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New St. Mary’s Church will be dedicated this week

On Saturday afternoon the splendid new St. Mary's Anglican Church will be dedicated by the Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand, the Most Rev. R. H. Owen, D.D., and years of planning and earnest endeavour will be brought to a climax for Levin and district Anglicans.

Photo:An idea of the magnificence of the new St. Mary's Anglican Church in Cambridge Street can be gained from this photograph.
A pleasing addition to Levin's church edifices, it will be dedicated at a ceremony on Saturday afternoon.

The new church was planned as long ago as 1921. For several years the matter was discussed, and before World War II some money had been raised and a new church seemed likely in the near future. There have been setbacks, such as the war itself, but the feeling of the congregation on the eve of the dedication of the fine new structure must be that the final result was worth waiting for.

The Anglican faith has been longer established in Levin than has the borough itself. As early as 1890 there were occasional church services held in the rough punga log hall at Bartholomew's Mill, near where the Roslyn Road now joins the State highway. Before the borough was constituted in 1906 there was a church in Levin - the original St. Mary's which was built in 1897 and has housed the dis­trict's fast-growing congregations until the present day.

At first the church was sited at the corner of Cambridge and Man­chester Streets, and was moved to a site opposite in Manchester Street when it was decided to build the new church on the property. This move was undertaken in 1954 and that year the contract for the new building was let to a local firm. In September, the Governor-General laid a stone from St. Paul's Cathe­dral, London, in the wall of the new building, and the Archbishop of New Zealand laid a stone from Canterbury Cathedral, England.

The new church has cost some £30,000. That times and building materials have changed is shown by the enormous contrast between the cost of the new church and that of the first St. Mary's - £300. The first building was situated in the midst of standing bush and before construction could begin the site had to be cleared by volunteer labour.

Pioneer Spirit

The same spirit which led to the establishment of the new church was evident in those early days when pioneers worked both for the building and the furnishings. For example, the organ for that first building was bought from funds raised by the guild. In April, 1899, the congregation turned out in force for the consecration of the first church by the Bishop of Well­ington, the Rt. Rev. Frederic Wallis. To the first confirmation service there came 23 candidates.

Great Achievement

To the hardy people of the late 1800's the establishment of the new church must have represented a great achievement. They had long been walking the railway track to the punga hall to attend the occasional services, or giving of their time voluntarily to bring the plans of the first church to fruition.

Photo:

Symbolic of the early churches in Levin is the old St. Mary's, built in 1897.
Originally sited at the corner of Cambridge and Manchester Streets, it was moved to its present [1956] site in Manchester Street to make way for the new church.

It had all started when Arch­deacon Thomas Fancourt, vicar of Porirua, had asked the settlers after that first service in the punga hall to form a committee to raise funds to build a church. From then on it was a matter of industry and zeal.

First secretary of the group to raise the funds was Mr. Fred Roe. Under the direction of Mrs. Bartholomew and Mrs. Stuckey, a women's sewing guild was formed. It is still an important part of Anglican Church life in Levin.

While the first church was being built, services were held monthly by the vicar of Foxton, Mr. Aitken. Following him were the Rev. R. Young and the Rev. H. S. Leach. In 1900, the Rev. J. A. McNickle came to live in Levin as assistant to Mr. Leach. A year later he was ap­pointed as the first vicar of Levin.

Large Parish

In those days the parish extended over a much greater area. He was holding services in Levin, Shannon, Ohau, Tokomaru and Kereru. In 1911 the Shannon Parochial District was made a separate entity.

During Mr. McNickle's time the first vicarage was built. This was sold when the present vicarage was built in 1927 at a cost of £2500. The women's guild paid for the vicar­age.

Writing to the Parish News at the time of the 50th jubilee of the consecration of the old St. Mary's church, a parishioner showed something of the part which the building had played in her life and the lives of others over the years. She wrote: "Miss Bowen was our Sunday school teacher.... We had wonderful picnics down at the Ohau River. Mostly we used to go by coach, and what a red letter day it was, too, for us children. . . I remember the time we had word of Queen Victoria's death. We all came home a little earlier. It started to pour with rain, and our beautiful starched pink sun bonnets! The dye just dripped pink all over our frocks. . . After the Sunday school stage I taught in St. Mary's Sunday school. . . . I met my hus­band at St. Mary's and we were married there. Our two children were baptised there.... Mrs. Gapper and Mrs. B. R. Gardener were leaders of a wonderful choir.... We children, till we were married, never missed a service, morning, Sunday school or night unless for illness. We loved church. . . ."

