Prìseil Ladies' Conference 2026

4. Ladies' Conference

The Conference will take place this year on Friday 12th (7:30pm-9:00pm) and Saturday 13th June 2026 (10:00am-4:00pm) in the Rev. M.A. Macleod Memorial Hall, Kenneth Street, Stornoway.

ABOUT PAULA

Paula Buchel lives in Guildford, Surrey. She, her husband, their three grown up children, two dogs and two cats, moved to Guildford from South Africa a year ago, and are loving the green Surrey Hills and the friendly community. Paula attends Millmead Guildford Baptist Church. This is Paula’s second time living in the UK, the previous being between 2010-2014, when she was based in London.

Much of Paula’s working life has been in business, in marketing and strategy consulting within the financial services industry. She has worked for banks in Johannesburg and London, global consulting firms Bain and Deloitte, and recently has set up on her own as an independent consultant in South Africa and the UK.

Interspersing her corporate career Paula has been blessed with wonderful opportunities to work in women’s ministry, notably as head of the “Inspiring Women” ministry of CWR, at Waverley Abbey, in 2013-2014. In this capacity she led and coordinated several women’s weekends and retreat days. After returning to South Africa in 2014 Paula took the CWR women’s weekend model and set up what has become an annual women’s weekend at Carmel Coastal Retreat, a Christian conference and holiday destination located on the beautiful Garden Route. These experiences have been incredibly fulfilling to see women drawing closer to the Lord and understanding His love and purpose for them.

Paula is passionate about teaching, equipping, coaching, and writing, which she has done in the business world as well as in ministry with women. She has thoroughly enjoyed writing for CWR’s women’s daily devotional, Inspiring Women Every Day.

This will be Paula’s first visit to Stornoway, and she is delighted to have the opportunity to come to the island, and to meet and spend time with the women who will join in fellowship over the weekend.

We look forward to having Paula with us.

More information on how to book your place at Prìseil Ladies' Conference 2026 will follow soon.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

Attending the High Free

Where and When

We currently do not have a building of our own yet but we are looking to have one built - click here for more information. In the meantime we use Sandwick Hall for our morning services and The Seminary (Francis Street, Stornoway) for our evening services. We also use the Fàilte Centre on Bayhead for our midweek meetings.

We always welcome visitors to our services and we are glad that you are considering visiting us! We know that attending somewhere new or for the first time can be rather daunting, so we have compiled some information below so you know what to expect…

Should you wish to visit our services or meetings and would like to let us know you are coming along, you are more than welcome to fill out the form below - although, whether you contact us prior to your visit or if you just turn up, we will make sure you get a warm and friendly welcome either way!

Name:
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Sunday Morning Service
11:00
Sandwick Hall

Sunday Evening Service
18:30
The Seminary

Tuesday Prayer Meeting - English
19:30
Fàilte Centre

Thursday Prayer Meeting - Gaelic
19:30
Fàilte Centre*

Friday Cuppa 'n' Cèilidh (over 55's) - Monthly
14:00 - First Friday of Month
Newton Centre, Seaforth Road

Saturday Prayer Meeting - English
19:30
Zoom**

*On the first Thursday of the month it is a joint Gaelic meeting with Stornoway Free Church in the Seminary.

**On the first Saturday of the month this is in the Fàilte Centre.

Accessibility
There is wheelchair access to all venues used by the High Free Church. If required, a first aid kit and wheelchair are to be made available in the following locations:

Sandwick Hall:
First Aid Kit - In the kitchen area inside the door nearest to the main entrance.
Wheelchair - In the crèche room to the right as you enter the building.

Seminary:
First Aid Kit - Kitchen area next to the exit door behind the pulpit.
Wheelchair - In the storage room through the exit midway down the sanctuary
on the left-hand side.

How to find us:

Sandwick Hall, The Seminary and the Fàilte Centre are marked below on the maps.

Sandwick Hall

The Seminary, Francis Street

The Fàilte Centre, Bayhead

Our Service

Our services are at 11am in Sandwick Hall and 6:30pm in the Seminary on Francis Street, Stornoway. During the morning service there is a crèche and, during term-time, Sunday School. Services generally follow this pattern:

Welcome & Intimations
Call to Worship
First Singing
First Prayer (Standing, if able)
Children’s Talk
Second Singing (Children leave for Sunday School)
Reading
Second Prayer (seated)
Sermon
Final Singing
Benediction

At the High Free our readings are taken from the English Standard Version Bible translation.

What to wear

This is up to you. We have some people who wear their suits, some who come smart-casual and some who come in jeans and T-shirt. Whatever you chose to wear you can be sure of a warm welcome!

What to take

All the words for the items of praise are projected onto a screen or hymn books will be given out as you enter the building. Take a Bible with you, a notebook and pen/pencil (if you wish) and yourself.

What about my kids?

We have a crèche available and a Sunday School. Crèche volunteers are in the first room on the right as you enter Sandwick Hall. The Sunday School leave after the second singing.