By Scott MacLeod
TAURANGA - Anglicans have worshipped at the Holy Trinity Church in Tauranga since 1875 - but no longer.
The many people who gathered there early yesterday came this time to watch flames lick at its kauri walls as a result of an arson attack.
Among them was 80-year-old Gipsy MacKenzie,
who was baptised at the church in 1919 and whose grandfather helped to build it.
She waited for the wooden cross to topple as smoke curled from the roof, but 40 firefighters quelled the flames at 2 am, and the cross stayed.
But the region's oldest church was left gutted.
"We prayed our way through two world wars at that church," Mrs MacKenzie said.
"What a horrible sight - this place has been part of our lives."
Firefighters were not helped by an absence of a sprinkler system in the church.
"This is a priceless building that would have been saved with a $50,000 sprinkler system," said regional Fire Service commander Jim Stephens.
The assistant vicar, the Rev Di Woods, said there had been plans to shift the church to another part of the grounds and a sprinkler system would have been installed after the move.
She said the loss was devastating for Tauranga, but the soul of the church lay in its worshippers.
They would continue to meet on the church grounds until insurers had worked out a replacement.
"The desire of the people is to stay here to work through the grief," she said.
Historic Places Trust regional manager Alexy Simmons said the church had a category two classification, meaning it had local significance. "These arsons are becoming quite alarming," she said. "It's especially tragic to lose a church."
A historic sports building in Paeroa was also torched this week.
Detective Sergeant Dave Archibald was reluctant to give details of the church arson until forensic experts had scoured the building.
Another officer said the fire appeared to have started in the east wing of the building and "we've got a real whodunit on our hands."
The cost of the damage to the church had yet to be worked out late yesterday.
