St John's Ōmāhu Church, pictured during the reopening ceremony. Photo / St John's Omahu
St John's Ōmāhu Church, pictured during the reopening ceremony. Photo / St John's Omahu
“Every nail, every brushstroke carries the aroha and resilience of our people.”
That’s how Archdeacon Zhane Tiopira Tāhau described a historic Hawke’s Bay church as it reopened to the community.
It’s been almost three years since Cyclone Gabrielle floodwaters tore through the settlement of Ōmāhu near Hastings, with the StJohn’s Ōmāhu Church at its heart.
The church, the oldest Māori Anglican church in Hawke’s Bay, was built in 1879.
The church congregation has been meeting across the road at Ōmāhu Marae in the interim but, following extensive restoration work, celebrated the grand reopening with special services and gatherings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s been nearly two years of steady work,” Archdeacon Zhane Tiopira Tāhau, 27, who is an Ōmāhu local and pastor at the church, said.
Flooding at the church following Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / St John's Ōmāhu
“This church is more than timber and glass – it’s the wairua [spirit] of Ōmāhu standing again.”
About 300 people gathered for the Friday evening ceremony and service – with a reopening blessing at the church gate before the congregation entered for a “rich and vibrant service” of prayer, song and thanksgiving.
Community members and leaders, church leaders including Archbishop Don Tamihere and Bishop Andrew Hedge, and the entire student bodies of Te Aute College and Hukarere College were in attendance.
“Our tīpuna [ancestors] built this place for generations to gather, pray and stand together – that purpose hasn’t changed," Tiopira Tāhau said of its future.
Inside the restored church, which can seat about 70 people. Archdeacon Zhane Tiopira Tāhau is seated left, near the new glass window. Photo / St John's Ōmāhu
The weekend celebrations concluded at the marae on Sunday with a service attended by about 350 people, which included 20 baptisms (from children to adults) and 57 confirmations.
As part of the restoration of the church building, new windows behind the altar were installed to honour three local chiefs – Renata Kawepo (who founded St John’s Ōmāhu), Paora Kaiwhata (who built St Mary’s at Mōteo), and Tāreha Te Moananui (who built The Church of the Evangelists at Waiōhiki).
That design reflected the three chiefs’ contributions to the Māori Anglican movement.
The first regular Sunday service at St John’s Ōmāhu Church will be held on December 7, as Sunday services are held on the first Sunday of each month (at 10am) and all are welcome.
“It is going to be a special time for Ōmāhu and the community that first Sunday,” Tiopira Tāhau said.
Restoration work on the church was led by Tiopira Tāhau and his wife Hinauri Tiopira Tāhau and supported by stalwarts of the congregation, including Evelyn Kupa, Hinemoa Hakiwai and Moana Ropiha.
