Christ Church, Londonderry

Earlier this year you may recall that we held a retiring collection to help the appeal for the restoration work at Christ Church, Londonderry. This was the former church of Margaret West where her late husband had been the organist for many years.


Ed. The following notes are an edited extract of a post on the Christ Church Music facebook page.

Christ Church was desecrated in September 2017 by two young men, a Nineteenth Century window smashed and the Wells-Kennedy Organ, a superb modern instrument much admired by the public and Organists alike, was extensively damaged. Further damage was done to the Nave and Chancel including damage to the Church Bible and the oak panelling of the Sanctuary.
Your donations helped enable the restoration work to be completed and on Monday 12th. November in Christ Church the Choir of Christ Church and Altnagelvin Hospital Choir joined with members of the acclaimed Musical Ensemble, Sestina, for a Thanksgiving Choral Evensong.

The public reaction was amazing. The Church was visited by an enormous number of well-wishers, concerts were given by numerous groups to raise funds and private and public donations of substantial sums of money were given without any reference to publicity or acknowledgement. It was truly breathtaking and a confirmation that from evil, good will prevail. Some £27,000 in excess of the required repair costs was raised and the Christ Church Select Vestry has agreed to match-fund this to establish a permanent musical foundation from which the interest will be used for the support of Choral Music in the area. This fund, approaching £60,000, will attract donations and legacies in the future to support the cultural well-being of the Derry Community, a truly wonderful outcome from this sorry event.

To find out more about the work our family in Christ do please follow the following link:http://cccmsp.derry.anglican.org