Reverend Aftab Gohar

That this House congratulates the Reverend Aftab Gohar, minister of Abbotsgrange Parish Kirk in Grangemouth, upon his election as the new Moderator of the Church of Scotland Presbytery of Falkirk; recognises that his recent installation as such made history by his becoming the first South Asian-born cleric to be elected a Presbytery Moderator of any Presbyterian denomination in Scotland, as well as that of the national Church of Scotland; acknowledges the commendable outreach work that Rev’d Gohar has conducted to engage with and spiritually support the local community in Grangemouth since his moving to the congregation from Pakistan in 2008; further notes that this year also marks a quarter of a century since his ordination as a church minister at St. John's Cathedral in the Pakistani city of Peshawar where he had a fruitful and much-appreciated ministry among the Pashtun and Afghani communities of the North West Frontier; and wishes Rev’d Gohar continued success and fulfilment in his future pastoral endeavours within the Falkirk area and beyond.