New life for ageing church

Progress's march catches up with a Westmere landmark. Lauren Mentjox reports on the reincarnation of St Cuthbert.
Westmere's St Cuthbert Church will open to the public for the last time next month just before the 80-year-old building is converted into a family home. The quaint wooden church, surrounded by dandelions, agapanthus and a white picket fence, was sold in December to a couple after parish leaders put it up for tender. It will open for the last time for a special service on March 3. Reverend Hugh Kempster says the service will give people the opportunity to farewell the building and honour its past before the keys are handed over. He says the decision to sell the church was a sad one, but the congregation had simply become too small to maintain. ``It was booming in the 1950s. We had three services a day, it was such a thriving congregation, but it was down to single figures when I came here,'' he says. ``It's been a labour of love for the past seven-and-a-half years.'' Rev Kempster, who is also the vicar at St Columba in Grey Lynn, would not say how much the church sold for, but that the money would go back into the parish. According to Quotable Value NZ, the Faulder Avenue property is rated at $570,000, but neighbouring homes are worth around $750,000, so it is likely to have sold for more. Mr Kempster says that despite huge interest in the church, the couple who won the tender did so because they said they wanted to retain the building's character. ``It is a very special building so this has allowed us to step into the future with confidence in Westmere and Grey Lynn.''
The deconsecration service will be held at St Cuthbert Anglican Church, 8 Faulder Ave, Westmere, 4pm on March 3. All welcome.