Hundreds of pupils accept Jubilee Bible 19/1/13
Hundreds of pupils at the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway have taken up the gift of a Bible to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
The project was organised by the Lewis Branch of the Scottish Reformation Society with local secretary Rev David Campbell coming up with the idea of offering every secondary school pupil in Lewis a commemorative Jubilee Bible.
The branch contacted local churches throughout the island to invite participation and was overwhelmed with the response with 22 congregations from five different denominations all contributing towards the cost of the Bibles.
The presentation was intended to take place in August but, ironically, the huge demand nationally for the Jubilee Bibles caused something of a difficulty for the local Branch.
Mr Campbell said: "Due to the fact that the Jubilee edition was sold out twice last year – an encouraging fact – we did not get our consignment until November.
“This and other unforeseen delays meant that we could not fit the distribution into the school assembly calendar last year as at first we planned and had expected."
Local Branch Chairman Rev Andrew Coghill handed out the Bibles after the school assemblies on each day last week assisted by committee members Revs Graeme Craig and Greg MacDonald and school prefects. Secondary school pupils in Lionel and Shawbost were presented with their Bibles in November.