Sunday Service 12 October 2025 Whānau i roto i a Karaiti | Our family in Christ; we need to share some important news with you today. As you know, our church building has been closed for services these past months as we commissioned investigations and consultations with professional building experts and subsequent reports. We have reviewed the findings of these consultations and investigations and summarised these into a one page easy to read summary. The investigations highlight that unless significant remedial work is undertaken, at significant costs, the building may need to be demolished. The St Barnabas church building is fundamentally compromised and not suitable for gatherings. We will continue to have Services in the Hall.
This is not easy news to hear. For many of us, this place has been our spiritual home for years—a place of worship, fellowship, and family. At the same time, we trust that God is with us in every season, and we believe that even in this challenge, He may be opening the door to new opportunities for us as a church. As a leadership team we have been and continue to prayerfully consider the options before us. Nothing will be decided without involving you, the congregation, and seeking your wisdom, questions, and input. There is no rush to make any decision at this time. As a Vestry we have been working through the needed investigative work and have had more time than you to begin processing that information.
This is why we are not making any decisions at this time. This is a major ‘event’ for us and everyone here and our wider community needs time to process what we as a Vestry have been working with these past weeks and more. What we have kept at the forefront is the following: - Our St Barnabas church building is fundamentally compromised - We cannot gather in the church building at this time - We have time to consider prayerfully with God about our future and what God wants for us - We continue to gather as a family every Sunday in the Hall We have a dedicated email set up for you or any who have questions - email [email protected] John and I (Diana) are the key contacts on any questions about the church building as our role is the governance of the Church. It is vital that our Co-Vicars Bek and Andy can focus on you our faith community and your spiritual needs.
Timing We do not plan to run any community sessions at this stage as we want everyone to have time to process this. There is no immediate rush as while we cannot have gatherings in the church building we do not have to make an immediate decision. This means you have time, as we have had as a Vestry to think about this and chat with God and ask what God wants for you and our future.
In the New Year we do plan to hold sessions and these may be community sessions and so on and you can email [email protected] and John and I will manage any emails that come through and are happy to meet with people as well.
To reiterate, we have time. While no decision has been made it is fair to say that the future will be different than what we have had in the past – and that is the cycle of life.
We want to read this for you as well, if we may, as Jesus is our centre. Jesus directed his disciples, Matthew 28:18-20, to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age"; God is with us wherever we are.
To recap - We know this is not easy news to hear, and we know it will take time to process. As a Vestry, we have taken some time to consider the investigations’ findings and it would be fair to state that we ourselves have wrestled with this. While we may be some weeks ahead of you it has also been a shock for us and the future is unknown at this stage. What we do know is that as a loving whānau of God we will work through this together and with God’s help our future is bright. - We have set up a dedicated email inbox for you to share any thoughts you may have. We may not always respond immediately, due to other work commitments, however please know we will read and consider your thoughts [email protected]. Please also talk with John and/or me. - We cannot give you any firm answers right now, what we can tell you is that you will be part of any decision – similarly for those of you who were part of our Renewal Process Worship, With, Welcome and Wider, carried out over a number of months we may follow something similar. - We have not put a timeline in place at this time, as we want people to prayerfully consider over the coming months.
- Information will be emailed out and we will make sure the website is updated with any information. Above all, let’s continue to pray - for wisdom, for peace, and for God’s guidance in this process. We are in this together, and we will move forward together.
Please do talk with us or others in the community as we will be letting our neighbours know and others in the community, so if there is anyone you think we should be letting know, let us know. The Dio is also aware.
Thank you for your faithfulness and support.
Your Vestry John Whitehead and Diana Wolken(Onslow Anglicans Wardens) Co-Vicars Bek and Andy Hickman, and Michael who is our Synod representative