Very Real Factor

This story must be typical of those which could be told by many who lived their lives in close association with St. Mary's. The church has been for countless Levin people an integral part of community life - a very real factor in their exist­ence. The new St. Mary's should fill a part of even more lives in the years which lie ahead. The building has already become a landmark as was the steeple of the first St. Mary's when it was built on the same site in the midst of vacant paddocks strewn with felled trees.

The vicars of St. Mary's have been: 1901-1905, Rev. J. A. McNickle; 1905-1909, Rev. A. E. Wors­ley; 1909-1913, Rev. S. G. Compton; 1913-1917, Rev. H. T. Stealey; 1917­-1918, Rev. G. B. Stephenson; 1918­1-922, Rev. W. F. Grove; 1922-1943, Rev. J. C. Davies; 1943-1952, Rev. G. B. Stote-Blandy; 1952, Rev. E. K. Norman.

The builders, H. J. Woollett Ltd., of Levin, and the architects, Prouse and Wilson, of Wellington, have built and planned a church which will stand as a monument to their individual abilities.

FROM 4/6 TO £450

It takes as many kinds of dona­tions to raise funds for a new church as it does people to make

a world. In 1954 a small girl car­ried 4/6 to the vestry of the old church. She was so young that she could only just write her name. This sum she had saved froth her own pocket money over several weeks to help build the new church. It has been absorbed in the new building just as surely as has the £450 received from one man.

While not everyone could give over £400 and many could don­ate only a few pounds, all gave in the same spirit as the little girl - ­the most they could afford in a sin­cere effort to build a church of which to be proud.

CHURCH IS BEAUTIFUL AND SERVICEABLE

The new St. Mary's Anglican Church incorporates many features which contribute to the service­ability and beauty of the structure. Heating in the building will be con­trolled thermostatically. Special attention has been given the acous­ticstics and lighting and acoustic tiling has been used to advantage.

Photo:
Splendour and dignity are given by the design of the interior of the church.

Attractive panelling in the ceiling and fronting the choir balcony are features shown in this photograph, which was taken from near the altar.

Plaster in cream, yellow and brick form the inside walls of the church, the colours merging into one another. The outside colours are similar. The floor covering is of baked asphalt tiling.

The side chapel is a novel feature which should prove its worth for small services and church work generally. This opens off the main church and affords additional seat­ing.

The woodwork is in heart rimu, the furnishings being partly of rimu and partly of exotic hard­woods A plastic varnish seals all woodwork, adding to the life of the furnishings.

There is a spacious organ loft, the lighting is particularly effective from the high windows and the stained glass windows in several frames add an especially impressive note.

Congregations Assistance Traditionally Generous

In the tradition of congrega­tions of other day, the congre­gation of the new St. Mary's Anglican Church has contributed in no small measure to the fur­nishings of the building.

The huge Bible to be used dur­ing the services was donated by the Young Wives' Fellowship. It was brought from England. The Bible is one of the issue printed to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. The first copy was presented to the Queen, and an identical Bible was presented to the Queen to the Wellington Cathedral during the Royal tour.

Most of the furnishings of the church have been presented by parishioners. The lecterns, altars, rails, pews and desks were made in Levin. The silverware was imported from England.

The first normal service will be held in the church on Sunday.

The old church, which has been in use until this week, will be­come the Sunday school hall for the new St. Mary's.

First Marriage Will Come Just After Dedication

A young couple from Levin dis­trict will share a unique honour at 6 p.m. on Saturday. They will be the first couple to be married in the new St. Mary's Church, which will have been opened only a brief hour or more before. The opening and dedication ceremony commences at 3 p.m.

The young couple are Mr. Donald Jenkins, of Poroutawhao, and Miss Ramona Pat Sciascia, of Levin.
Miss Sciascia was delighted to hear that she will be the first of hundreds who will be married in the new church.

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Identification

Date

December 12, 1956