A church service in an underground car park was a new experience open to Whanganui people on Good Friday morning.
It was held in the basement car park near St Paul's Presbyterian Church, in Cooks St. There were 143 attendees, St Pauls-St Marks Presbyterian Church pastoral care worker Shirley Spooner said.
The speaker at the service was Raewyn Overton-Stuart. Her husband Tony led the music, which included a song he had written himself.
"It was a powerful, moving service. The theme was 'It's Friday but Sunday is coming'," Mrs Spooner said.
A collection taken at the service will go to Tonga, to help with repair work after Cyclone Gita.
During the afternoon and the following day the car park was open for people to come and see scenes Whanganui churches had set up in its 13 bays. To tell the Easter story the churches needed a donkey, palm trees, pieces of silver and a darkened tomb.
Mrs Spooner stood at the door, welcoming and counting the people who came to look. She said the displays were Garth Stevenson's idea, and she took it to the Wanganui Christian Leaders' Association.
"I just rang around to see how many [churches] I could get and I got eleven."
Visitors Rob and Win Thomson, Christina Griffin and Lindsay Middlemiss were impressed with the scenes they saw.
"It's lovely. They have put a lot of effort into it," Mrs Thomson said.