The Rev David Guest interviews the Rev Sean McEwen, who was licensed as priest in charge of St Columba’s, Largs last month.

Tell us a little about yourself and your journey to ordained ministry.

I was raised in east Tennessee in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and found my way to the Episcopal Church as a young adult. I was immediately captivated by the liturgy and by the Church’s message of welcome. After serving for many years in lay ministry as a catechist and lay preacher, I eventually pursued ordination and attended the School of Theology at Sewanee. My journey to ordained ministry was less a sudden change of direction than a gradual recognition that the work I had already been doing was also a vocation to which God was calling me more deeply.

What first drew you to the Scottish Episcopal Church?

The Episcopal Church in the United States shares much with the Scottish Episcopal Church, including our liturgy, theology, and understanding of the Church’s calling. I was drawn to the Scottish Episcopal Church as a place to engage in ministry within a post-Christian context, and I was especially attracted to the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway’s commitment to being a church for everyone. I was also excited by the opportunity to experience the Anglican/Episcopal tradition in a different cultural context and to discover what it means to be the Church in Scotland at this particular moment.

Where have you served previously, and what did you enjoy most about those ministries?

Before relocating to Scotland, I served at St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Maryville, Tennessee — a congregation of around 200 people with a focus on welcome, inclusion, and justice in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. St Andrew’s was a congregation in transition, and it was wonderful to see signs of growth and hospitality as new families and individuals became part of the life and ministry of the parish. I especially enjoyed the challenge of serving a growing and evolving congregation and helping us think together about how we make room for new people and new gifts.

While serving at St Andrew’s, I also had the opportunity to serve as Interim Chaplain of our diocesan campus ministry at the University of Tennessee, known as Tyson House. That season gave me the chance to work with young adults who were in a time of deep formation, questioning, and discernment. It was a privilege to come alongside them as we wondered together about God’s call in our lives.

What are you most looking forward to in your new role?

St Columba’s is a parish with tremendous gifts and opportunities. I am excited to learn the stories of this people, to wonder together about the gifts God has placed in our hands, and to discern how we can join in the work God is already doing in Largs, in our wider community, and across the diocese. I am particularly looking forward to discovering together what St Columba’s has to offer its neighbours and how we might invite others to share in the life of the Church.

Is there a particular aspect of ministry that you feel especially passionate about?

I am committed to the Church’s vocation of hospitality. Not merely inclusion for inclusion’s sake, but a deep recognition that each of us is called to ministry by virtue of our baptism. The parish provides fertile ground in which to discern our vocations and be formed for our ministry in the world. I believe the Church is at its best when we are not simply asking people to come and receive what the Church offers, but helping one another discover the gifts God has already given us and finding ways to put those gifts to work for the sake of our neighbours.

Is there a Bible passage that has been especially important in your life? Why?

In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” This has always been a touchstone for me, reminding me that Christ’s work of reconciliation draws us ever more deeply into the life of God, in which we can discover the fullness of life for which we have been created. I think Christian faith is ultimately an invitation into that abundant life — not simply life after death, but life with God, with one another, and with all creation here and now.

What do you think is the Church’s greatest opportunity in today’s world?

We live in a world which increasingly places demands on our time and attention. The Church provides a rare “third space” in our modern lives in which we can engage in community, service, contemplation, and the stillness of God’s presence. In a world in which stillness and silence are in short supply, the Church offers space in which to be, just as we are.

The Church also offers something increasingly rare: a community in which our lives are not reduced to what we produce, consume, or achieve. It gives us a place where our gifts can be named and nurtured, where we can be known, and where those gifts can be offered in service to our neighbours.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I enjoy reading, travelling, and exploring the beauty of God’s creation.

Do you have any favourite books, films, music, or podcasts?

Two books that have been particularly important to me are Julia Gatta’s Life in Christ, which has shaped the way I think about Christian spirituality and our participation in the life of God, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which I have loved since my father first read it to me when I was young.

Early bird or night owl?

Definitely an early bird.  Early mornings are the time in which I feel most energized as the world slowly comes to life.

Tunnock’s teacake or haggis?

Tunnock’s teacake. I’m still discovering the full range of Scottish cuisine and have enjoyed haggis, but I think the teacake has already won.

Beach or mountains?

Mountains. I grew up in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, so mountains still feel a bit like home. That said, I suspect living in Largs may convert me into something of a beach person.

Favourite season?

Autumn, although Advent is probably my favourite season of the Church year. I love the particular quality of both: the sense of transition and anticipation, and the invitation to pay attention to what God is doing beneath the surface.

Favourite hymn?

“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” I love its vision of Christian life as a growing participation in the love of God. It is both deeply personal and wonderfully expansive: a prayer that we might be “changed from glory into glory” more and more into the likeness of Christ and brought into the fullness of divine love.

Favourite saint?

Julian of Norwich. Her profound confidence in the love and goodness of God has always spoken to me. Her vision of Christ is at once deeply intimate and wonderfully expansive, and her conviction that God’s final word to creation is one of love and hope is a gift to the Church in every age.

One word that describes you?

Curious.

Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

“Pause.” It sounds simple, but it has become increasingly important to me. Before trying to fix something, explain something, or decide what comes next, make space to listen for what God might already be doing.

What are your hopes and prayers for your congregation over the coming years?

My hope is that St Columba’s will continue to grow more deeply into its vocation as a community of prayer, welcome, and service. I pray that we will know more fully the gifts God has entrusted to us and have the courage to share those gifts generously with one another and with our neighbours.

I also hope that we will become increasingly attentive to what God is already doing in Largs and discover how we can participate in that work. The Church does not have to manufacture its own mission; God is already at work in the world around us. Our task is to notice, to listen, and to join in.

Above all, I pray that we will become a community in which people encounter the abundant life of Christ — a place where people can come as they are, discover that they are loved, and find themselves invited into the life and work of God.

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