Goodbye 2024
We have sadly come to the end of our centenary year, but wow! What an incredible year it was! We decided it’s only right to take a moment to reflect and reminisce over the highlights of 2024. The year we’ve had would not have been possible without your support, thank you so much for visiting and donating to the cathedral over the last year, let’s remind you what you have helped us achieve.
The year began with our successful rebrand, a celebration of 100 years of the Cathedral, filled with amazing services, events, installations, and so much more! It was also a move that looked forward to our bright future and all the amazing moments we still have to come. Our stunning cathedral stood elegantly through a snowy January, filled with warming services and the song of the choir. February brought us a Candlelight Concert for Valentine’s Day. Visitors joined us for an enchanting night of music and romance, as we turned off our lights and listened to the talented musicians from ‘Fever’ under the gentle glow from the light of thousands of candles. In March we hosted the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards Ceremony, where we proudly won the ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year! Towards the end of March, we hosted an important exhibition: ‘Slavery and Repentance- African Enslavement and the Church’. We invited visitors to explore our contested heritage, hear from affected voices in our community and reflect on the narrative that shaped our history. We confronted our past and proceeded in our journey towards reconciliation.
Spring was upon us! we held and array of services around the easter weekend, allowing visitors to connect with the spiritual aspect of easter, away from the modern festivities. And as the sun started shining, it was time for our insightful tours to the outside spaces of our wonderful cathedral.
May came around Quickly as ‘Infinite Encounters arrived at the Cathedral! This captivating exhibition of artworks by Rasheed Araeen, Myriam Thyes, Neringa Naujokaite and Frances Disleye, engaged our visitors with all their senses! The public became in touch with sound, touch, sight, smell and even taste, with this interactive piece of art. Spring was full of more incredible services, the standout being Handel’s Messiah. It received a fantastic turnout that brought the cathedral to life for an evening of community and music. At the end of May we held another candlelight concert by Fever, this time providing a mesmerising rendition of Hans Zimmer’s music, wrapping up a busy spring in a beautiful manor.
Summer had arrived, and preparations were in place in celebration for our 100th Birthday! The Museum of Liverpool hosted a special month-long exhibition, celebrating the heritage of our beloved cathedral with artefacts from our archives. We then hosted the Liverpool John Moores University’s graduation ceremonies and enjoyed seeing all the smiling faces over a celebratory few days. But it was now time for us to do some celebrating of our own as the 19th of July marked the centenary of our consecration!
We celebrated 100 years since the construction of the cathedral with an incredible service full of joy. We looked back on the history the cathedral has witnessed, including the two world wars and looked forward with excitement for the years to come. In August, the long-anticipated works by Anish Kapoor arrived. ‘Monadic Singularity’ was Kapoor’s first solo exhibition ina Cathedral which encapsulated the artist exploration of the human body. A sequence of breathtaking sculptures stood with aura in our cathedral’s neo-gothic interior.
As autumn approached, we held our charity abseil event! We had brave souls from all walks of life descend our tower to raise money for charity, including an 84-year-old and a host of drag queens! A chilled-out autumn was filled with cosy services and coffees at the Wellsford Bistro as we prepared for the festivities of Christmas.
In November our incredible Choir landed in Cologne where they shared their amazing talents in Cologne’s beautiful cathedral. We were honoured by the news that Liverpool Cathedral would feature on the Royal Mails Christmas first class stamp, delighted by the thought that our beautiful building would be shown all around the world.
It was now the festive season, we had an amazing calendar filled with events including a variety of concerts, wreath decorating, breakfast with Santa and Darkness to Light. But one event stood out- The Light Before Christmas- Starlight. For the third time, art company Luxmuralis brought their incredible light show to Liverpool Cathedral. Visitors immersed themselves in the stunning projected light show, which told the story of the nativity. This was the perfect way to get into the festive swing.
Wow! So much happened in 2024! Thank you so much for your incredible support. We are so grateful to all our visitors and those who donate to the Cathedral. We will continue with this success and can promise that 2025 will be even better, with lots of exciting plans in place !
Exploring the Sunday Gospel – Epiphany