Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Auckland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Church of the Holy Sepulchre
St Sepulchre's
Māori: Te Mīhana Māori o Tāmaki Makaurau
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in 2022
36°51′53″S 174°45′46″E / 36.864843°S 174.7628507441338°E / -36.864843; 174.7628507441338
Country	New Zealand
Denomination	Anglican
History
Founded	1880
Founder(s)	Bishop William Cowie
Relics held	Te Take ki Oihi Crozier
Architecture
Architect(s)	E. Mahoney and Son
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1880–1881
Specifications
Materials	Kauri Timber
Administration
Parish	St Sepulchre’s
Archdiocese	Aotearoa
Diocese	Te Tai Tokerau
Province	Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Māori: Te Ana Tapu), commonly known as Holy Sep and St Sepulchre's, is an historic Anglican church located on Khyber Pass Road, Grafton, near the central business district of Auckland, New Zealand. The church and wider marae complex are also known as (Māori: Te Mīhana Māori o Tāmaki Makaurau or Te Mīhana Māori).

Established in 1880, the church has played an important role in the history and development of the Anglican Church in Auckland, being first a central parish church, then the home of the Māori Anglican Mission (Te Mīhana Māori). Its separate hall was originally the temporary home for St Paul's Church and is now Tātai Hono marae. When the church was constructed, it had the tallest steeple in Auckland, and retains aesthetic qualities as well as being a major landmark. Listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I building on 6 June 2006, the church has ongoing strong spiritual, cultural and social values, and welcomes all people in a Tikanga Māori Anglican setting.

History

The original St Sepulchre’s was a chapel built in the Anglican section of the Symonds Street Cemetery opened by Bishop Selwyn 27 August 1865, with Reverend Benjamin Dudley in charge of the district. The parish was established in 1870 to serve the western part of Auckland, and included the city’s main prison and hospital. As the demands of the growing colonial city grew, a new ridge-top site in opulent Grafton was purchased for a larger purpose-built structure in 1879.

The foundation stone was laid in 1880 by the first Bishop of Auckland William Cowie the following year. The architect was Edward Mahoney of the firm of E. Mahoney and Son, an architecture practice which specialised in designing gothic revival buildings in wood. Making the most of its prominent location to the south of the city centre, the timber building included the tallest steeple in the city, a well-appointed timbered interior, seating for 680, a bell, stained glass windows and elements from the first chapel. Bishop Cowie consecrated the new church on 29 June 1881, with Benjamin Dudley continuing in leadership.

The timber hall was moved to the Holy Sepulchre site in 1898, to the south of the church. It had been built in 1885 as a temporary place of worship and school for Auckland’s first church, St Paul’s, after their original building had to be demolished. After some modifications for classrooms, a small lean-to kitchen and bathroom, the building was also opened by Bishop Cowie, and accommodated a Sunday School of 325 children.

In the 1930s a Lady Chapel was added to the main building.

The parish was formerly closed in October 1963, largely due that part of the city being re-zoned to ‘light industrial’ as well as population drift to the suburbs after World War II. The complex was taken over by the Auckland City Mission, and in 1969 the church was dedicated as Te Mīhana Māori o Tāmaki Makaurau, the Auckland Anglican Māori Mission, overseen by the Reverend Kingi Ihaka, reflecting the movement of Māori from rural to urban centres during the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1990 the ownership of the church, hall and vicarage was transferred to Te Komiti Tumuaki, the Māori arm of the Diocese of Auckland.

In the early 2000s, during Canon Roger Hill’s term as Missioner and church manager, the main church building was fully restored for a cost of $480,000, including recladding the steeple in donated copper.

Holy Sepulchre was used as a location for Aotearoa New Zealand's first Māori language full-length feature film Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti The Maori Merchant of Venice in 2001, which includes themes of "religious discrimination and revenge for past wrongs".

On 4 July 2009 the church hall was refurbished and rededicated as a marae and named Tātai Hono, which means ‘bound together’. The refurbishments included new entrance whakairo by Bernard Makoare, community tukutuku panels and paintings by Theresa Reihana.

On 28 May 2023, Rev'd Shona Pink-Martin was inducted as Māori Missioner, Te Mīhana Māori o Tāmaki Makaurau.

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