St John the Evangelist, Homewood

View of St John's from the east.

The little Anglican church of St John the Evangelist on a rise above Homewood Road (map).

The church from the north, showing the sheltered porch

Built in 1961, and designed to be low maintenance, the church is made of steel reinforced concrete blocks, with Kaiwhata stone on the entrance walls. The porch links the entrance lobby and the vestry.

Despite its somewhat boxy exterior, the inside is light and airy, with the gold in the altar frontal marrying beautifully with the pale turquoise carpet and the rimu pews and woodwork.

The light, clean lines of the church interior

View of the left-hand side of the church, showing the pulpit.

View of the church from the right-hand side, showing the interesting wing-shaped lectern.

Elegant detailing on the rimu pulpit

Ecclesiastical embroidery by April Bamford is a feature of the church.

Green pulpit fall

Altar frontal

White pulpit fall

Lectern bookmarks, for the different liturgical colours of the church's year

Detail of the centre of the altar frontal

The slightly dated, but endearing church sign.

History

For some years the parish of Tinui used the Church of the Seven Rules of Jehovah, also on Homewood Road, at Okautete, for their services. The church was in a poor state of repair (it has since been restored) so a new church, which would also serve as a focus for the community, was planned.

The Homewood Estate gifted the site - section 772 Block 4 of the Kaiwhata Survey District - and generous donations allowed the building to proceed. Designs were submitted by Masterton architects Inkster and McArthur, whose third plan was accepted.

The foundation stone was laid on 26 November 1960, by the Rt. Rev. W N Panapa, Bishop of Aotearoa, assisted by the Vicar of Tinui, the Rev. Ted Dashfield, and the Maori Pastor for the Wairarapa, the Rev. G P Cook.

Building of the church gets under way, 1961 01-25/113

Church front with the roof on, 1961. 01-25/114

The church was dedicated on Saturday, 16 September 1961 by the Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev. H. W. Baines.

Once the church was dedicated, work continued to provide furnishings for the church and pay off the loan made by the Diocesan Home Mission Fund. Finally debt-free, the church was consecrated by the Rt. Rev Edward Norman on 4 June 1978.

Use

The Church of St John the Evangelist was formerly part of the Anglican Parish of Tinui. With insufficient congregation in the Homewood area and services having ceased, it was offered to the Homewood community. It was bought by the Tatham family, who have had made alterations to the building to turn it into a cafe in 2022 - the Homewood Storeroom.

Sources:
Historical photos: Wairarapa Archive
Parish of Tinui - The Church of the Good Shepherd - 1902 - 2002,

Pauline Stilborn, 2001