St Paul's Church is an historic

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, located on Symonds Street near the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

and

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology ( AUT; ) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT is New Zealand's third largest university i ...

, in the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. The church is the longest established

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the city and has one of the largest Anglican congregations in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. The St Paul's foundation stone was laid by Governor William Hobson on 28 July 1841 and the first service was held on 7 May 1843. St Paul's also served as Auckland's Cathedral for over 40 years. The third and current building was formally consecrated by Bishop William Cowie on 1 November 1895, and is now registered as a Category I Historic Place by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

History

Early history

Now occupying its third building, St Paul's is known as the 'Mother Church' of Auckland as it is the oldest church community in the city and was founded within a year of the foundation of the city. The first St Paul's was built in Emily Place, just off Princes Street, in 1841 where a plaque still marks the site of the beginning of the

Christian church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...

in Auckland. Old St Paul's was in the centre of the young colonial city, on a prominent ridge-top site on

Point Britomart Point Britomart () was a headland in the Waitematā Harbour, in Auckland (), New Zealand. Located between Commercial Bay and Official Bay, Auckland, Official Bay,

, close to the imperial garrison stationed at Fort Britomart, and near the remnants of the old Rangipuke pā where

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa ...

had defended their

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...

during the

Musket Wars The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori people, Māori between 1806 and 1845, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an inte ...

of the 1820s. St Paul's was the seat of the

Bishop of New Zealand The Diocese of Auckland is one of the thirteen dioceses and ''hui amorangi'' ( Māori bishoprics) of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area stretching from North Cape down to the Waikato River, ...

, the Right Reverend George Selwyn, and Auckland's wealthiest settlers worshipped there. The religion of

British royalty The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is conside ...

, the Anglican faith was closely linked to colonial power. Many of St Paul's artefacts, such as the ''Bishop's Throne'' and a large collection of memorials, are connected to this time when Auckland was New Zealand's capital. Reverend John Churton was the first minister of St Paul's, occupying that role for 12 years. The ''Churton Memorial'' was built to his memory, close to the site of the original church building. In 1863 the original building received extensive enlargements which doubled the seating capacity. During the height of the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...

in the 1860s, St Paul's was used as a safe haven for women, children and the elderly; a traditional church role in times of strife. After the war moved south, however, and Auckland expanded geographically, the congregation dwindled as attendees moved to the new suburbs of

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

and

Remuera Remuera is an affluent suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian era, Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy ...

, and St Matthew's in the City served the suburbs of

Freemans Bay Freemans Bay is the name of a former bay and now inner city suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The bay has been filled in to a considerable extent, with the reclamation area now totally concealing the ancient shoreline. Hi ...

and Ponsonby, while the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchat ...

served opulent Grafton.

Early bicultural history

On 20 March 1840 in the

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett ...

area where Ngāti Whātua farmed, paramount chief

Apihai Te Kawau Apihai Te Kawau (died November 1869) was a paramount chief of the Ngāti Whātua Māori iwi (tribe) of Auckland (), New Zealand in the 19th century. Te Kawau's father was Tarahawaiki and his grandfather was Tūperiri, the principal leader of T ...

, a friend of

Samuel Marsden Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society. He played a leading role in bringing Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden w ...

, signed ''Te Tiriti o Waitangi'' (the '' te reo Māori'' translation of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

). Ngāti Whātua sought British protection from

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

as well as a reciprocal relationship with the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

and the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. Soon after signing ''Te Tiriti'',

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei or Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei is an Auckland-based Māori hapū (sub-tribe) in New Zealand. Together with Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa and Te Taoū, it comprises the iwi (tribe) of Ngāti Whātua. These four hapū can act togeth ...

, the primary

hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...

and landowner in ''Tāmaki Makaurau'', made a ''tuku'' (strategic gift) of 3,500 acres (1,400 hectares) of land on the

Waitematā Harbour The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...

to Governor Hobson to establish his new capital, Auckland. All three St Paul's buildings would be built on this land. When St Paul's was founded by Governor Hobson on 28 July 1841, hundreds attended the ceremony including Ngāti Whātua chiefs Apihai Te Kawau, Te Keene and a young Pāora Tūhaere, accompanied by over one hundred Māori warriors. On 19 July 1842, Bishop Selwyn, having learned ''te reo Māori'' himself, issued Rev Churton with a curacy license for 'the township of Auckland'. On the official printed license, Selwyn handwrote "Provided also that you shall use due diligence in the study of the language of the Native Inhabitants of New Zealand, and be ready when required to minister to their spiritual wants in like manner as to those of all the other inhabitants of your District without distinction of persons". However, St Paul's first vicar, who was originally sent by the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...

