, told the Telegraph: "Thirty years does seem a long time but with everyone marking it, it does feel that it has flown in."

The dad-of-four is originally from Glasgow and his journey to the ministry took some time.

He said: "I hadn't been brought up going to church, I was finally taken to church by a friend when I was 12 years old.

"He was going to Sunday school and I didn't want to go home on my own, so I went with him.

"I enjoyed it, the people were very welcoming.

"I made my own personal decision to become a Christian when I was 16.

"The church I went to was the Brethren Church in the south side of Glasgow and it never had full time ministers, so in my late teens I got the chance to lead and preach at services.

"It gave me a sense of enjoying what I did and people recognising that I could actually do this."

Paul attended the The Bible Training Institution and spent his first eight years as a pastor in Ipswich.

He returned to Scotland and served in Stranraer before moving to Greenock almost 13 years ago.

He said the highlight of his career has been doing a job he loves and being at the heart of the community.

Paul said: "It's about doing a job you enjoy and being involved in something you feel passionate about.

"Getting to do that is a privilege."

Paul's congregation marked his anniversary with a surprise celebration after service.

He received a small gift and his wife Mairi was presented with flowers before a tea afterwards.

Dorothy Davey, of the leadership team in the church, said: "It was the first time I had seen him speechless."

Paul and Mairi have four children, Gary, 30, Emma, 28, Beth, 26, and Scott, who is 23.

The pair received a warm welcome when they arrived in the local community and say Inverclyde is a great place to live.

Paul said: "We enjoy living in this part of of the world, it is very scenic.

"It's a lovely place to live and people are very friendly.

"Now we want to see the church grow."

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