The future of St Peter's Church, Waipawa, is in question.
The future of St Peter's Church, Waipawa, is in question.
The future is looking uncertain for one of Waipawa’s historic landmarks.
Anglican Church leadership is seeking community input into the next steps for St Peter’s Anglican Church and keeping the doors open at St Peter’s, Waipawa, and St Mark’s in Takapau is in question, due to decreasing attendance and a lack of funds for maintenance and upkeep.
Public meetings have been called to discuss options for each church.
Waiapu Anglican Parish ministry educator Reverend Deborah Broome says the parish is at a crossroads.
“As with many churches worldwide, the parish has had a steep decline in congregation numbers over the last 15-20 years.Many of the regular attendees are elderly.
“Funds previously available to spend on buildings have also decreased. We are in a predicament.”
The interior of St Peter's Anglican Church, Waipawa, with the Pratley Memorial Window on the left.
The Anglican parish in Tamatea - Central Hawke’s Bay stretches from Ōtāne in the north to Pōrangahau, Onga Onga and Ormondville. It includes seven church buildings and two halls.
St Peter’s Church in Waipawa has a history dating back to 1860, when F.S. Abbott set aside four acres (1.6ha) for a church, cemetery and vicarage.
The original church was built of white pine, pit sawn in “the Bush” at Waipawa. It was finished in 1861 and dedicated in 1862.
The marble altar is topped with the 1000-piece Rathbone Memorial Window.
In 1876 the original church was moved to make way for a larger building to be constructed of “first class heart of totara”. This second church was consecrated in 1877. The tower and spire were added later, a donation from Lissie Rathbone in memory of her husband William who died in 1904. The new bell rang for the first time at the wedding of their daughter Elsie, in 1909.
St Peter’s Church was damaged during the 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake, and the opportunity was taken not only to repair, but to renovate and enlarge the church, helped by a bequest from the trustees of the late Lissie Rathbone.
The white marble rendition of Leonardo de Vinci's Last Supper above the altar is two metres long.
According to the book by Margaret McCoskery and Helen Ross, St Peter’s Waipawa, a Parish and its People, the old church was “enclosed in black building paper, covered with galvanised netting secured with nailed on bottle tops, and encased in plaster made to look like stone”.
The present altar was installed, made of chipped marble with an inset of paua shell Greek letters set in brass, supported by panels of green marble. The reredos or altarpiece of white marble, is a sculpture of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
The present pipe organ was also installed - “built on the most modern lines”, encased in a frame of heart rimu and fully guaranteed for five years.
The tower and spire were donated by Lissie Rathbone in memory of her husband William who died in 1904. As part of the 1933 alterations, it was raised by 2.5 metres.
Two memorial stained glass windows were also installed. One on the north end, presented by H. Pratley in memory of his brother Leonard, has one panel representing St Michael and the serpent and the other St Gabriel.
On the east end, a three-panelled window memorialises William and Lissie Rathbone. The middle panel, Suffer the Little Children, is three metres high and one metre wide, while the supporting panels Madonna and the Child and The Good Shepherd are each 2.4m high and 1.5m wide. The windows contain about 1000 sections of glass and took five months to create.
This newest version of St Peter’s was re-consecrated in 1934 and continues to be used today, but for a dwindling congregation.
Broome says: “The parish council recognises that churches are often an important part of the life of the community. This is why they want to include communities in consultations about the future Anglican Church presence and the future of the buildings.
The present pipe organ was installed in 1933 - “built on the most modern lines”, encased in a frame of heart rimu and fully guaranteed for five years.
“Where do people see the parish fitting into the community? If the parish was to sell or redevelop the land/building, who could be impacted? Are there other ways to resolve these issues, similar to the local trusts that operate in Ormondville and Ōtāne?”
St Mark’s Church in Takapau is used by Anglican and Presbyterian congregations, an agreement made in 2006. This has boosted the use of the building but spokesperson Dot King says a lot of maintenance is still needed despite it being newer.
St Marks was established in 1892, with the current church built in 1961.
“It is costing to maintain the building, and we have a declining, older congregation,” says Dot. “The younger parishioners have their own way of expressing their faith and a church isn’t about a building - it’s the people we want to connect with.”
No decisions have been made yet, says Broome, and church leadership would like to have community feedback so this can help shape what next steps will be taken.
“For a lot of people these buildings are part of their history, but for them to be part of their future something has to happen. Church is about the community, about connecting people with God and each other, and there are other options for worship. What do people want to do? We’re reaching into the community to ask.”
A meeting about St Peter’s Waipawa will be held in the church on November 5 at 6.30pm and the meeting about St Mark’s Takapau will be held in the church on November 19 at 6.30pm.
Anyone from the community is welcome, whether or not they have attended services at the churches.
