An island congregation could soon have a permanent place of worship thanks to a local landowner.
High Free Church Stornoway has unveiled plans to construct a church building in the village of Steinish.
The church was established as a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland in 2014.
For almost a decade, the group has been making use of community buildings such as Sandwick Community Hall, the Free Church Seminary and the Failte Centre in Bayhead while they searched for permanent accommodation.
Now High Free Church Stornoway has been given a piece of land – paving the way for the group to build a base of their own.
Local landowner Iain Scott donated the land. However in February it was sold to Mark Macdonald, who agreed to uphold Mr Scott’s wishes to transfer it to the church.
Plans have now been lodged with Western Isles Council to build a multi-purpose building on croft land north of the Lewis and Harris Auction Mart.
If approved, ground works on the Simons Road project could begin as early as September, taking around 12 months to complete.
Supporting the needs of the congregation
Reverend Hugh Ferrier hopes the building will also be used by the wider Steinish community.
He said: “As a minister, I have felt my ministry has been quite limited because of a lack of facilities. Our elders and the congregation have felt the same.
“We are having to ask other people if we can make use of their buildings for things as basic as a wedding or a funeral and we are having to pay rent on buildings, which is a cost to the congregation.
“There is also that feeling of uncertainty when you don’t have a permanent location. If you have a permanent building, there is a feeling that you are here for the long haul rather than a temporary congregation.
“In Steinish, we don’t want to be a congregation that hides away on a Sunday. We want our building to be used by people and be a benefit to other people as well.”
The congregation wants to build a single-storey building, complete with a vaulted sanctuary and annexe, a Gaelic room, two classrooms, a creche and a vestry, as well as kitchen and bathroom facilities.
The building will accommodate around 252 people within the sanctuary area with room for an additional 30 individuals in the Gaelic room.
A church car park will also be created on the grounds, providing spaces for 94 cars and three disabled spaces.
It is the congregation’s intention to make these parking facilities available for community use, including on sale days at the local Auction Mart.
‘We don’t want to be creating walls, barriers and divisions’
Rev Ferrier says the community’s response to the plans has been mixed so far.
He said: “I’m aware that there are some who are extremely excited about it, but I have also been made aware of others who are less than enthusiastic.
“My hope is, should the building go up, in due course, they may feel able to make use of the building.
“We don’t want to be creating walls, barriers and divisions between the church and the village. It’s a building we hope will serve the congregation but will also be a building that we hope will serve the community of Steinish.”
Conversation