Minister

Rev Dr Liam Jerrold Fraser is Minister of St Michael’s. 

Liam was the first person to be ordained as a Pioneer Minister in the Church of Scotland, and previously served as Church of Scotland Campus Minister at the University of Edinburgh.

He has published widely, and his first book Atheism, Fundamentalism, and the Protestant Reformation was published by Cambridge University in 2018.

Liam enjoys cycling, walking, reading, and playing guitar. He has a passion for personal and community transformation, and for making the Church relevant to life in 21st century Scotland.

He is always delighted to meet people who want to explore spirituality and faith.

Rev Thom Riddell, Auxiliary Minister

Rev Thom Riddell is Auxiliary Minister at St. Michael’s. He was born in Airdrie, and has lived in Linlithgow since 1980. Thom is a Chartered Chemical Engineer, taking early retirement in 2008 from working full-time as an Occupational Safety Specialist for Ineos (previously BP) in Grangemouth. Having served Christ in various ways such as BB officer, Sunday School teacher, elder and lay Reader, he was ordained to the ministry in 1993. He served at Livingston: Old before coming to St. Michael’s in 1994.

Thom is Clerk of the Presbytery of West Lothian. He is Convenor of the General Assembly’s Social Care Council, which supports and delivers social care services through CrossReach.

Thom and his wife, Joyce, enjoy spending time with their five grandchildren. In his ‘spare’ time Thom is a member of the Rotary Club of Linlithgow Grange, enjoys Scottish Country Dancing and plays the occasional game of golf.

Steve Chaffee

Steve is originally from the coast of New Jersey in the United States. He spent formative summers working at a Christian overnight camp in South Jersey before going to University to study Theology outside of Philadelphia. After working for a few years at an outdoor outfitter, Steve came to the University of Edinburgh for the MSc in Science and Religion programme. From there Steve became the Youth Associate at Greenbank Parish Church before arriving at St Michael's. 

Steve's great passion is in asking 'the big questions' with teens and adults--no question is out of reach! He enjoys the contemplative tradition of the Christian faith--especially where it meets with philosophy. In his downtime, Steve enjoys tabletop games of all persuasions: pen-and-paper roleplaying games, co-operative survival games, even the odd bit of wargaming--though he enjoys painting the miniatures most! An avid fantasy and sci-fi reader, a reference to Lord of the Rings or Star Wars is never far from his lips. 

Steve enjoys hillwalking and bushcraft camping too, so if you have any recommendations for wild campsites, be sure to let Steve know!

Rev Ian Paterson

Rev Ian Paterson was minister of St. Michael’s from 1977 until he demitted office on 4th May 2003. Before that he was chaplain of Stirling University and a missionary in Kenya. He was appointed one of Her Majesty’s chaplains in 1997. Kirk Session invited Ian to become Minister Emeritus on his retiral.