Kawakawa parish fundraising to restore St Paul’s bell after 2004 fire

Nearly two decades after a fire destroyed St Paul’s Church and silenced its bell, the Kawakawa parish is working to bring back the familiar chime, and with it a sense of connection to the community

The bell that once marked weddings and services was destroyed when title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/second-historic-northland-building-engulfed-by-fire/CWAS67ZHT3D4X2GULGHAKJGAME/">a fire tore through the church in 2004.

The church committee is now raising funds to install a bell tower, bringing the chime back to the town, after receiving a bell from a church in Auckland.

Following the fire the congregation worshipped at St Andrew’s in Tamahere before acquiring a replacement church from Auckland. The building was moved north and consecrated where the damaged church once stood, in 2016.

The chairman of the church committee, Roly Swann, said the bell was one of the last missing pieces of the church’s identity.

“Now we have managed to find another, but we need funding to build a bell tower.”

Plans for a smaller bell tower have been costed at around $25,000 and Swann said they are doing regular church fundraisers and also have plans to apply for funding with community boards.

The church received a bell from a church that was closing in Auckland and hope to raise enough funds to have it erected. Photo / Yolisa Tswanya

“It’s a small congregation, and that is a significant amount of money to raise, so raising an amount like that will take time. It’s some distance away from the finish lines.”

He said the hope is the bell would do more than mark time, when rung every midday on Sundays, but also as a way to reconnect the church with the community.

“St Paul’s had a bell, and they rang it regularly. So I think it’s not only missed, but also, if we ring it daily, it just gives us something a bit special in the town.”

“Every person in town will know where the bell is coming from and that is a small thing that brings people together.

Churchwarden Isobelle Cherrington said the project represents the church’s resilience and its place in Kawakawa’s story.

“It’s not just about a bell, but also about giving the church its voice back. After everything that has happened it will be a reminder that we are still here.”

Her husband, Bill, was a minister at the church until last year and said it is something he always wanted to have back for the congregation.

“I think it’ll be awesome. A lot of the older members would particularly enjoy it and hopefully it will also help us collect some younger people.”