YOUNGSTERS from Dalgety Bay bade a fond farewell to local minister Christine Sime last week.

Children from Dalgety Bay Primary held a special assembly to mark the retiral of Christine Sime who has been minister in the town for more than a decade.

Special songs were created – and poems recited – to thank the minister for her efforts in the community over the last 11 years.

A former moderator for the Dunfermline Presbytery, Christine was born and brought up in Edinburgh. She attended Edinburgh University and studied Molecular Biology, graduating with a BSc in 1977.

On leaving university, Christine worked first as a lab technician at the university and then as part of the Medical Research Council within Western General Hospital, Edinburgh.

She began studying for the ministry in 1990 and spent her probation year at Hope Park Church in St Andrews. She took up her first charge in 1994 in Dumfriesshire before moving to Dalgety Bay in 2012.

She was overwhelmed with the efforts by the children for her last assembly at the school.

"The children were tremendous," she said. "They had rewritten songs with special words Both schools have been so welcoming. Their questions and comments are wonderful."

Christine has been involved in many parts of the community in Dalgety Bay over the years.

"I have enjoyed getting to know people and sharing their ups and their downs," she added. "It is privilege to be able to share people's lives.

"There is a lot of laughter and a lot of fun in the congregation. They are imaginative and willing to try things and forgive mistakes very quickly!"

There will now be a time of vacancy at the church until a new minister is appointed.