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Bicentenary Celebrations
The Bicentenary Committee has been working hard putting together a program of events for the celebrations. We would like to give an update on how things are going and inform you of some forthcoming plans.
Concert series
So far, we have had four concerts in this series: an organ recital by Cameron Luke in September 2024, a performance in January this year of French organ music from Peter Black, Cameron Luke and Christopher Cockburn. In February, Cathedral musicians presented a concert called “Baroque and Beyond”. This past month, we had a performance from three flautists and a pianist from the Rhodes Department of Music. All these concerts have been successful, being well received and drawing audiences of a hundred and more. Concerts have been scheduled for 5pm on the 3rd Sunday of every month (except April, which will be on the 4th Sunday, as the 3rd Sunday is Easter Day) up until Michaelmas. The culmination of this series will be the spectacular Gala Concert to be held on the Saturday of the Michaelmas weekend. The full concert schedule is available on the notice board at the back of the Cathedral. Peter Black is largely in charge of this project.
Lecture series
Later in the year (around August and September), we will be launching a series of public lectures. We shall be inviting various people to give talks on topics relevant to the Cathedral and Anglicanism in South Africa. John Jackson has taken on the leadership of this particular aspect of the celebrations.
Passover Supper
Jessica Lloyd-Jones has put together a team who is actively organising a celebration of the Passover Seder, which will take place on the Wednesday evening of Holy Week in St George’s Hall. This will be a ticketed event, as supper is an integral part of proceedings. We will be using a Christian adaptation with a commentary on the Jewish Seder which explains the significance of the feast to Christians today.
Parish Dance
During September, we will be hosting a Parish Dance. Rodney has assembled a team who have begun arranging this. The intention is to have a live band for at least some of the dance. We anticipate that this will be a fun event to get everyone together and enjoy each other’s company. This will also be a ticketed event.
Cathedral Tours
On Saturdays there have often been visitors to the Cathedral, and this inspired us to reach out to tourists and Grahamstown locals to bring them to the Cathedral! Glyn is writing some notes which will make it possible for parishioners to be trained in giving tours of the building, which we hope to present every Saturday. This will be advertised to the people of Grahamstown. Special tours can also be arranged for schools.
Church cleaning days
The building is in need of some TLC, so it would be great to have parishioners come in regularly to help get the building in order. A monthly cleaning event would be a great way of building camaraderie and bringing the community together, as well as beautifying the house of God.
Michaelmas
The grand finale to our celebrations will be the Michaelmas weekend, which will include many exciting events. This will include a spectacular Festival Eucharist with incredible music. We have arranged for the Archbishop to be invited to this, and would like to have as many bishops, deans and other dignitaries to come join us as is possible. The Cathedral choirs have already started working on the music.
Bicentenary Appeal
A celebration like ours is a great opportunity to start initiatives and raise funds for specific projects which will benefit the cathedral for decades and centuries to come. It was decided that the projects should have visible and/or audible effects which will give a tangible reminder of the celebrations for posterity. After several lengthy discussions, the following initiatives are the ones with which the committee wishes to proceed.
North Porch gates
The security of the Cathedral has been of increasing concern in recent months. The committee feels that one way of mitigating the security risk is to have the day-to-day access to the Cathedral through the North Porch rather than the west door, and for the North Porch to have gates through which access can be controlled. During the week, the gates could be locked, and visitors could ring a doorbell to request entry. The advantage of using the North Porch with wrought iron gates for this is that the verger would be able to see who is wanting to enter. This is not the case with using the west porch under the tower, as one cannot see through the wooden doors with their frosted glass. These gates will also be a tangible reminder of the bicentenary celebrations, as the design will incorporate reference to the bicentenary.
Choir Desks
It is very common in Cathedrals and large parish churches around the world for the choir stalls to be equipped with raised desks to hold the music while choristers are singing. This would be extremely beneficial for our choirs, and an elegant and decorative addition to the chancel. Members of the Grahamstown Woodworkers’ Guild have been approached and agreed with the feasibility of the project and were keen to be involved. The choir desks will be designed with an integrated lighting solution. This would then be constructed by members of the guild.
Organ rebuild and renovation
The last major rebuild of the organ was around 50 years ago. Since then, the organ has undergone lots of maintenance and repair work, which has kept it usable, but the piecemeal nature of this work means that the instrument is no longer at a reasonable performance standard. The repair work done after the lightning strike in 2020 brought the organ back into a functional condition, but some parts of the action connecting the manuals to the pipes was replaced and other parts were not. This has resulted in the “feel” of each of the manuals being very different, which makes playing the instrument a very unsettling experience. Also, the experimental placement of various parts of the organ within the chamber has not been successful and has resulted in an instrument which is of limited use in accompanying choirs and services. Parts of the organ are extremely dirty and others now beyond reasonable repair and will require replacement. If the wind reservoirs (bellows, currently in the crypt room) need re-leathering this too will be a major piece of work. As it stands, the organ is (if cleaned and overhauled) a reasonable parish church style and standard instrument but hardly a quality instrument worthy of a cathedral with high musical standards. A panel of organists, including members of the committee, was requested to come up with a list of requirements and desires to bring the organ up to a good concert standard. Expressions of interest are being sought from firms in South Africa and overseas to take on the necessary work.
This will be the largest project undertaken through the bicentennial appeal, and work will likely continue for some years to come. External funding is being investigated, but some of the cost must be contributed by the Cathedral community.
Bell tower
It is our fervent wish that the bell tower be fully operational by Michaelmas, with a team of ringers ringing the whole peal of bells. This is dependent on the outcome of the structural survey of the tower. If the report indicates a need to do repair work on the floors, the Bicentenary Appeal will include funds for this. The Cathedral bells are of significant national importance, being the first full peal in the whole of Africa and still the heaviest peal in the country, a major part of our city’s landscape and experience, and they have been silent for over five years. Residents who are not members of the cathedral congregation have spontaneously asked members of the committee about the bells and when they would hear them rung again, as they had been missing the sound for the last five or more years.