Happy Christmas to all our visitors to our website
A very happy Christmas to all our visitors on the Down and Dromore website.
At this time of the year you may well be visiting us to find out information about Christmas services in the parishes of the diocese. May I first of all say that all are welcome to join us at the Christmas services in any of our 120 churches. The diocese stretches throughout Co Down (including the parts of the City of Belfast on the Down side of the river Lagan) and extends into parts of Co Armagh, including Lurgan, Craigavon and the Seagoe part of Portadown.
If you would like details of services in a particular church in the diocese, you can find these out in a variety of ways:
.they may be on the page for that particular church under the ‘Parishes' section of this website, or
.they be on the parish's own website (there will be a link on the parish page if one is available), or
.if you need to you can ring one of the contact phone numbers on the Parish page.
Generally, there will be services at the normal morning times on Sunday 24 December (Christmas Eve), and most parishes will have a Midnight Communion, beginning at around 11.15pm or 11.30pm. Then, each church will have a service on the morning of Christmas Day.
In 2005, we probably had our biggest-ever Christmas attendances in the Diocese of Down & Dromore, with more than 20,000 people in church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
So, do take this opportunity to join with us to celebrate the birth of the One called ‘Emmanuel', which means ‘God with us'. After all, the very heart of Christmas is to worship the Christ-child.
Yours sincerely
+Harold Down and Dromore