Friends of St Peter's call for community to join carol singing in historic church

Kathleen Keith, Murray Crawford and Adele Pilato prepare for the carol service at St Peters Church. Photo/Stuart Munro

Sunday services at historic St Peters Church in Gonville may have ceased in 2016 but it has not been empty and unloved since then.

The Friends of St Peter's committee are dedicated to caring for Whanganui's oldest functional building and they will be hosting a Christmas carols service at the church on Saturday night.

The service is open to the public and committee chairwoman Kathleen Keith is encouraging everyone to come along.

"We extend a very warm welcome to everyone who would like to join us for this old-fashioned celebration.

"Even if you're a non-believer, you can always suspend disbelief for an hour and join us in this well-loved and traditional family event."

The wooden church which began its life in Victoria Ave in 1866 was moved to its location in Koromiko Rd in 1921.

Historian Murray Crawford is vice-chairman of Friends of St Peter's and organiser of the carol service.

He loves the building and says it has a unique and special place in both local and national history.

"When it was built, the engineer estimated that it could last as long as 30 years.

"It was 65 years old when they dismantled it and moved it to its current location to be reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle."

Although the Sunday services are no longer held at St Peter's, there are weekly Wednesday services officiated by Reverend John Hancox and Archdeacon Stuart Goodin.

"We also have a lot of social gatherings and working bees," says Keith.

"A leak in the church has been fixed and the next task is to have the ridging on the hall repaired."

The piano has been moved to a drier area of the church and tuned to concert pitch ready for pianist Adele Pilato to provide accompaniment for the carol service on Saturday night.

Christmas Carols at St Peter's: 71 Koromiko Rd, Saturday, December 1 at 8pm until 9pm followed by supper. Enquiries to Kathleen 06 345 7009