Callanish Free Church recently marked its 50th anniversary with a celebration in the community hall.
Although the actual anniversary was in 2021, the constraints of Covid meant celebrations were postponed until this year.
Rev Malcolm (Calum) Macdonald, minister, gave a brief history of the congregation and the two eldest members of the congregation, Mrs Agnes Maclennan and Mrs Chrissie Maciver cut the anniversary cake.
The evening was very well attended and joining the congregation were the Rev Kenny I Macleod and his sister Mairi Macaulay who father, the late Rev Norman Macleod, was the first minister of the congregation.
Rev Kenny I Macleod regaled the gathering with stories of his father’s time in Callanish. Both he and his sister came to faith whilst in Callanish and Mairi gave a word of personal testimony.
Elder Malcolm Mackay spoke appreciatively of his experience as a neighbour of the manse and his knowledge of all the resident ministers from the early eighties until the present.
Elder Iain Maciver gave a vote of thanks for the evening, which then concluded with a Gaelic and English Psalm singing and prayer.
The Free Church congregation of Callanish was affiliated with Carloway from as far back as 1844.
Following a request from the congregation in 1971, the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland agreed to the Callanish side forming a separate congregation.
A spiritual revival in the Callanish congregation in the 1960s had added impetus, strengthening their case to become a separate entity. Elders and Deacons were elected, and a new manse built, ready for the first minister of the new church.
The first minister, inducted in 1973, was Rev Norman Macleod. He and his family – his wife Mary and daughter Mairi – settled in the new manse. Their son Kenny I. Macleod, recently retired as assistant minister in Stornoway, was undertaking teacher training in Glasgow and later joined his parents and sister in Callanish when he secured a teaching post in Aird, Point. The Macleods spent fifteen happy years in Callanish until Rev Macleod retired in 1988 and moved to Stornoway.
Rev Neil Shaw then took up the role of pastor in 1988. He and his wife, Dolina, retired to Conon Bridge in 1999.
The present minister, Rev Malcom Macdonald and his wife Margaret, both hail from Shawbost. They came to Callanish in February 2001 along with their young family, Angus and Ann, leaving their previous charge of Pairc Free Church.
Callanish Free Church marks 50th anniversary
17 November 2023
Rev Malcolm Macdonald with Agnes Maclennan and Chrissie Maciver