A homeless Kerikeri parish is a step closer to having its own place of worship, with a design completed and architects preparing plans and budgets.
The Kaeo-Kerikeri Union Parish meets every Sunday in Kaeo's Wesleydale Church and, until recently, the Union Church at the corner of Kerikeri and Butler Rds.
Since the Kerikeri church was demolished in 2010 to make way for a Countdown supermarket, the congregation has used the Kerikeri Retirement Village chapel. Plans are now well under way, however, for a new church on vacant land at the corner of the Heritage Bypass.
The site was previously occupied by the Little Jolly Church - originally built as the Whangaroa Court House, and named for the families which donated the land and funds - which was shifted to Te Patunga Marae near Kaeo in 2009.
Minister Robyn McPhail said planning the new church had been a slow and sometimes frustrating process. In particular, buying the neighbouring land, surplus to government requirements after the bypass was built, had taken time.
The goal was not just to build a church to meet the congregation's needs. More importantly, the new facility had to be useful to the wider Kerikeri community.
The old church was a hive of activity; hosting club meetings, film screenings, dance sessions, yoga, martial arts and car boot sales.
When it was demolished, Rev Dr McPhail said the saddest thing was that those community groups would be temporarily homeless. The previous users, and more, would be catered for in the new building, she said.
Whangarei-based architects Creative Spaces had produced an "inspiring and practical" design and were now working with church trustees on the details needed for a building consent. Resource consent had been granted already, she said.
The parish also had to start fundraising because a building useful to the wider community, and affordable if energy costs kept rising, would cost more than selling the Butler Rd property had raised.
Features proposed for the new church include ground source heating, extensive insulation, a worship space/auditorium that expands to include the hall and foyer for large events, and an integrated audio-visual system with a hearing loop.
A giant garage sale on the new church site on May 19 will kick-start fundraising. Visitors will also be able to view plans for the church and discuss future use. Donations of goods for the garage sale are welcome, phone (09) 407-8296. For information visit
www.kaeokerikeriunionchurch.org.nz.
The Kaeo-Kerikeri Union Parish was formed in 1974 from the Whangaroa Methodist Circuit and the Kerikeri Presbyterian Parish.