In 2017, St John's Church parishioners could only watch on as their place of worship burned to the ground.
Now, almost four years later, the site for a new church has been blessed and the $4.5 million rebuild is set to get under way this week.
On Sunday, more than 100 people attended a sod turning and blessing of the site on the corner of Victoria and Ranolf Sts.
Church building committee co-chairwoman Cathy Cooney said it was "a lovely day" and it was great for the local community to see progress was being made.
The blessing of the new St John's Church site. Photo / Black Stallion Photography
"It was a beautiful day and there were a lot of people there, including from our Tokolau and Cook Islands communities. It was a really special event and the contractors – DCA Architects, Veros Project Managers and Iline Construction the builders were all there as well," she said.
The new church, designed by DCA Architects, will include a hub with glazed windows at the centre of the building, which will be accessed from Ranolf St.
People hug outside the devastated St John's Church in 2017. Photo / File
Everything in the building will flow from the hub, from the cafe holding the salvaged church bell to the place to worship.
St John's Church's oldest parishioner Eileen Shapley, 96, (left), building committee member Jono Pilaar and Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick turn the first sod. Photo / Black Stallion Photography
Everything was designed with a purpose, from the brick to reference the old church to the modest size to not feel imposing or excluding.
Cooney said the building was designed to be a place for all of the community to use, saying the church was not "an exclusive club".
"As well as it being our church we really want it to be a place for our community. We've certainly built the facility to be for the community, reflective of multiple cultures and intergenerational. It's a place for all people to engage.
"You never quite know about supply in these times of Covid but the contractors are pretty confident they have the supply chain sorted and the build will take 10 to 11 months."
Members of the Rotorua community and St John's parishioners at the sod turning and blessing of the site the new church will be built on. Photo / Black Stallion Photography
She said when the old church building burned down in 2017, it was a tough time for all involved, but they had been overwhelmed by the support from the wider Rotorua community.
"Come February, it's four years since the fire. It was gone in 20 minutes, it was completely obliterated. We've been so appreciative of the support from the wider community all the way through.
St John's church fire in 2017. Photo / File
"That support has continued and I think there's a lot of community interest. We're just so happy for people to be able to see the site having a beautiful building being put up on it now," Cooney said.
