A minister who helped change the lives of hardened criminals in California has been appointed to lead a Highland church.
Rev Heidi Hercus was ordained by the Church of Scotland as the new minster for Lochbroom and Ullapool church on Saturday – ending a seven year vacancy in the parish.
The 43-year-old has spent the last 25 years travelling between America and Scotland; working with criminal gangs and providing hurricane disaster relief in the Caribbean.
Speaking about her new appointment, she said: “The idea of having my own charge fills me with joy, hope, nervousness and excitement.
“I have been a volunteer coordinator on St Thomas in the Virgin Islands in the 1990s after a hurricane that strongly influenced my desire to reach out and help others wherever I can.
“I worked in a gang community in Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County for nearly two years where I learned there that even the hardest of hearts and hardened criminals can be transformed and changed forever by the power and love of Jesus Christ.
“I knew for some time, that as a minister, I could share God’s love, and reach out but this huge responsibility and privilege filled me with fear and doubt for far too long.”
Rev Hercus grew up in the US state of New York but has had a love affair with Scotland for nearly 30 years.
Her first visit to the country was with her father in 1989 when he carried out a pulpit supply position in Nairn.
She finished her education at Nairn Academy before following in the footsteps of her late father Rev Willis Jones, with the aim of helping to increase numbers of worshippers in the church community.
She added: “I hope to be a minister who is accessible, supportive, patient, has a sense of humour but most of all who shows God’s grace and love to all. I know I won’t get it all right all the time but I believe God has great things in store for Ullapool, where we will live, and I am feeling a wonderful new chapter is about to begin for all of us.
“Ullapool Church is a small church but it is a faithful church filled with infinite potential and I hope to see it really flourish and grow. I would love for the church to become a real hub of the community, where all who enter through those doors whether two-years-old or 102 and know they are loved and valued and belong.“