About

Welcome to the blog site of Holy Trinity Church, Funchal, Madeira. The church has stood for 185 years and is a vibrant part of life for dozens of British residents on the island and for many thousands of people from all countries of the world. Throughout the year our weekly congregation averages 150, of which some 90% are non-resident: tourists from hotels, timeshare resorts and cruise ships. We like to think that this huge number of worshippers is a tribute to the faith which supports us all, the history, beauty and grandeur of our church and the friendship and fellowship we provide. Our visitors come from many different Christian traditions and all are welcome to share fully in our worship and take communion with us: our church is truly a house of prayer for all people.

The church family here strives to fulfil its mission by maintaining the buildings and grounds of the church to provide a benign and beautiful environment and to make this environment available for as much time as possible so that Christians may gather together to worship our Lord in an atmosphere of joy and friendship. This is an inclusive church; whoever you are and wherever you are from you will be welcomed as a fellow pilgrim.

The chaplain and pastoral team are here to provide practical support and comfort and are always pleased to help when asked. We are mainly called on by the English-speaking community but we will do our best with any requests we receive. The chaplain is a trustee of the British Community Benevolent Fund.

We try to make Holy Trinity Church a centre of life for the English speaking community here, whether resident or visiting. One opportunity for this is at our regular coffee mornings held on Saturdays in the library of the Parsonage from 10.30 am onwards. Your hosts for this well-attended informal get-together are Ed and Helen Barrow. No alcohol here, but a cup of tea or coffee and usually home made cakes are available and books, videos and plants are for sale.

The Church Grounds are available to be used by other groups by arrangement. For example the International school uses the garden for their Sports/Open days. We hope that in the future, the garden will be very much more accessible for these purposes.

 As a part of our Mission and Giving we support International, National and Local charities. We feel that this is an important part of the churches’ work. For many years the church has supported orphanages both on Madeira and in the Holy Land. Recently we have supported a local charity which is assisting those in great need in the community. They provide shelter, clothing, food and care as well as temporary overnight accommodation, with nursing care if needed.

Our Lent and Holy week retiring collections support an International charity of our choice.

We publish a quarterly newsletter which is sent out to The Friends of Holy Trinity and others interested in our church.