Greenisland Church Prepares for Altered Christmas After Arson

Members of a County Antrim church, which experienced an arson attack earlier this year, have acknowledged that “Christmas is going to look different” while also emphasizing their efforts to leverage unforeseen opportunities. The September fire caused severe damage to The Church of the Holy Name and its associated parish hall, located in Greenisland. According to community chaplain the Reverend Chris Bennett, “Everything has changed. We have to hold services, events and clubs in different places, everything is up in the air.” He further stated, “We’re not going to have our usual services in our usual place but like everything else there is opportunities that come with that.” Reverend Dr Isobel Hawthorne-Steele commented that the preceding months had presented challenges as efforts were made to maintain community cohesion and conduct services and activities at alternative venues. Various events, including a Christingle workshop, the Mothers and Toddlers Christmas Party, the Santa With A Difference initiative, and the Miracle of Christmas concert, took place in nearby churches and community halls. Dr Hawthorne-Steele remarked, “The people who are running those particular establishments have been more than generous with us and that’s been really good as we have been able to carry on with all the activities that we do.” She added, “Of course there is always the fact it’s not our church and there’s bits of tension around timings and we have no real storage facilities but it has been good in the aspect of the community coming together.” Lorna Brown, who serves as the family and children outreach community worker for the parish, indicated that Christmas would be distinct for families this year. She stated, “The church have tried to put on much the same events as we have every other year to give families the same opportunities to get together as in other years.” Brown also noted, “The local families have been finding it very hard, the church is such a focal part of the community and the shop is such a big loss.” She further highlighted, “The community support has been phenomenal, the local school raising so much money.” Mr Bennett characterized the church’s destruction as “a bereavement,” given that numerous events, worship services, and prayers had taken place there over many years. Mr Bennett observed, “It has been amazing to just watch them hug and laugh together sometimes, there has been a lot of humour as there has been a lot of grief.” He also commented, “The support from the community has been overwhelming, I know three months later it shouldn’t keep surprising you but it keeps overwhelming and surprising me again and again.” Reflecting on the upcoming new year, Mr Bennett conveyed that he no longer anchored his hope to a particular date but rather to the individuals within the community. He expressed his hope “that the community will keep strengthening and the friendships that have grown over the last few weeks will continue to blossom.” Ms Brown further stated: “The local families in the community are very positive for 2025, they are positive that the church will be back, bigger and better than before.” She concluded, “The community wants and it needs the church back, there’s so much determination within everyone in the community.” The fire occurred following a weekend of music, food, and entertainment, which marked the church’s 70th anniversary celebration. Three boys, two aged 11 and one aged 10, faced arson charges in connection with the blaze. However, criminal proceedings were terminated prior to their scheduled initial court appearances. Dr Hawthorne-Steele indicated, “We are working with the young children who have been involved in starting the fire and that is exciting because they are coming to work with us on some reparation.” She added, “We are looking forward to that because we want to extend the love of Jesus to them.” Members of the parish had contributed photographs documenting weddings, baptisms, and other significant events held at the church throughout its history. Mr Bennett reported that they experienced immense joy and disbelief upon learning that firefighters had recovered the photographs, which had survived the fire.