Every Sunday morning the bells at the Anglican Holy Trinity Church in Lyttelton would proudly ring out to remind people to head along for Sunday service; or to simply wake the community from it’s slumber.   Either way, many of us miss this Sunday morning ritual.

Back in 1852 the original church was built from wood and brick but the timber proved to be very green, and shrank, so swayed spectacularly in the high winds.  The congregation would assemble in terror and eventually the church was deemed unsafe, and was pulled down just five years later in 1857.  In 1860 the church was rebuilt from red rock sourced from local quarries, and sandstone from Quail Island.  It was the oldest stone church in the Canterbury area; forming a significant part of Lyttelton’s history.

Lyttelton’s landmark red stone church will receive a final farewell and deconsecrated service on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.   Everyone in the community is warmly welcomed to attend.

The future of a new church is very uncertain so it would be wonderful for the Anglican Bishop to see how much this church was valued, and remembered, in this community.