St James' Church Repair Project

This page is to raise funds to maintain St James Church, Waiho, Franz Josef Glacier. The Parish and local community funds have been depleted during $28 k worth of structural and painting work to the bell tower. Our Community are aiming to raise a further $35000 to re nail / paint the roof, clean the mould off and paint the timber inside of the church. We need your support to look after this special place so it can be enjoyed by visitors and locals in the future.

The church became famous when the view of the Franz Josef Glacier from the chapels alter window became known worldwide after it was the feature of a 1946 9d 'Peace' stamp. The stamp was named 'A Spirit of Thankfulness.' It was part of an issue which commemorated the end of WW2.

At that time of the town of Franz Josef Glacier was known as Wahio Gorge.

The permanent congregation of the church is small, however, as Franz Josef Glacier village draws visitors from all around the world Christmas and Easter services often sees the church, which holds about 100, full with song.

The pile of visitor books that are brimming with lovely comments about the peace and beauty of the Church and its location are testament to the number of visitors that discover and appreciate this special place.

Over the past winter we used a generous donation from the Franz Josef Community Council along with gifts from congregation members visitors and saved funds have been used to dry out, repair, prep and paint the bell tower. It was growing mushrooms in its timber. It is good to have it dry and tidy again.

A couple who got married at St James’ are really keen to renew their vows in the church. They have made a substantial donation to support the repair work and we are really focused on having the building in good shape for their second ‘Big Day’.

All donations received will go towards re nailing and painting the roof and cleaning and painting the inside of the church. An engineer has recently completed a report on the church and concluded that other than the rotten timbers in the lower bell tower, which we have now repaired, the rest of the buildings timbers are in good shape and it is structurally sound from an earthquake assessment point of view.

We have been lucky enough to have the multi skills of Levi, a passionate new local to the area who’s experience in paint and restoration have been put to great use in phase one of the project.

Your support will enable us to move onto re nailing / painting the roof and then getting to work on preparing and painting the inside timbers.

The idea of a Anglican Church for the village was seeded by the Revd. James Young in 1925. With enthusiastic support of the idea from the community and a generous donation of land from the Graham Brothers the plan grew into a reality. The Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe laid the foundation stone on 3rd Feb 1931.

Just 3 months later, on the 26th April 1931, at 2pm Garland Graham rang the bell donated by Mrs. Pringle, his grandmother and the congregation of about 170 entered for the blessing. Garland rang the bell once again in May 2006 as part of the churches 75 anniversary celebrations.

The final cost was of the building was 1400 pounds, this was given by local people, tourists and interested friends of the church. It was built at the height of the depression.

St James' is constructed from board and battens on a boulder and concrete foundation. It combines elements of both Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts styles. St James' many full visitor books are testament to the churches draw power of international and local visitors.

Due to the buildings architectural quality the NZ Historic Places Trust classifies the Church as a Category 1 building. They see the church to be of great architectural and cultural value and merits permanent preservation.

The parish is a registered charity. We are happy to supply receipts for donations for your tax records. Drop me a line if you would like one.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Adam Haugh

Treasurer / Church Warden

Ross & South Westland Anglican Parish

adam.haugh@hotmail.co.nz