Here we will publish news from the Diocese of Europe
This is a draft of our Report to the Archdeaconry Synod 2025. Let Fr David have your comments!
Holy Trinity Las Palmas Gran Canaria: Report to the Archdeaconry Synod on 2025
Holy Trinity Las Palmas Gran Canaria: Report to the Archdeaconry Synod on 2025
This year has seen a steady growth in the life and outreach of Holy Trinity.
Holy Trinity Church is surrounded by gardens which provide space to meet after the Sunday service each week. The Church was built in the early 1890s and as such it is a centre of historical interest and we are obliged and delighted to open for tours several times a year. There have been several school groups on guided tours. Also, the church is used by a range of musicians from choirs to piano and harp soloists giving concerts which bring much delight and help with the upkeep of our lovely historic building. The Templars and the new Order of St Lazarus Group have also used the Church.
Holy Trinity is used by the Swedish church for their annual Santa Lucia service in December and two of the local English speaking schools hold annual concerts. The church is home to a Toddlers’ Group every week and they will be singing Little Donkey at one of our Christmas services.
We have had 4 Garden Parties in the Church grounds during the year which primarily are a wonderful way of meeting new people as well as raising funds. Our Treasurer and our Secretary (Mother and daughter duo) are the masters of baking providing us all with delightful goodies!
We are very blessed by a small team who have worked very hard on our gardens and we are most grateful to them all.
We have introduced 3 Songs of Praise Sunday services, where the congregation choose the hymns and music and, to date, these have been very popular.
We held a Care for Creation service in September during Creation season where we had a banner depicting a tree and invited the congregation to write pledges on leaves. This is an ongoing project!
Also, our Remembrance service is well attended and we continue to build strong links with the British Vice Consul.
One of the great joys is that we now have a Holy Trinity Church Choir which as well as leading some of our services have also been asked to sing in other places. We are most grateful to our Choir leader and to the members of the Choir for giving of their time and talents.
The building and grounds were used for filming in October and the transformation from church to film set was quite remarkable. We are waiting for the film to be released to see if we can spot the familiar places.
In May, a Memorial Service was held for a former member of the church and his ashes have now been laid in the British Cemetery, together with the ashes of a lady whose foundation kindly gives us money each year. More recently we had a dedication of a Memorial to a previous member of our congregation.
We have had 2 Wedding Blessings in the Church this year and one at a seaside venue. All were joyous occasions.
Woodworm in the organ has been treated and the organ has needed a new soundboard which has been installed by the man who originally installed the organ 25 years ago.
The wooden roof of the Church is showing signs of dis repair.
Groups and school visits are booked already for 2026 and plans are in place for Garden fairs etc. We are now looking at renovating the toilet but this takes time as architects and the Cabildo will be involved. Being a listed historical building we have to seek permission from the official channels for any work to be done to the church, gardens and the cemetery.
At the back of the Church we have a food bank which is run by our Honorary Curate and also an area for all the needs of the Toddlers’ Group and for children who come on Sundays.
As a Church Family we seek to reach out to other Churches and organisations and we are very blessed by having close relationships with the British Club.
Like all Chaplaincies, we are greatly blessed by all those people who give in so many ways to the life of the Church family and who, in their daily lives, quietly spread the Love of God to the people around them.
We are greatly blessed by visitors as well as by our faithful members and we will give you a very warm welcome if you are ever in Gran Canaria!
David and others participate in online groups in the Diocese, Archdeaconry and Chapter. Particularly good are the regular Morning Prayers which take place daily and are a good way of staying in touch with everybody.
Each morning at 8:00 GMT there is Morning Prayer in our Zoom Chapel. This has been continuing for the last 2 years and up to 20 people participate usually there are 5-6 each morning.
David has over 1800 followers for his TikTok talks. He normally asks 2 questions and suggests answers and tells a story. Each of these takes under 60 seconds.
However, these are some of the challenges which we face:
1. Deepening the spirituality in lives of our members
2. Restoring our buildings and gardens e.g. checking roof for woodworm, new toilet facility, new notice board, renovating and painting the outside walls of the church, improvement in the church lighting, more storage space etc. etc.
3. Reaching out to the underprivileged and those struggling the island
4. Improving our relationships with the Catholic Church in the island
5. Work with young people of all ages especially those in their teens
6. An enormous work is needed to let English speaking tourists know that the Church of England is available on the island not only for services but also for listening and support in difficult times
7. Inevitably growth brings challenges especially for people who have been faithful members of the Church perhaps over many years. We need to see this as a sign of life and growth.
8. A failure which we all have, to listen to what we do not want to hear, especially about the problems in the world.
