IN October, Tesco announced that its store in Stornoway, the capital of the Isle of Lewis, would begin opening on Sundays. Despite some local opposition, this was widely seen as a further relaxation of the strict Sabbatarianism that held sway on the island into the 21st century (Sunday ferry sailings did not begin until 2009), and evidence of the encroachment of secularism even in the most famously religious area of Scotland.
Against this backdrop the Presbytery of Lewis is ‘pressing on under the Lord’s help’, says its Clerk, the Rev Ben Johnstone. “We are facing the challenges that every congregation in the country has to face, but we’re confident in God’s presence, wisdom and vision, and in his strength,” he adds.