PROTESTERS PRAYED and sang psalms as the first Sunday ferry set sail from Stornoway on the Hebridean Island of Lewis for the Scottish mainland yesterday.
After a long and vociferous campaign by churches and the Lord’s Day Observance Society to keep the Sabbath holy, ferry operators Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) finally broke with tradition to launch a regular Sunday service to Ullapool.
Gathered behind a banner reading “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, a group of women wiped away tears as cars were loaded aboard the MV Isle of Lewis. But another group of several hundred people applauded.
The service was introduced after CalMac claimed it would be unlawful to refuse to run a service because of the views of just a part of the community.
But the Rev James Tallach, of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, said: “CalMac made a great play that they must keep the law. Well, I ask them, what about the law of God?”
Uisead Macleod, a spokesman for the Campaign for 7 Days sailings, said that the majority of islanders were in favour of the Sunday service. – (Guardian news)