The Community of the Sacred Name is a community of nuns in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia. CSN Sisters currently live in Christchurch, Ashburton, Nukualofa and Suva. The former Motherhouse of the community including convent, chapel and novitiate stood in the

central city In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city i ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. The second

Anglican bishop of Christchurch The Diocese of Christchurch is one of the thirteen dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area between the Conway River (New Zealand), Conway River and the Waitaki River in ...

, Churchill Julius, wanted to see a community of deaconesses established in Christchurch.

Edith Mellish Edith Mary Mellish (10 March 1861 – 25 May 1922) was a New Zealand Anglican deaconess and nun. She was born in Pailles, Mauritius on 10 March 1861. Her father, Edward Mellish, was a banker and businessman, and she grew up in Mauritius, Engla ...

from London was chosen and she arrived in Christchurch in August 1893. She founded the Community of the Sisters of Bethany, and in 1895, the sisters moved to Barbadoes Street. Originally, three buildings were erected on the corner of Barbadoes and St Asaph Streets. The first two were known as Deaconess House, with the first of these a simple one-storey designed by Benjamin Mountfort; he was one of New Zealand's most eminent architects and gave Christchurch a unique architectural identity. The second building was added in 1900, running perpendicular to the first building at two storeys high. This second building was designed by Cyril Mountfort, the son of Benjamin Mountfort, and contained the chapel. The third building, fronting Barbadoes Street, was designed by John Goddard Collins of

Armson, Collins and Harman Armson, Collins and Harman was an architectural firm in New Zealand. It was founded by William Barnett Armson (1832/3–1883), and after his death, became the practice of two architects who articled with him, John James Collins (1855–1933) and ...

and built in 1911–12. It was a prominent two-storey brick building, hiding the original buildings behind it. In 1912, the community was renamed to avoid confusion with another community, the community changed from being a community of deaconesses to a community of religious sisters, they were from then known as the Community of the Sacred Name. The brick building was damaged in the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

and later demolished. The sisters sold the remaining timber buildings to a charity called 'Home and Family'. A restoration deal was brokered by Heritage New Zealand, with the organisation itself, the Lotteries Commission, and Christchurch City Council significantly contributing to the

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zea ...

2.9m renovation and repair costs. The buildings are registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I item, with registration number 4387 registered on 15 February 1990.

References

{{coord, -43.53564, 172.64528, display=title Religious buildings and structures completed in 1895 Religious buildings and structures completed in 1900 Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Canterbury, New Zealand Buildings and structures in Christchurch Christchurch Central City 1920s architecture in New Zealand