Worshippers pack the the renovated church at the completion of its £2.2 million refurbishment programme

New-look Swiss church opens on time

Despite fears that it wouldn’t be completed by the deadline, workmen put in a last-minute effort to ensure that the completely renovated Swiss Church would re-open its doors on time.

The church, in London’s Covent Garden, was packed for the occasion, with the regular congregation joined by many guests, including Swiss Ambassador Alexis Lautenberg, Camden Mayor Omar Faruque Ansari, and the Rev Thomas Wipf, President of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches.

‘It was a very special moment in the history of the church,” said the Minister, Rev Nathalie Dürmüller. “With its excellent location and fine acoustics it will now be an important meeting point which will benefit many people.”

Services are being held on the first and third Sunday every month, but it will also be home for a variety of cultural and social events.

There will be a new series of concerts on the last Thursday of each month, starting with an organ recital on January 28.

This will be given by Mark Williams, a prominent figure on the international music scene. The evening will start with an introduction to the church's new Späth organ by Hilary Davan Wetton.

Future events include:

February 25: In Memoriam Edwin Fischer, who died 50 years ago. Pianist Patrizio Mazzola, winner of the Edwin Fischer Memorial Prize, will be playing some of Fischer's best loved pieces, as well as one of his own compositions.

March 25: Woodwind quintet, the London Myriad Ensemble, who won first prize in the second International Jewish Music Competition last year, will be performing a varied programme of wind music.

An appeal for sponsors for the new organ pipes has brought in £37,170 for 188 pipes. But there are a further 509 still to be ‘sold’.

Offers should be sent to: n.duermueller@gmx.ch.