We are a network of Church Planters, Church Leaders and Missional Practitioners across all areas of Scotland and Ireland.
Cairn Team
Alan McWilliam
Alan is passionate about bringing glory to Jesus, serving his Bride and reaching those who don’t know the good news about Jesus.
He believes the church (local and translocal) is the greatest hope of the world and wants to see a vibrant Kingdom expression in every locality and network in Scotland and Ireland.
Alan has been an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland since 1993, planting in Whiteinch, Glasgow, before being released to serve the wider church. 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, training and resourcing organisation for new missional expressions of church. He serves on the Boards of Evangelical Alliance (UK), The Light College and Collective and Sound Church (Bath). He is married to Diane, has two sons and is a fervent Rangers FC supporter.
Cairn CEO
Julie Carty
Julie is from Ayrshire and oversees the operations of the Cairn Movement.
For the past 12 years, Julie has travelled and served with Iris Global across Africa, Israel, and North and South America, training and equipping the Church for long-term mission. Having witnessed God move powerfully among the nations, she sensed a call to return home to Scotland with the question: "How can I apply what I've experienced in the nations here in Scotland?"
Outside of work, Julie enjoys spending time with family and friends, exploring new destinations, and getting outdoors.
Operations Manager
Lynsey Paterson
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 Christian 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!
Forge Scotland Director
David Baker
David has led Baptist and New Frontiers Churches and is part of the 24-7 Prayer community. Alongside his work with Cairn he helps to lead Signpost International, an international development charity working to make life better for communities in Dundee and in Africa.
As our Resource Manager, David looks after the support and grants that Cairn gives to new church plants and missional projects through the Give Us Scotland fund. David has a passion to see the church filled with people who take radical discipleship seriously and both grow in their faith and help others grow in faith.
David is married to Sarah, has three daughters, and when not at work can usually be found in his garden.
Resource Manager
Sam Torrens
Hailing from Northern Ireland, Sam has served for over 30 years as a Church of Scotland minister, first in the Highlands and then in Edinburgh with Barclay Viewforth and now Slateford Longstone. Following a union between Barclay and Viewforth in 2009, the Spirit created a conviction that it was time to push against a history of unions within a culture of decline and that led to joining the Celtic Learning Community, then the Community of Practice and then CAIRN Lothian. Out of this came a passion for discipling leaders and launching Missional Communities. Amongst these Sam co-leads SPaCE26 for care experienced adults and their families. Sam is married to Minnie, a Mental Health Nurse (addictions) and together they have three adult children and two grandchildren. Most Saturday mornings Sam can be found cheering on Murrayburn FC the new church team, and most other mornings Sam can be found hiding in a coffee shop looking for inspiration in caffeine and prayer!
Learning Communities LeadBoard of Trustees
Karen Ferguson
Karen works in communication and concept development specialising in helping individuals, organisations, and projects to grow well, from start ups- to large organisations, including charities. Her work encompasses various sectors including VAWG, early years, family health and wellbeing, mental health, and substance misuse.
She is passionate about good communication and organisational health, and loves to see people released into their full potential.
Trustee Chair
Kathryn has been a minister in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for nearly 15 years and is currently leading Malone congregation. In various structures within her denomination she leads the strategic thinking on reimagining and revitalising the local church.
She is also co-founder and leader of Equal to Lead that seeks to encourage women and men in their shared calling to lead in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Following her early profession as a teacher in England, Kathryn has taught undergraduates in Union Theological College and Belfast Bible College. Kathryn has been through the Learning Communities and now coordinates and co-leads the Learning Communities in Ireland.
Kathryn lives in Belfast with her husband Jonathan and their two children and Daisy their black Labrador.
Kathryn Viner
Rich is a member of the board at Cairn. He also serves as the Team Leader for Catalyse Change, which provides training and coaching globally for church leaders, network leaders, and entrepreneurs. The various initiatives of the charity are all created to equip and enable leaders in releasing potential through discipleship and leadership cultures; activating movemental dynamics and disruptive innovation in their context - catalysing spiritual, strategic, and social change for the good of others. Catalyse Change is responsible for catalysing and launching initiatives such as All Change,100 Movements, Creo, and Catalyst.
Over the past 20 years, Rich has led pioneering work in missional disciple-making, innovation and entrepreneurship, and organisational change across the globe. Rich has also written a book, “All Change: Unlocking Kingdom Potential in a World we weren't prepared for” which holds his last 15 years of coaching, training across numerous contexts and is a biblically-based, Jesus-centred change process for leaders, teams and organisations.
Locally, he lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is married to Anna, who is a writer and editor, and they have three children: Josiah, Esther, and Samuel. They are passionate about living with integrity and intentionality as a family that follows and shares Jesus.
Catalyse Change CEO
Rich Robinson
Ian’s passions are innovation and hospitality, and he seeks to bring them together in every area of life. In business, Ian has spent many years as an innovator, leader and entrepreneur within the hospitality industry. In church life, he has relished working alongside leaders to explore fresh approaches and to embed the theology and practice of hospitality in mission, discipleship and ministry. Ian also brings experience in helping to lead church transformation and planting. Combining a creative edge with careful discernment in governance, he has served and led on a variety of boards.
Ian Burleigh
Charity Bowman-Webb
Charity is passionate about the prophetic and creative. She is the Director of Streams Creative House with Streams Ministries International. This pioneering ministry seeks to equip believers in revelatory and creative gifting - motivating their Kingdom commissions. Charity teaches and ministers regularly in different nations and is the author of two books' Limitless' and 'Creative Fusion'
Streams Creative House Director
Alan McWilliam
Alan, in addition to being the Cairn CEO is also a Trustee