Anglicans sell property to break-away church
Friday, 26 January 2024
The Anglican Church has sold a surplus Christchurch property to a conservative break-away church.
The Church of the Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa’s Trinity South parish has bought the old St Saviour’s church, hall and two houses, including the former vicarage, for $3.1 million.
The 3000m² property is on Colombo and Roxburgh streets in Sydenham.
The Church of the Confessing Anglicans was formed in a schism in 2018, as a reaction to the Anglican Church’s decision to bless same-sex marriages. It elected Rev Jay Behan, formerly vicar of St Stephen’s in Christchurch, as its first bishop.
Its other Christchurch parishes include the Latimer Church, formerly St Johns on Latimer Square, and Redeemer Church.
St Saviour’s in Sydenham was one of the parishes which broke away, leaving the property surplus to the Anglican diocese’s requirements.
Late last year the diocese put the property up for sale.
The Anglican South Christchurch parish which previously included St Saviour’s continues to worship at St Nicholas’s on Barrington St.
Tim Wilson, the vicar’s warden for the Trinity South parish, said after operating from temporary premises around the southern part of the city they were delighted to have found a permanent home.
“It’s a real win for us, we have been looking for something suitable for a while. There’s a limited number of options for a growing church like ours.”
The congregation numbers about 200 members.
Wilson said the money for the property had come from the “remarkable generosity” of the congregation, as well as borrowing. The first service will be held there next month.
He said the Anglican diocese and Church Property Trust, which looks after its property portfolio, had been helpful with the sale, and the deal had been “very amicable”.
The property has a rating valuation with the city council of $3.76m, and is zoned for medium-density housing.
Other Anglican properties the church considers surplus in the city are the Church of the Ascension in Mt Pleasant, which has been de-consecrated and is being prepared for sale, and the Hereford St vicarage previously used by St John’s and more recently used as a deanery.
The cleared site of St Luke’s on Manchester St is also being sold, and the proceeds will go towards reinstatement of Christ Church Cathedral.
Meanwhile, a working group for the trust will report back later this year on options for the Transitional (Cardboard) Cathedral on the old St John’s site, and what its future will be after Christ Church Cathedral is repaired.
The repair and restoration of Christ Church Cathedral is scheduled to be finished by 2027, although work has recently slowed on the site.
The most recent budget estimate available is $160m, a considerable escalation from the original budget of $104m, and some sources say it could go higher.
Taxpayers have given the project $10m, plus a $15m loan that may not have to be paid back. Ratepayers are being levied on each rates bill for 10 years to fund a $10m city council contribution.
Other funding sources are $6m in lottery grants and $53m in insurance, plus individual donors’ contributions.
The Christ Church Cathedral Reinstatement Trust is responsible for raising the required shortfall.
Asked on Tuesday whether the Anglican diocese would put the proceeds of church sales into the reinstatement project, Peter Carrell, the Anglican bishop of Christchurch, said such funds “are not held by the diocese at its sole discretion”.
“Funding of the Cathedral Reinstatement Project is a matter of continuing consideration and discussion within the diocese and with parishes which have sold property,” Carrell said.