St. Faith's
St. Faith’s is the Anglican Church in the Ohinemutu local parish of Rotorua , New Zealand .
Geographical location
The church is located north of the center of Rotorua in the district Ohinemutu directly on the shores of Lake Rotorua , opposite the Cultural Center of the living in Ohinemutu Maori .
history
The first Christian service in what is now Rotorua was held on October 30, 1831 in Ohinemutu. A first church for today's parish area was built in 1835 together with a mission station, but was destroyed again the following year during a tribal conflict between the Maori.
A second church was built in 1885. It was called Te Hahi o Te Whakaono / The Church of the Faith . It was the first permanent church building in the Rotorua area.
This second church had become too small after 25 years. From 1910, today's church was built as the third church in the community and consecrated in 1918 . In 1965, four other communities in Rotorua were merged with that of Ohinemutu. Therefore, the church had to be extended in the following years to include a side aisle, the "Galilea Chapel".
building
The exterior of the church was given a half-timbered architecture in 1910 with echoes of the Tudor style . The interior, on the other hand, was largely adapted to the Maori architecture of a whare runanga (meeting house), with carved vertical load-bearing elements, the spaces in between in the wall area with woven mats ( tukutuku ) in traditional style. The decor of the furnishings was also largely done in Maori style. The pulpit is also covered with woven mats ( tāniko ). When the church was expanded from 1965 to 1967, the traditional furnishings were taken into account and, in particular, the interior was added in Maori style. Six new, carved supports were added when the Galilee Chapel was added to the south of the nave - open to this. The wall cladding was also renewed. The Galilee Chapel was also made in Maori style. Its eastern wall consists mainly of a clear glass window through which Lake Rotorua can be seen. The life-size figure of Jesus is sandblasted into the glass . For the viewer standing in the Galilee Chapel, this gives the impression that the figure of Jesus is walking across the water of the lake - an allusion to an event reported in the Gospel of Matthew . The figure is made in Nazarene style . She wears a Maori chief's coat ( Korowai ), made of kiwi feathers with a braided border ( Taniko ). The cut was originally highlighted in color. The paint has been removed in the meantime to avoid the kitschy impression it left behind.
Worth knowing
A cemetery belongs to the church. Since the church is located in a very active volcanic area - vapors escape from crevices in the ground right next to the church - the dead are not buried in the ground here, but in concrete sarcophagi above ground.
literature
- Church Missions Publishing Company (Ed.): St. Faith's Church. Ohinemutu, Rotorua (outside title), The Church of the Faith (Te Hahi o Te Whakapono) ( inside title). Hartford, Connecticut, USA. 1969.
- Information board in the church.
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 38 ° 7 ′ 39.8 ″ S , 176 ° 14 ′ 54.3 ″ E