‘Georgian Christmas’

May Street Presbyterian Church  

Thursday 6 December 2007

A speech made at May Street Church by Councillor Jim Rodgers, Lord Mayor of Belfast 2006-07

I am very pleased to be here this evening for this Georgian Christmas on May Street. This is now the 3rd year of this event which started in 2004 to mark the church’s 175th Anniversary and has now become a very popular annual event.  

I would like to take this opportunity to commend May Street for its initiative and thank the members of the church for seeking to engage with the public and to look outwards, not inwards.

May Street  Church, a listed building, is one of Belfast's architectural gems but it is not a building that is stuck in time. May Street is on the tourist map now, and a steady stream of visitors make tracks for a look round the interior of the church each lunchtime. 

Indeed, during the current closure of City Hall for essential renovation, buildings such as May Street Church take on a renewed importance as far as tourists are concerned. I am very aware from speaking to tourists that they like to see the modern vibrant peaceful Belfast but they also want to appreciate the city's past... and no better place to do this than at May Street Church.

I would also like to acknowledge your contribution to Belfast’s night-life, with your Urban Soul jazz club. Isn’t it great that a basement, which was once used for BB drills, but which had been lying vacant, has been refurbished and transformed into a very attractive and atmospheric cafe where music is performed in a relaxed atmosphere every Thursday evening.    

With the £320m Victoria Square development due to open next March, this area of Belfast will be rejuvenated, and May Street Church will find itself in a prime location. 

Your mission statement is to engage with people in the community, in commerce and in crisis and there is no doubt there is a lot of work to be done. I recognise that this is a time of challenge for the churches in an increasingly secular society, but equally, it is a time of great opportunity for the community. This event shows that Christmas should be a celebration and May Street is right to celebrate not just its heritage but the Advent season.  

I would like to thank all the choirs who are participating this evening.
We have just heard from the children of St Malachy's Primary School from the Markets area and they were superb. A credit to their parents and to the teachers of the school. So, well done to them.  We look forward to hearing from Edenbrooke Primary School from the Crumlin Road, Grosvenor Grammar School and Strathearn School too.