Notable events held outside the church were rallies of the Māori Women’s Temperance League, led by the strong-willed female chiefs Pukepuke Tangiora and Akenehi Tōmoana. The league was well organised and acted as the women’s arm of the Māori Parliament, with their elected representatives sitting in the Whare Reiri Ladies House.
It was the Whare Reiri that passed laws for women’s suffrage and their suffrage rallies were held outside St Luke’s.
The old St Luke’s served the village well until the need for it to be replaced arrived. The last service was held on June 10, 1923, after which the building was deconsecrated, with eventual removal.
Visions of a grand Māori church for Heretaunga were being put in place by Paraire Tōmoana just prior to World War I, with land set aside for the building of a Māori Cathedral at Waipatu. While the Māori Cathedral was never realised due to the war, the opportunity to build a new church at Pakipaki was a rare one indeed for the “Carpenter’s Gothic” generation.
Pukepuke Tangiora was the main benefactor for the building of St Luke’s, and she held high expectations. Renowned architect James Chapman-Taylor was commissioned for a design and the plans were drawn up by local stonemason Charles Goffin, who presented two options for Chapman-Taylor’s design; a church without a bell tower and spire for £750, or £1000 with the tower.
High expectations prevailed, and the complete design was agreed to on November 27, 1922. The finest ecclesiastical brass was ordered from England, and an altar was commissioned from the carver Te Wheoro Poni of Te Arawa.
Framing the main road was the inclusion of a stone wall with iron gates dedicated as a WWI soldiers’ memorial. The memorial is in two parts, with the long side of the wall being a memorial to Pākehā soldiers who died during WWI and the short side a memorial to Māori soldiers. The walls physically reflect and acknowledge the scale of loss on both sides.
Flags of the Allied and Axis forces were flown above the walls for the big day of opening and representatives from the forces were in attendance, including an officer from the German Armed Forces.
The consecration was officiated by the Bishop of Waiapu and Bishop Azariah of India, who was on a tour of New Zealand. Azariah was welcomed to Houngarea Marae where he addressed the people in te reo Māori.
Stunned at hearing their own language from an Indian, they listened as he explained he was the first native-ordained bishop in the Church of England. He went on to encourage the push for their own Māori bishop, which eventuated with the ordination of Reverend Fred Bennett as Bishop of Aotearoa in 1928.
Following the ordination, the official party moved from the Cathedral at Napier to Pakipaki, where the new bishop gave his first service and sermon, beginning a tradition of Māori bishops delivering their first sermon at St Luke’s.
As a result of these historical events, St Luke’s holds great significance for Pakipaki and the Houngarea Marae. It really is deserving of being designated a Cathedral Church to hold the Bishop’s Cathedral here in Heretaunga, fulfilling the vision of the Māori Cathedral dreamed of by Paraire Tōmoana.
The centennial service will commence at 10am at Old Main Road Pakipaki on Sunday, June 18, with an Act of Remembrance at the memorial gates followed by a procession into the church to uphold the purpose for which it was intended, to praise God.
