A Napier congregation says it is not going anywhere after fire destroyed St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, which had twice risen from the ashes, including after the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake.
A 54-year-old man has been charged with arson over the blaze in the early hours of Labour Day. Police arrested him overnight, and he was due to appear in Napier District Court today.
Minister Reverend Mark Johnston told 1News the church’s offices had been untouched, and staff can keep working on site during the week.
“We’ve been here 168 years. I don’t think one more fire will push us away from here," he said.
Sunday worship will continue at 10am in Asher Hall, along with Bay Vineyard Church.
'A third iteration'
Johnston said a controlled demolition of part of the building would take place.
The main sanctuary, a 1950s addition, was the most badly damaged and would have to be demolished, though some of the original 1931 rebuild may be salvageable. Insurers are yet to carry out further assessments.
"It's pretty clear - anybody can see, builders can see - that's the most damaged part," he said.
He said it was too early to say what would replace it, but the church would carry out "a very thorough" community consultation before any rebuild.
"This is more than just a little church or a local church. It's a city location, which has meaning and has importance to the city," he said.
Messages have been written on blackboards attached to security fencing around the site. People tied ribbons and laid flowers at a public ceremony there on Sunday morning.
Johnston said the "marvellous outpouring of support and goodwill and concern" had kept the congregation going.
"We're looking at charred ruins and thinking, 'Whoa, we've got ourselves one big project for the future'... You can feel a little overwhelmed at times by imagining what is ahead. But we're upheld by that."
The church had been lost before. The original building burned down in 1929, and its replacement was destroyed in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that killed 256 people in February 1931.
"There's a really remarkable narrative of rising from the ashes already… twice before, and now this is us in a third iteration of that story, and I think that has power as well," Johnston said.
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