An Irvine man has been ordained as a Church of Scotland minister.

Rev Steven Owens will serve at Bellshill West Parish Church in North Lanarkshire and develop the St Thorlak's community, a project aimed at benefiting people with autism.

Autism, a lifelong developmental disorder, affects how people communicate and interact with the world. More than one in 100 people in the UK are said to be autistic.

St Thorlak is the patron saint of Iceland, and a US-based Christian group is campaigning for him to be recognised as the patron saint for autism.

Mr Owens, 44, celebrated his first Sacrament of Holy Communion in Bellshill West Church on Sunday, September 8, following his ordination at Hamilton Old Parish Church the previous week.

His family, friends, and colleagues attended the ordination service.

Before his ministry, Mr Owens was the head of autism training at the National Autistic Society. He also spent time with the former Presbytery of Irvine and Kilmarnock as a congregational facilitator.

Mr Owens said: "I started my formation journey six years ago and being an impatient person at times, felt this day would never come.

"I saw a prayer in the last few weeks which probably sums up my journey well – ‘God, may you grant me patience, but would you please hurry up’.

"It isn’t always easy to follow the timescales God has in store, but as the years have gone on, I have learnt to trust that God has had me exactly where I needed to be in that moment.

"In the meantime, there is plenty for me to do here and in developing St Thorlak’s Community further.

"It will seek to develop an online community for autistic Christians and work ecumenically with the local church to make church life more accessible for autistic Christians and their families."

Mr Owens holds a Bachelor of Divinity (Hons) from the University of Glasgow and won the Downhill Prize for excellence in Practical Theology, related to his dissertation on making the church more accessible for autistic people.

He said: "I had a career as an autism specialist, originally in a residential school for autistic children, then in an adult residential service for autistic people as a manager.

"Latterly I led on autism training for the National Autistic Society and then became the business lead for all commercial training and consultancy services.

"All of this has helped me to prepare for ministry in terms of leadership, relating to people at different stages in their life, and in developing strategies to educate and communicate effectively with a wide range of people."

Mr Owens did placements in various churches and his final placement for probation was with Rev Ross Blackman, minister of Hamilton Old Parish Church, who supervised him remotely in the vacant charge of Bellshill West.

Rev Bryan Kerr, depute clerk, said: “The presbytery was delighted to meet to ordain Steven at the end of his formation journey and the beginning of his journey as a Minister of Word and Sacrament, and are pleased that Steven has chosen to remain in our presbytery for his first role as Assistant Minister."