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The Anglican Church of All Saints

Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife North

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    • Who’s Who
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    • Our church… 130 years in the making
    • Stained glass windows
    • ‘The Light of the World’
    • Memorial to Flight 1008
    • Garden of Remembrance
    • The English Cemetery
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    • Licensing Service – 6th August 2020
    • Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2020
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    • Remembrance Day 2019
    • Church Rededication 2016
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Memorial to Flight 1008

THE CHURCH GARDENS are home to a very special memorial, a Rose Garden dedicated to the memory of the 146 passengers and crew who lost their lives when Dan Air charter flight 1008 inbound from Manchester to the Tenerife North airport of Los Rodeos crashed in the nearby forest of La Esperanza on 25th April 1980.

The anniversary of the disaster is marked each year at the Sunday service nearest to the date as the congregation gather in the garden to remember those who died that day.

The crash happened after the flight deck crew wrongly executed an unpublished holding pattern in an area of high ground, resulted in the aircraft’s destruction. The aircraft was flying in cloud when it struck the mountain. The impact resulted in the aircraft’s complete disintegration, killing everyone on board, and leaving a debris trail 350 metres long.

The official (Spanish) investigation concluded that the cause of the accident was that the pilot in command, without taking account of the altitude at which he was flying, took the aircraft into an area of high terrain and thereby failed to maintain a safe height above the terrain.

However, a British addendum to the report found that tardy and ambiguous directions from air traffic control regarding the unpublished hold directly contributed to the disorientation of the aircraft commander. The addendum also found that the unpublished track onto which the aircraft was directed required tight turns to be flown. These were practically unflyable, making entry into the region of high ground inevitable for an aircraft flying this track, even without the navigational errors.

Further, the addendum found that the directed altitude of 5,000ft was inadequate for this holding pattern, and that the minimum altitude for entry into the holding pattern should have been 8,000ft, with a minimum altitude of 7,000ft for the pattern itself, had a minimum safe altitude calculation been performed ahead of time by a competent authority. The addendum concluded that the accident would not have occurred if the aircraft had not been cleared below 7,000ft.

A memorial in Southern Cemetery, Manchester commemorates the victims of the disaster, whose names are inscribed on a series of slate tablets within a small grassed enclosure.

The memorial to those who lost their lives in the Dan-AIr Flight 1008 crash in Southern Cemetery, Manchester.

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The English Cemetery

The English Cemetery in Puerto de la Cruz.

ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH has responsibility for the upkeep of a walled cemetery in the town of Puerto de la Cruz.  It is situated in the heart of Puerto de la Cruz, next to the headquarters of the National Police, in an area surrounded by hotels.

Over many years, several generations of foreign families who settled in this tourist town have been laid to rest there.

Recovery of the English Cemetery at Puerto de la Cruz owes much to the great effort made over many years by All Saints’ and the contributions made by the church and its parishioners in meeting the expenses of maintaining the site.

Burials, at present, are infrequent; this does lead to difficulty in retaining a maintenance fund, but the premises are kept in good order and reasonable repair. A group of volunteers keeps the grounds tidy.

Recently a ramp has been installed to make access easier for wheelchairs and the whole cemetery has been re-plastered and repainted.

More information about many of the people who are buried here may be found at: FindaGrave.com

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Our church… 130 years in the making

Rededication
Church rededication on Sunday 13th March 2016 by Bishop David Hamid.

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH of All Saints in Parque Taoro, Puerto de la Cruz, is over 130 years old, making it the oldest Anglican church in Spain.

Peter Spence Reid “Don Pedro”

Many visitors to Tenerife are surprised to find an English-style church here. This small enclave of the Church of England owes its existence to a handful of dedicated Christians who, in the late 1800’s, met each Sunday for Morning Prayer. These Services were read by the British Vice-Consul, Mr Peter Spence Reid.

Donations were given by people of many different nationalities and denominations towards the eventual building of All Saints’ Church, in what was then known as Puerto Orotava and is now Puerto de la Cruz.

The first service was held in the church on 14th June 1891 but due to an outbreak of smallpox there was no formal opening at that time. That was delayed until 1st November 1891 when it was dedicated as All Saints’ Church. On 15th January 1893 the Rt Revd Ernest Graham Ingham, the Bishop of Sierra Leone, in front of a congregation of 189, formally consecrated All Saints’. We have on the wall a copy of the Deed of Consecration.

