The community of Kaponga is celebrating Christmas with an evening of singing well-known carols, along with performances from two local school choirs and kapa haka by the Nga Tipuranga o Waewaeroa group.
This year is the 200th anniversary of Samuel Marsden being invited by Maori to preach the first sermon on New Zealand soil, on Christmas day, 1814 at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands.
Joining the Kaponga celebrations will be Anglican Archbishop Philip Richardson, who will narrate the Christmas story, bringing it into our New Zealand context.
School choirs from Kaponga Primary School and St Patrick's Primary School will perform.
Kaponga Christmas Carols will be held at Kaponga War Memorial Hall on Sunday, December 14, from 7pm.