St Mary's is on the corner of Girven Rd and Marlin St near the Bayfair shopping centre.

On the same site is the Parish Office, Op Shop/Drop In Centre and St Mary's Family Centre.

 

The hall at St Mary's is used extensively by community groups such as Girl Guides, Pippins, Recycled Teenagers, Indoor Bowls and Mah Jong.

 

Services at St Mary's

Sunday 10am Holy Communion.

Want to be involved at St Mary's?                                 

* Join the worshipping community on 
   Sunday morning

* Volunteer at the Op shop

* Come along to a community 
   activity

To book the hall for a meeting or function at St Mary's, contact the Finance Administrator, Pamela Jones, finance.mtmaunganui@waiapu.com

 

 

Historyof St Mary's

Celebrating 20 Years

(Reprinted from Quest May 2007)

Combine the generosity of community people with the vision and hard work of a community of faith and the dream of an Anglican Church on Girven Rd becomes a reality. Val Ready recalls the development of St Mary's as we look to celebrate our 20 Year Anniversary on 31 ^st  May 2007.

 

In 1962  Mr. Williams donated a section on Girven Rd to the Roman Catholic Church where they built the church of St. Bernadette. He was approached by Paul Neilson, the Anglican Parish Secretary, to see if he would do something similar for them. Mr. Williams had four more sections for sale also on Girven Rd and offered these to the church at £475 each. This was accepted by Vestry, and when they paid for them, Mr. Williams took payment for three and donated the fourth, on condition it was only used for church purposes.

 

The Ministry of Works had an obsolete building which they sold to the Parish for £6oo., and this was shifted on to the section. But with no extra money for repairs and furnishings, it was left idle for a year and quickly vandalised.

 

Parishioners came to the rescue on working bees over many weekends, and with donations of labour and materials from the community it was ready to be used for services by 1965.

 

The Methodists asked to be able to erect a hall alongside, this was agreed, and in 1978 a meeting was held between Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists, to allot use of the buildings at requested times and a combined service at the end of each month was arranged.

 

 In 1979 a covered way between church and hall was erected with the painting done by unemployed labourers from the community. A special meeting was held in March 1984, to discuss requirements for a permanent Church centre on the St. Mary's site. 

 

The area was growing fast with an influx of young families, and the congregation was growing too. A larger hall for use by many groups would also be an asset to the community, and in 1985 the decision was made to proceed. The projected cost was ­$50,000. Fundraising ideas were many and varied - a Talent Programme, Debenture scheme, Buy a Block, Concerts, Fun Runs, Quiz nights, Cake stalls, and an Olde-time dance with the "Sapphire Band."

 

Bishop Peter Atkins unveiled the plaque to denote the start of building and turned the first sod.

The sale of Maunganui Rd sections owned by the Parish, an anonymous donation of $1,000, plus the organisation of voluntary parishioners' labour enabled the building to progress steadily. A bequest of $54,000 helped to alleviate the considerable overrun of cost.

 

Four hundred people attended the dedication of the completed Church by Bishop Peter Atkins on 31st May 1987.

The St. Mary's site is a realisation of the dream of many people, and it is a continuing asset in the community, used by many groups - Care and Craft, Girl Guides and Brownies, a thriving Family Centre, Op Shop and Drop-In Centre, Indoor Bowls Club, Growing Through Grief, Pre-school Music - as well as the special needs of the church.

As we give thanks for the last twenty years, and look forward to the next, let us remember those who dared to dream.