Reverend Tim Duxfield said they had big plans to celebrate the anniversary, but it was best to postpone it until next year. Photo / Bevan Conley
Reverend Tim Duxfield said they had big plans to celebrate the anniversary, but it was best to postpone it until next year. Photo / Bevan Conley
A Marton church is set to pass its 150th anniversary at the end of this month, but Covid-19 restrictions mean celebrations are being put on hold.
St Stephen's Church was set to celebrate 150 years since the laying of their foundation stone at the end of October.
Reverend Tim Duxfieldsaid while the first service wasn't held until 1873 when the building was completed, it still marked a momentous occasion.
A week of celebrations was planned including a range of services, using some of the different hymns that have been used at various jubilee celebrations as well as a historic tour of the parish churches around the area.
"It was going to be amazing. It is quite unfortunate that we did have to postpone the event, but looking at the state of the nation the way it is, we had to look at what we could do in terms of best practice to celebrate this, but not to put anyone in harm's way."
The foundation stone for St Stephen's was laid 150 years ago. Photo / Bevan Conley
The site of St Stephen's Church was used as a defensive redoubt by settlers during the New Zealand wars.
In May 1871, three years after Rangitīkei's first Anglican clergyman, Arthur Towgood, had been appointed, Richard Hammond sold the land on which the redoubt had stood for £1 to the Bishop of Wellington, Octavious Hadfield.
"He is quite the man of mana in the history of Christianity in New Zealand. He was there laying the foundation stone and set the trajectory of the history of the church."
Three trustees were appointed to ensure that the area's first Anglican church was erected on the site. They were Hammond, Marshall, and the Reverend Basil Taylor.
The Reverend Towgood commissioned Whanganui architect George Frederic Allen (1837-1929) to design the new church.
The Gothic-style church has undergone little modification since its construction.
"It is a beautiful church," Duxfield said. "Fully lined with locally milled rimu and built with totara framing, it is a phenomenal structure. It being [here] for 150 years is a testament to those faithful people."
St Stephen's Church has been a long-standing sympol of worship in the Rangitikei parish district. Photo / Bevan Conley
While many people wouldn't claim to be Christians, there is still a deep attachment in the community to places of worship, Duxfield said.
"The weddings, the funerals, the births, the deaths - these are still captured in people's minds as a spiritual act, so there is still a deep embedded role the church has in that.
"No matter what their background, people feel a place between the physical and spiritual world where people feel that tangible sense of peace that comes from a place that has been prayed and worshipped in for 150 years."
Duxfield said the plan was to postpone the celebrations until St Stephen's Day in August 2022.
"This year we will do a small in-house celebration service. We are keeping all the work we have done and just waiting until the day we can unleash them on to the community.
"We want it to be a celebration where people learn about the history of the church, but also get excited about the future of the church."
Spring Plant Fair and Garage Sale Trail.
The Rangitīkei Anglican Parish has a big day lined up, with both the Spring Plant Fair and Marton Community Garage Sail Trail taking place on Saturday.
The Spring Plant Fair will be held from 9am to 12pm at St Stephens Church Hall.
Fiona Moorhouse and Ngaire Wishnowsky, in St Stephen's Church Hall, are all set for the Spring Plant Fair. Photo / Bevan Conley
Previously run by Project Marton, the Marton Community Garage Sale Trail is now hosted by St Stephen's.
Organiser Fiona Moorhouse said it is always a good day out in Marton, with 12 garage sales signed up for the trail.
"It's a great opportunity for everyone to hold their garage sale on the same day, instead of one next weekend, two the week after.
"It gives people a real sense of community that they can go from one to the next, people get really excited. All in all, it is a really fun morning out for bargain hunters."
Maps for the trails can be picked up at the St Stephen's Church on Maunder St.