Brass plaque
The brass plaque that commemorates three lives lost in the First World War.

Another historical feature in our Church is a Font with a brass plaque in memory of three parishioners who were baptised in the church and subsequently lost their lives in World War One; a tablet bears the inscription “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart all your soul and all your strength”. There is also a beautifully carved wooden pulpit. The east wall behind the altar has a carved oak reredos in memory of a previous parishioner.

The original Pipe Organ in the church was a Bevington built in the UK around the turn of the 20th century. The interior workings of this have been removed, though the front pipes have been retained to enhance the overall appearance of the church. Today’s modern, digital Johannus organ sits in front of the Bevington in the Sanctuary. It was installed during a considerable programme of renovations carried out in 2016, made possible in the main by the generous donations of two members of the congregation.

The construction of All Saints – sometime around 1890-91.

On Sunday 13th March 2016 Bishop David Hamid re-dedicated the church and its new organ. More pictures from the rededication ceremony can be found by clicking on this link Church Rededication March 2016

The building is Early English Gothic style with pairs of lancet windows to the side aisles. In the Sanctuary there is on the south wall a large scale reproduction of the Light of the World by Holman Hunt.

We also have some wonderfully vibrant stained-glass windows depicting figures of the prophet, apostle and martyr and the wording from Te Deum. Some of these windows were brought over from America around the time the church was built.

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Garden of Remembrance

IN THE CHURCH grounds, to the rear and to the right of the church building itself, is a memorial garden, where the ashes of deceased members of the church congregation can be interred.

This shaded and sheltered area provides a place of quiet contemplation for family and friends.

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All Saints’ Church is part of the Anglican Communion
Diocese in Europe.

Latest Newsletter

August 2022 Newsletter

All Saints’ Social Media Links

Follow @allSts_tenerife

Services & Events Schedule

SUNDAY:
11:00am – Sung Eucharist

WEDNESDAY:
10:00am – Holy Communion
11:15am – Bible Study & Prayer Group


For the latest information about Car Boot Sales (updated 14th June 2022), please click here.

For the list of dates of future quizzes through to June 2023, please click here

Contact Us – Who’s who

Chaplain:  Vacancy
tel: +34 605 48 67 92
email: allsaintsnorthtenerife@gmail.com
Assistant Priest:
The Revd Rachel Ganney
tel: +34 672 83 47 11 (WhatsApp)
email: rachel@ganney.net
Reader:
Peter Lockyer
tel: +34 922 37 03 28
email: allsaints@lynx3.eu
Congregational worship leader:
Judith Rigby
tel: +34 711042849
email: rigbyjudith59@gmail.com
Church Wardens:
Wendy Sanderson
tel: +34 922 32 09 78
Dawn Rutherford
email: dawnr30@hotmail.co.uk
Safeguarding officer:
Judith Rigby
tel: +34 711 04 28 49
email: safeguardingpuertotenerife@gmail.com
Hon Treasurer:
Cheryl Douglas
email: cheryl6921@hotmail.com
Chaplaincy Council Secretary:
Kath Delgado Cabrera
tel: +34 615 22 23 11
email: kath.delgadocabrera@gmail.com
Organist:
Rayco Gonzales
tel: +34 699 64 94 54
email: raycobrito@hotmail.com

LINKS TO KINDRED SITES

St Francis’ Anglican Church,
Tenerife South

La Palma Anglican Church

The English Library, Tenerife

The Friends of Tenerife

Ecumenical links

In der Anglikanischen Kirche in Puerto de la Cruz hält die Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Teneriffa Nord sonntags regelmäßig um 17 Uhr deutschsprachige Gottesdienste für ihre Mitglieder, Urlaubsgäste und interessierte Besucher.  Im Gemeindehaus hinter der Kirche befinden sich Gemeindebüro und Gemeinderäume. Hier und im dortigen Gartengelände wird bei vielerlei Gemeindeveranstaltungen ein geselliges Beisammensein gepflegt – Tel. 922 374 964.

OUR GERMAN Lutheran Brothers and Sisters also use the church for their Sunday Services and social events.  They have an office at the Parsonage and can be contacted by telephone on 922 374 964  Their office hours are displayed by the main door to the Parsonage.

We also have Ecumenical Links with the Scandinavian and Finnish churches in Puerto de la Cruz.

© 2023 All Saints Church, Tenerife • Built by Ken Sheldon on the Genesis Framework