Temuka Anglican History

St Peter’s and Parish

1870

1879

1886


1890

1897

1898

1910

1927

1951

1978

 

2003

 St. Saviours church built on King Street. No resident vicar, but a lay reader.

First resident vicar. A wooden vicarage built.

Two redwoods planted at either end of St. Saviours. They are still there today in the grounds of the old redwood vicarage.

Parish hall opened on the corner of Dyson and King Street.

Wooden St. Saviours church burnt down.

Building of stone St. Peters church began on Dyson Street.

Old vicarage burnt down. Redwoods vicarage built on King Street.

Chancel extension to St.Peters as a memorial to two brothers killed in WW I.

Smaller new brick vicarage built on Dyson Street. Redwood vicarage sold

Octagonal parish centre built on the east end of St. Peters. Parish hall demolished. The land is now part of the S–bend of the main road by-pass.  Children did not now have to cross the busy main road to go to Sunday School. Brick vicarage on by-pass sold and a new one bought in Godley Street.

Rev. Andrew Starky is appointed Vicar of Temuka. For the first time our vicar is shared with some other parishes. Andrew is Ministry Enabler in the Marchwiel, Te Ngawai and Waiho Cooperating Parishes. In another first for the Parish we also have an associate Priest, Rev. Jill Maslin who is also associate Ministry Enabler in the Parishes of Marchwiel and Te Ngawai.

Further History

St. Peter's Anglican Church is a handsome stone building which was erected in 1899 to replace the old wooden church which had been destroyed by fire in 1897. The interior of the church is decorated with a handsome stone pulpit, a gift in the memory of the late Mrs John Hayhurst, and a stone font given by Mr and Mrs Rooke of Temuka.

It has seating accommodation for 300 persons, and services are held every Sunday. Services in connection with the parish are also held in the church of St John the Evangelist at Winchester and at the Orton, Seadown and Waitohi Schools. There is an efficient choir. Reference: Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Canterbury edition. 1903. The parish of Temuka was constituted in 1878 with the Rev. G. Fynes-Clinton as resident vicar. In 1870 the Rev. James Preston was appointed mission deacon of Geraldine and Temuka. Their pipe organ was built by Sandford in 1888 was probably destroyed in the fire in 1897.

 

<St Peter's

St Peter's, corner of King and Dyson Streets, was built of contrasting stone, the church was under construction even before its predecessor was burnt to the ground. The vicar ran into the blazing old wooden building and rescued both the lectern and the Bible now in the present church; he noted, "but as sparks were then falling from the roof I did not venture in again."

The east window is dedicated to John Talbot (1845-1923), who settled at Woodlands in the Rangatira Valley, in 1869. All but one of his 12 sons became farmers, and his family name is woven through South Canterbury's farming and public life. Talbot was a stalwart on local bodies, aggregating 160 years of service. His lath-and-plaster homestead, enlarged and roughcast since it was built in about 1870, still stands and is still in the family (in Talbot Rd, off Waitohi Rd). The sanctuary windows are memorials to sisters, Christiana and Elizabeth, each the wife of John Talbot. The stone pulpit is in memory of the wife of John Hayhurst.

Holy Trinity

There is a Maori Church at Temuka which replaced the 1866-1931 building. The mission church, Holy Trinity, was consecrated by Rev. J. Stack on August 1866. The foundation stone for the later church was laid by Bishop F.A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa, on November 1, 1931 and the church consecrated March 5 1932 by Archbishop West-Wastson assisted by Bishop Bennett, the Vicar (Rev. G. Nelham Watson) and other members of the clergy. This attractive Anglican church was built by Mr. H. Andrews of Temuka and contains one stained glass window "Christ and the children", a white friar window, commemorating Lesile V. Talbot, the Sunday School Superintendant 1909-1942, who died 28 March 1964. Dedication described in the Timaru Herald Oct. 10 1966 pg. 5.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church is directly across the street from Arowhenua War memorial arch. They are situated on the corner of State highway 1 and Huirapa Street at Arowhenua, between the Opihi and Temuka rivers.

"The church is a special part of Temuka's history and many recognise the building, the church had been a meeting place for Maori and Pakeha in the area; and although it's an Anglican church it has always been open to other denominations, the church is the only one of its kind remaining in the area. Rev Starky said.

Services are held twice a month.

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