It was on a visit to our link diocese in Sri Lanka in October 2015 that Bishop Nick’s wife, Linda (a health visitor and a glass and community artist), noticed two broken windows in All Saints' Church, Galle (left).
Father Maxwell Doss, vicar of All Saints (below), says “Linda showed great interest in the architecture of the church and was very concerned to see the damaged windows. We were completely delighted when she offered to re-create the broken windows.
“She went to huge lengths to get the correct specifications and match the colour and size exactly. And then she arranged for the windows to brought here at Christmas. We are very grateful for her work, her artistic expertise and her generosity.”
Linda (right) says, “I was very pleased to be able to help. The logistics were a little complicated. I got them to send me the plans and then when David Ison (former Dean of Bradford, now Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral) visited I asked him to bring back the broken window so I could make sure the size and colour were an exact copy.
“It was then a question of how to get the new windows to the church. We discovered that the son of a colleague, Andrew Hesselwood (left), would be spending Christmas in Sri Lanka, so he was able to deliver them on Christmas Eve”.
Fr Maxwell adds, “We held a blessing and thanksgiving service at the Christmas Eve Mass – it was a wonderful Christmas gift to the church!
“The windows will be installed later in the year. We send our sincere thanks to Linda, Bishop Nick, Bishop Dhiloraj and his dear wife Harshini (who made this contact possible), the Ven Dr Rienzie Perera and our church renovations committee for all their support and prayers in this matter.”
Our link with Sri Lanka
Lying off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka is a beautiful tropical island which gained independence from British rule in 1948.
The Diocese of Leeds has a link with the two Anglican dioceses: Colombo and Kuranegala which form the Church of Ceylon.
Anglicans are a minority within a minority. Most Christians are Roman Catholic, and Buddhists (70% of the population), Hindus and Muslims outnumber Christians. The church is still one of the few places where Tamil and Sinhalese people can worship freely together. (For 25 years, 1986-2009, a bitter civil war took place between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority in the north east.)
When the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck in December 2004, over 35,000 people were killed, leaving no family untouched. In Yorkshire, more than £100,000 was raised and a group of teachers went to see what further help could be offered.
Read more about the diocesan link with Sri Lanka here.