Holy Trinity Anglican Church, [where the Rev. Neil Struthers serves]… is 141 years old…[and] had been condemned after February’s quake;… it completely collapsed on Monday “with this tremendous noise”.
His vicarage next door will almost certainly have to be demolished because the land it is on has been left unstable by the most recent quakes.
Although he admits “I don’t know where we go from here,” Mr Struthers is confident the church will be rebuilt soon.
Prayers would be especially appreciated. I have had contact with a few of colleagues further south, and this recent (and ongoing) sequence of aftershocks has really pushed people to the limits in so many ways – physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. There is a particularly poignant piece from +Victoria Matthews here
Terribly sad. I used to know a former vicar of that church. And I visited the Cathedral last year – impossible to think of the city without the Cathderal at its heart, but it now looks unsavable.
And St John’s Latimer Square is one of the flagship evangelical churches in the country.
Yes, keep praying for the church leaders, for energy and joy in Christ, and every grace to hold out hope to a shattered city.