Rev Jo Crosse, the vicar of Southern Hawke's Bay, points out some of the water damage in St John's Anglican Church in Dannevirke. Photo / Christine McKay
Rev Jo Crosse, the vicar of Southern Hawke's Bay, points out some of the water damage in St John's Anglican Church in Dannevirke. Photo / Christine McKay
Even divine intervention hasn't saved Dannevirke's historic St John the Baptist Anglican Church from the vagaries of the weather.
But with a major $400,000 project about to get under way to save the building and its interior from the ravages of the rain, those involved are praying for some financial help from the public.
The Dannevirke Brass Band in concert at St John's Anglican Church. Photo / Christine McKay
"Leaking has been a problem for a long time, but the roof is deteriorating quite quickly now," Reverend Jo Crosse, the vicar of Southern Hawke's Bay, said.
And Jo admitted that while "roofs aren't sexy," leaks are a huge problem and she's hoping parishioners and the community will lend a hand by donating to the church repair fund. The honey-stone church on High St is an iconic building and listed as a Category 2 historic place.
Rev Jo Crosse, the vicar of Southern Hawke's Bay, points out some of the water damage in St John's Anglican Church in Dannevirke. Photo / Christine McKay
The current sanctuary and chancel were erected and consecrated in 1935, replacing an earlier 1888 wooden church, with the church more than a place of worship for parishioners.
"St John's is part of the community and people are fond of this church which has been an important part of life in this community" ,Jo said.
Church warden Bob Bell said Dannevirke was fortunate to have the historic building. But like all old buildings, the time has come for major repairs, with leaks in the ceiling resulting in rotting carpet, wooden veneer peeling and the ravages of time showing. And while the roof is off, a ply diaphragm will be installed under the new roof to help with earthquake strengthening.
At 34 per cent of the earthquake code, the church meets all standards. The church will be shrink-wrapped for the job and will emerge from its chrysalis ready to weather many more decades.
"This is going to be a huge job," Jo said. "The church will be shrink-wrapped so contractors can keep working in all weathers, but how they'll deal with the steeple, I don't know."
Although the $400,000 fundraising target a "bit scary," Jo said church funds already have sufficient to cover a quarter of the cost ($157,000) and the vestry will be applying for grants, but will still need to rely on the generosity of our community.
"We have a contingency built into our funding because once the roof comes off we don't know what we'll find," she said.
Morris and Bailey are the main contractors for the repairs, with Hamish Illsley taking care of the interior woodwork repairs and David Veale the project manager.
As well as the major work, the church is required to have upgraded safety features, including the installation of fire alarms and emergency lighting, electrical rewiring, safety rails and improving accessibility.
Once the scaffolding goes up, possibly by the middle of this month, the congregation will be out of the church for three months.
"We don't want to take the roof through another winter," Jo said.
Warden Murray Cushing has been involved with the church for 35 years and says he is looking forward to the work future-proofing the church.
Fellow warden Bob Bell has been with the church for 15 years and before that with the Matamau church until it closed.
"The church and my faith are very important," he said. "The maintenance of this building is our duty because we've been given the duty to look after the church."
"In 1959 £72 was raised for church refurbishment and because of that we've got the beautiful church we have today," Murray said. But the church isn't just for parishioners worship, it's an integral part of our community.
"It's much more than just a church," Murray said. "We have organ recitals, band concerts with 50 musicians, animal blessings and we held local body election meet the candidate meetings in here."
How to help our historic church:
The church vestry has broken down what is required for the work and this includes 400 boxes of screws at $50 a box, 200 sheets of ply at $500 a sheet, 120 sheets of iron, at $1000 each, $10,000 for part of the scaffolding, with two needed and $10,000 for part of the shrink-wrap, also with two needed.
To make a contribution you can contact the church wardens, Bob Bell or Murray Cushing. All donations are tax deductible.