SEI at St Peter’s, Stornoway

Prof Hull was honoured to preside and preach at the Sung Eucharist on Sunday 15 October at 11am at St Peter’s Scottish Episcopal Church, Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis. The Eucharist was served by second-year ordinand Anne Macdonald, a long-standing member of the congregation, who God-willing will be ordained in 2025.

St Peter’s Church was built 1837 to 1838, and dedicated in 1839. The chancel was added in 1954 by the Scottish architect George Macnab. The church itself is a simple harled rectangle with a pinnacle tower at its west end. The oak pulpit with carvings of saints came from King’s College, London. The stone bowl used as a font was brought from the Flannan Isles; it stands within a purpose-built baptismal font. The church’s stained-glass windows depict Faith, Hope and Charity, 1898; the Adoration of the Shepherds, 1954. The organ by Bevington & Sons was a gift from Lady Matheson in 1887 (restored in 1985 by Johnson of Derby).

St Peter’s is a thriving congregation in the Diocese of Argyll & The Isles. It is currently in a vacancy, as its former Priest-in-charge, the Rev Canon Peter Moger, accepted the post of Sub Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, in the Church of England, which began in September.

Prof Hull, the Principal of the Scottish Episcopal Institute, was on Lewis as part of SEI’s renewed efforts to engage the wider Scottish Episcopal Church it serves. SEI supports ordinands, students for lay ministries and all those engaged in deepening their Christian faith in the SEC. It does this through programmes of formation and learning, both onsite and online, that aim to nurture the discipleship of all the baptised in their shared response to the call of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Photo courtesy of Prof Hull