Author: Lauren Harte

Saint George’s Singers raise voices and funds for sight loss charity RNIB NI

Leading sight loss charity RNIB Northern Ireland (The Royal National Institute of Blind People), was delighted to accept a generous donation of £800 from the Saint George’s Singers – a choir from St. George’s Church, Belfast.
 
Established in 1985, the cross-community choir raised this substantial amount from proceeds from a concert of madrigals and partsongs, directed by Mark McGrath and held on Tuesday 11 October at Belmont Tower, Belfast.
 
Chair of the Saint George’s Singers, Helen Blair, said: “I was delighted, on behalf of the choir, to be able to contribute a cheque for £800 to RNIB as a result of the recent fundraising concert at Belmont Tower in Belfast.”
 
Since those early days in 1985, the singers have become a well-established cross-community choir drawn from the Greater Belfast area and further afield. The choir are currently hard at work rehearsing for their traditional Christmas Concert that takes place in St. George’s Church, High Street, Belfast, on 13 December.
You can find out more about Saint George’s Singers via their website at www.saintgeorgessingers.co.uk
 
Hazel Stirling, Regional Fundraising Manager at RNIB, said: “Community fundraising like this is essential to enable us to be there for people affected by sight loss in Northern Ireland and across the UK. There are now 57,400 people living with sight loss in Northern Ireland and with generous donations like this, we can be there to provide vital support when it’s most needed.
 
“I want to sincerely thank all the members of the Saint George’s Singers and everyone who came along to support the concert in October. Working with communities to arrange events in aid of RNIB is so rewarding and it’s wonderful to see more and more groups and individuals able to return to charity fundraising again post-pandemic.”

Requiem for All Souls

Our Requiem for All Souls will take place on Wednesday 2nd November at 7.30pm. Every few years we revise the list from scratch and will do so this year. If you have a loved one you would like remembered by name at the service (even if they have been remembered in previous years) please write the name on the list in the church narthex or email the church office.

Belfast Half Marathon September 18th

The Half Marathon arranged for this coming Sunday is scheduled to pass St George’s at a critical time when choir and parishioners would be arriving and later leaving the 9.30am Eucharist or arriving for the 11.00am Choral Eucharist.
The Half Marathon organisers have advised that there will be no access to the churchyard from 9.20am and no entrance or exit before 11.00am.
The Rector has therefore agreed to the following service changes this coming Sunday:
9.30am Eucharist – cancelled
11.00am Choral Eucharist – delayed until 11.30am
5.00pm Choral Evensong – as usual at 5.00pm
The race organisers advise that access to the church can be granted via Victoria Street/May Street only.
We regret the necessity to alter service times but will continue to follow up this issue with the relevant race organisers.
We hope the Half Marathon traffic arrangements will be minimal when you travel but do allow some extra time.

Choral Evensong in memory of David McElderry

On Sunday October 2nd at 5pm, there will be a Choral Evensong to commemorate David McElderry’s life, and to celebrate the significant contribution he made both to St George’s and to the world of organ building.

David died in February 2021. A reception in the Parish Hall will follow the service. For those unable to attend in person, this service will be relayed on Facebook. Before the service begins, from 4.40pm, Jonathan Gregory, a previous Director of Music at St George’s, will play the organ. Mark McGrath will accompany the service and Dónal McCann will play at the end.

We will send out invitations to this service, to all those parishioners who are on our email list. If you know of anyone who might wish to come to this event, but whose name might not be on our email list, please bring this service to their attention.

EHOD: European Heritage Days

St George’s will be opening its doors and joining in this annual event, celebrating local architecture, history, and culture on Saturday, 10th and Sunday, 11th September 2022. But we will need help! We usually break the Saturday into 2-hour slots for volunteer assistance and serve tea and coffee in the narthex. We also open on the Sunday from 2pm to 4pm. The event brings many visitors from near and far into the church and is a very rewarding experience. Please speak to the Churchwardens or Judith Fawcett if you can spare some time to help. Thank you.