Martin Johnstone
Faith in Community Scotland

People have said of Martin Johnstone that if he had chosen to work in the private sector he would have become a very rich man. Martin isn't so sure and reckons that he would more likely have ended up broke. Whatever the truth, he has chosen to use his skills and creativity over the last 20 years to work with faith communities tackling poverty across Scotland. In Bellshill, where he was a Church of Scotland minister for ten years in the 90s, the local congregation developed a community centre catering for over 2,000 visitors a week. Since then, he has coordinated the Church of Scotland's work in its poorest neighbourhoods across Scotland, a role he combines with being Chief Executive of Faith in Community Scotland - an anti-poverty organisation working with faith communities across the country. Each of these areas of work are now effective businesses which, in turn, have generated many more groups and organisations tackling poverty the length and breadth of Scotland. Martin says of himself: "I don't know that I am very good at many things. However, the one thing I know I can do is to believe in other people's dreams and to help them to turn those dreams into reality."

http://www.faithincommunityscotland.org/

Talks and Articles by Martin Johnstone: