Masterton church set to celebrate centenary

STILL STANDING: St Matthew's Church today at its Church St site.

After almost a century, Masterton's St Matthew's Anglican Church is still going strong - and so, too, is the spirit of Christianity in Wairarapa, says one of its most faithful servants.

On September 22, the St Matthew's congregation will celebrate 100 years of worship at its Church St site.

Reverend Ted Dashfield, retired assistant parish priest at St Matthew's, said the church family would not only be celebrating 100 years of gathering in one place, but a century of enduring faith and community service.

"I believe the spirit of the church is still alive and well in Wairarapa today," said Mr Dashfield, who has been helping organise the centenary church service.

"In many ways, I think St Matthew's has become more community-centric than church-centric. It's all about caring for others in the community, and reaching out to people."

Mr Dashfield has served as a priest in Anglican churches all over Wairarapa, and said local worshippers had a particularly strong and impressive faith.

"I think country people feel close to nature and the natural world," he said. "It brings to mind the thought of God's creation and thus they feel more connected to Him."

St Matthew's has been through many changes over the years - it was first erected in Queen St in 1874, but relocated to Church St in September 1913.

The brick building was badly damaged in the 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes and demolished using dynamite - which neighbours complained did more damage than the quakes - and was rebuilt in a more modernist style within a year.

Mr Dashfield said the St Matthew's centenary would be an opportunity to reflect on the internal changes in the church as well as the external.

The New Zealand Anglican church now ordained women as bishops, woman ministers outnumbered men, and it had Maori and Pasifika streams.

St Matthew's now used The New Zealand Prayer Book - as opposed to the English Book of Common Prayer it used 100 years ago - and involved more modern music in its services, such as praise and worship songs from the contemporary Hillsong and Vineyard churches.

"We've been experimenting with different types of music," said Mr Dashfield, "but, next Sunday, we'll be using some of the hymns and readings that they would have used 100 years ago - which have a timeless quality about them."

Mr Dashfield last year celebrated his diamond jubilee in the priesthood, having served in Anglican parishes from Tinui to Castlepoint since 1952.

A celebratory service will be held at St Matthew's on Sunday, September 22, followed by a pot-luck dinner.