Press Releases
Reopening of Refurbished St Thomas' Church, Belfast
St. Thomas’ Parish Church on Belfast’s Lisburn Road will be officially reopened on Friday 19 September 2008 at a Service of Thanksgiving at 7.30pm. The service will be conducted by the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, and the Rector of St Thomas’, the Revd Canon Walter Lewis. The preacher will be the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, the Most Revd Alan Harper OBE. The re-opening follows an extensive year-long restoration and re-ordering of the Church for the purposes of worship and flexible parish and community use.
Built in 1870 and designed by renowned Belfast architects Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon, the church is a gem of ecclesiastical architecture. The restoration has brought the building back to life and has included cleaning the stone work and stained glass windows as well as the laying of an attractive new floor throughout the building. New lighting has been carefully located to accent the striking stone work and vaulted roof. The rear of the church has been opened up to allow for a range of extra parish activities.
Speaking about the recent restoration, Canon Walter Lewis said, ‘St Thomas’ is now a truly beautiful, inspirational and attractive building – a shining example of the very best that can be achieved in the work of restoration and re-ordering. The work carried out has tremendously enhanced this exquisite building for use in the 21st Century’. Bishop Alan Abernethy further commended the work at St Thomas’, saying, ‘This demonstrates a most creative way of using a church building to enable worship and also to be a facility for the local community’.
The Service of Thanksgiving will see a congregation of 500 people – including distinguished guests, civic dignitaries and elected representatives – and 40 clergy from across Ireland and further afield gathering to mark the occasion. The Archbishop of Armagh and Bishop of Connor will be joined by the Bishop of Down and Dromore; the Bishop of Clogher; the Bishop of Linköping of the Church in Sweden; and former Bishops of Limerick and Down and Dromore.
The restoration work has been carried our by Consarc Conservation Architects under the guidance of Dawson Stelfox and Robert Miles, and has benefited from grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (formerly Environment and Heritage Service).
For further information, contact:
Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland House
61-67 Donegall Street
Belfast BT1 2QH
Tel: (028) 9023 2909; Fax (028) 9032 3554
Mobile (Paul Harron): 07787 881582