Our Minister

Please note: Hayley will be on maternity leave from 13th June 2022 - 20th June 2023 and will not be working during this time. The Rev Tony Thornthwaite will serve as Locum Minister and Interim Moderator while she is on leave. 

The Rev Hayley Cohen was ordained and inducted as our minister in December 2020. 

Hayley's passions for ministry lie in building relationships, encouraging people to go deeper in their walk with God, and welcoming God's Kingdom of justice, peace, and love here on earth.

Growing up in an interfaith family, she is an advocate for Jewish-Christian dialogue and seeks to encourage Christian understanding of the significance of Judaism to the origins of the Christian faith. 

​Hayley is originally from New Jersey in the United States. She received her B.A. in Religion from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, where she spent a year exchange at New College at the University of Edinburgh in 2010. She received her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2016. Hayley trained for ministry in the Church of Scotland at St Andrew's Clermiston in Edinburgh and prior to transferring into the Church of Scotland, trained for ministry in the PC(U.S.A.). After her Masters degree, she worked for a year in the Holy Land with Tantur Ecumenical Institute.

Hayley lives in Musselburgh with her husband, Ross, and their Finnish Lapphund, Mäyrä (Mao-rah). In her free time she enjoys bird watching, yoga, knitting, painting, watching RuPaul's Drag Race, singing and playing the Ukulele. 

Kirk Session
Northesk is governed by members of the congregation called Elders. Elders are ordained persons within the congregation elected by the church. Elders make up the Kirk Session, which oversees the local congregation and its parish. The Kirk Session is moderated over by the minister. Northesk has 14 elders. Among the Elders is a Session Clerk and a Deputy Session Clerk, who serve as the 'right hand people' to the minister. Our Session Clerk is Heather Duffy and our Deputy Session Clerk is Sheelagh Carradice.

The Kirk Session serve as Trustees of Northesk and are responsible for the day to day functioning of the church. They are responsible for matters related to worship, pastoral care, social activities, property, fundraising, finance, worship, communications, and Christian education in adults and children.