Rev Donald Fraser delivered the sermons to Monifieth South Church’s congregation for 49 years.
But his ministry was far from a solo effort.
In fact, when I speak to 90-year-old Donald about his life in the church, he does not begin with himself. He begins with his late wife, Nan.
“She was christened Annie, but she never liked the name. She was always Nan,” he says fondly.
He tells me they met at a rugby dance at Aberdeen University when Donald was 20, studying at Christ’s College. And “it just grew from there”.
“We were a team of two, and a tremendously good team,” he smiles. “What a great help she was in my ministry!
“She was very involved with the Sunday School and she ran the Women’s Guild – do they still have those? Anyway, they had fun all the time, and yet she kept the order.
“She was very good at that with me as well.”
And among the congregation of the Monifieth South church, which was one of the three which merged to become the united Monifieth Parish Church, Nan was famous for her pancakes.
“She helped to start the sale of goods in front of the church hall, and she was well known – but she wasn’t at the front counter!” Donald recalls.
“She was at the back making pancakes, and everyone would come and ask for them made different ways.”
Nan was a teacher of home economics, but Donald says she taught much more than her subject.
“She taught me about life and relationships by being a great wife and mother, because we became not just a team, but a family.”
Monifieth ministry was a family affair
Donald and Nan’s two children, Nicola (Nicky) and Alastair, grew up in the manse attached to the church.
Was there ever any rebellion or complaining about sitting through Sunday services?
“No, they enjoyed going to church and mixing with the other kids,” Donald recalls. “It was all great fun, as well as being part of Christian commitment. We made it fun.
“Nicky even became an elder when she was older. She could have gone on to be in the ministry herself, but after my retirement she became very active in the church.”
And the ‘kids’ got to watch their dad navigate the burgeoning community for which they had taken responsibility.
“The minister who was looking after things before I came in, Andrew Giles, I remember he told me: ‘Sorry, there’s not much prospect of an increase in population,” recalls Donald.
“He was totally wrong in that, because Monifieth became the fastest growing small borough in Scotland.
“The congregation went from under 500 to over 700, and the Sunday school got so popular, it had to be moved to a hall down the road!”
Father was ‘great example’ to Donald
Donald was inspired to become a minister as a very young man, and he credits his father as being a strong role model in his faith.
“My father was a teacher of science, but he was also a very, very committed Christian,” he explains.
“I grew up going to church every Sunday, and my father was everything – session clerk, treasurer, Sunday School superintendent. He was a great example.”
As a teenager, he thought about being a missionary, but quickly decided that ministry was the right path for him after all.
After training in Aberdeen, he did his probationary year at Dunfermline Abbey.
And from there, it was on to his “own little church” in Monifieth at the age of 24, where he spent the next 49 years.
“Then quite wisely, without being pushed from above, three of the churches in the area decided to unite,” says Donald proudly.
“I stayed in the union for three years, until the age of 77 when I retired.”
Family weddings among most special memories
One of the highlights of Donald’s ministry, he says, has been getting to perform baptisms and wedding ceremonies, alongside his brother Ian “Jock” Fraser, who often accompanied by playing the organ or accordion.
“Baptisms were my favourite,” he admits. “I almost managed to get through them without weeping.
“Weddings are lovely, but nothing is better than new life coming into the world and being part of that.”
However, some of his most special memories are of the family weddings he’s performed over the years, including niece Julie, his two children, and his granddaughter Iona.
“I had great pride in conducting the marriage of my daughter, Nicky,” Donald beams.
“I remember meeting her on the pavement as she came out in front of the church, going up towards the manse and waiting there with her mum, who made her dress.
“We went into the church, and I married her to Derek (Stewart). And that was such a happy time.
“She was a beautiful bride, and made a lovely family.”
‘You feel very proud to do it’
Donald also ministered his son Alastair’s wedding in 2015, to Lesley De Jager.
“That was not so long ago, and Lesley had been married before, so we gained some lovely step-grandchildren,” Donald says.
And most recently, at the age of 89, he took on the dual role of grandad and minister at grand-daughter Iona’s wedding to Callum Wood at Bachilton Barn, near Methven.
Before his retiral, the reverend only performed weddings in his own church, but latterly, he’s enjoyed doing them in scenic venues like barns and castles.
“You do feel very proud to do the family ones,” he smiles. “You do it as you would do any other wedding of course, but for the talk, it can just be so personal.
“At Iona and Callum’s, their dog Honey brought the rings up the aisle – they were tied to her. Mind you, she didn’t like people being on either side of her, so she was somewhat dragged up.”
Rev recognised for his rubber ducks?
Other than seeing his “beautiful” granddaughter marry her husband, a highlight of the day for Donald was an unexpected exchange with the piper.
“I was thanking him for doing the piping, when he looked at me suddenly and said: ‘I know you! I remember you with the ducks!'”
Ducks?
“I used to be a chaplain for the local primary schools and I loved it, I loved the teaching,” recalls Donald. “And I devised a series of stories about ducks, illustrated by plastic ducks I took with me.
“George was the main duck, and he would learn to swim and all sorts of things. Anyway this piper, I believe his name was Ryan, he remembered me and George the duck.
“And that was a really lovely moment of connection to the ministry.”
Monifieth family’s legacy lives on
After the three Monifieth churches united, Donald and Nan stayed in the South Manse for a while before buying a house in Broughty Ferry, where Donald lives now.
His daughter Nicky is local, while son Alastair lives in Stonehaven, but the family are still tight-knit.
And Donald still attends the united church as a member, where he can see the legacy of his family’s commitment living on.
“I attended the induction of the new minister not so long ago,” he says.
“There’s a lot of committed people, which is wonderful to see.”
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