Business Central July 2021

| 107 COMMUNITY St John’s Presbyterian Church - Rotorua New church has community at heart T T Sue Russell The exterior of the new St John’s Presbyterian Church will be mainly brick with a substantial amount of glass. W hen St John’s Presbyterian Church was engulfed in fire in February 2017 it was mourned by a commu- nity far wider than its congregation. Cathy Cooney, Co-convenor of St John’s Building Committee described it as devastat- ing. “There were people who got married in the church, attended funerals and many events through its long history, and that special place was no longer there for them.” The community quickly had to find a new place to hold church services and conduct its outreach social programmes from and, as it happened, a former club had closed down. What was once a keg storage area became a place where food and community outreach resources were stored. Cathy recalls at that time feeling very overwhelmed by how the Rotorua community reacted to the loss. “I can only describe the support we received as massive and it enabled us to quickly move into focus group meetings to discuss ideas of what a new church centre could be like.” Settling the insurance claim took some years, and the group used these wisely to de- velop the framework of principles that would guide any design decisions, and to procure the architect and other specialist consultants for the build. According to Cathy that time was invaluable, leading to a clear set of guidelines to provide the architect, DCA Architects and the Project Managers, Veros. The first principle was that the new build would be a place of worship that would con- nect with the community, reflecting the past, present and future. Then the building would need to be flexible and functional, able to work for a number of purposes. Its multi-cultural nature was also important. The church is home also to the Tokelau and Cook Island communities. “There will be some modern Māori rep - resentation and a story board will feature the original 16 men who came from Tokelau to work in local forestry. Cook Island art-work will be depicted in the glass, along with the history of the Presbyterian faith here.” Other guiding factors informing design were the multi-generational element of those using the facility. The needs of different groups within the church whānau, including children and youth have been incorporated. “We also very much wanted the space to feel warm, welcoming and accessible.” Finally, the material used throughout needed to be sound from an environmental perspective. Inside the new church will have a lot of timber and overall a very modern design to it. The exterior of the new St John’s Presbyteri- an Church will be largely brick with a substan- tial amount of glass. While the new church is of a similar size to its predecessor it has a completely differ - ent configuration. “The old church had an attached facility whereas the new one is all under the one roof.” Last Spring the ground and future build were blessed and when Business Central spoke with Cathy in April the roof was on, the bulk of the interior framing completed with the extensive brick-work about to get underway. Bay of Plenty builders I-Line Construction were awarded the building contract for the $4.5million project. “We’re thrilled with how the building is com- ing together and expect it will be completed on time in the Spring. ” “It’s very much been designed as a building with the community at heart. The technolo- gy is state of the art and will be a wonderful venue for church worship, concerts and other special community events. Out of what was such a tragedy for us has come a new and vibrant space that will serve the spiritual and fellowship needs of our community.” Proud to be partnered with iLine Construction on the St Johns Presbyterian Church project. Proud project partner with Saint John’s Church