, was mainly concerned with European settlers, and refused to learn ''te reo''. Bishop Selwyn opened St Paul's Church over four services on 7 May 1843. He later wrote, "The services began with a native congregation at nine; some of whom having only heard of the opening on Saturday evening, paddled a distance of twelve miles by sea during the night, in order to be present. The greater number were in full European clothing, and took part in the Church service, in a manner which contrasts most strikingly with that of the silent and unkneeling congregations of the English settlers." St Paul's then held four Sunday services weekly, serving both Māori and European congregations, with two services conducted in ''te reo Māori'' and two in English. The 1845–1846 Northern War in and around the Bay of Islands, caused by the difference in understanding between the English language Treaty of Waitangi and ''te reo Māori Te Tiriti o Waitangi'', lead to an expectation that

Hōne Heke Hōne Wiremu Heke Pōkai ( 1807 – 7 August 1850), born Heke Pōkai and later often referred to as Hōne Heke, was a highly influential Māori rangatira (chief) of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) and a war leader in northern New Zealand; he was ...

would attack Auckland, and St Paul's was fortified with shutters with loopholes. After hearing rounds of gunfire, the women and children of the town "were put into St Paul’s Church for safety, the one building easily holding the small population then here" and a military guard was posted for the night. The gunfire which caused the unnecessary panic turned out to be "over the body of a chief who had died during the day". The increasing European population of Auckland put pressure on Māori land and society, straining relations, leading to the city's second Anglican church, St Barnabas being opened in 1849 specifically for Māori. St Paul's was the pro-cathedral of Bishop of New Zealand for Selwyn's entire 28 year tenure. The

New Zealand Church Missionary Society The New Zealand Church Missionary Society (NZCMS) is a mission society working within the Anglican Communion and Protestant, Evangelical Anglicanism. The parent organisation was founded in England in 1799. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) s ...

(CMS) criticised Selwyn for being ineffective in training and ordaining clergy – especially Māori. It took him 11 years to ordain the first Māori Anglican minister, Rev Rota Waitoa, at St Paul’s on 22 May 1853, and 24 years to ordain a Māori priest. Selwyn went on to ordain seven more Māori clergy at St Paul's, but his high church ways were blamed for undermining the work of the CMS and damaging Māori enthusiasm for Christianity. When Churton died in 1853, Selwyn appointed Rev John Frederick Lloyd to replace him. Lloyd was the opposite of Churton – a personal friend of Selwyn with respect for Māori, who spoke ''te reo'', and had tutored mixed Māori and European classes at St John's College. Together they tried to create a bicultural house of worship. By 1859, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, who had given two further land ''tuku'' (strategic gifts) of 13,200 acres (5,342 hectares) to the Crown, had lost most of their remaining land through speculators. The 700-acre

Ōrākei Ōrākei is a suburb of Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on a peninsula five kilometres to the east of the city centre, on the shore of the Waitematā Harbour, which lies to the north, and Hobson Bay and Ōr� ...

block was all that remained. Within a century, this too was compulsorily acquired by the Crown (apart from a cemetery). Selwyn and Lloyd generally advocated for Māori rights and were often critics of the unjust and reckless land acquisition practices that led to the New Zealand Wars. However, their support of the

Invasion of the Waikato The invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...

as chaplains, damaged their and the church's relationship with Māori, which is still felt today. Old St Paul's was considered a garrison church, but when the first regimental colours unfurled in New Zealand were donated to the church, Lloyd turned them down so "no jealousies of race or feelings of hostility should ever be permitted to enter, but where men should remember only that they are one in Christ". When the first St Paul's building was demolished, various political, military, clergy and settler memorials were kept, but the only direct reference to Māori was a plaque mentioning the 'hostile Maoris at Rangariri ic.

Changing locations

The original Emily Place church was demolished in 1885, when Point Britomart was quarried away. A temporary wooden church, designed by William Skinner, was built on the corner of Short Street and Eden Crescent while a permanent church site was identified. That temporary church is now the ''Tātai Hono''

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

, part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Only the present site, halfway up the Symonds Street hill on the same ridge as the original church, was considered large and central enough for the planned church. It also placed it near Auckland's oldest street,

Karangahape Road Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the Auckland CBD, central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flig ...

, which by the 1880s was a thriving thoroughfare and shopping precinct for both

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

. The road was a traditional walking track along the ridge from

Ōwairaka Ōwairaka is a suburb of New Zealand's largest city, Auckland. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. The area was primarily rural until the 1930s, when the area experienced suburban growth. Ōwairaka is known for the Owair ...

(Mt Albert) to

for Ngāti Whātua. The official municipal burial ground; the

Symonds Street Cemetery Symonds Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery and park in central Auckland, New Zealand. It is in 5.8 hectares of deciduous forest on the western slope of Grafton Gully, by the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, and is crossed by t ...

was also nearby, on the corner of K’Road and Symonds Street. The new church building was dedicated in 1894, without the corner tower and

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

that were part of Skinner's design. The

Long Depression The Long Depression was a worldwide price and economic recession, beginning in Panic of 1873, 1873 and running either through March 1879, or 1899, depending on the metrics used. It was most severe in Europe and the United States, which had been e ...

had inhibited building such a monumental church. The interior was kept plain, apart from the

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

temporarily filled with coloured

cathedral glass Cathedral glass is the name given commercially to monochromatic sheet glass. It is thin by comparison with 'slab glass', may be coloured, and is textured on one side. The name draws from the fact that windows of stained glass were a feature of me ...

and the artefacts gifted by Selwyn.

20th century

The appointment of Reverend Cecil Watson in 1908 led to St Paul's being revitalised as a stronghold of

Anglo-Catholicism Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

in a largely

puritanical The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

city. Watson, and his successor Samuel Corbin shaped the church for a half-century, introducing Sung Mass,

choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and the concept of spiritual healing, which received some resistance. In 1936 the temporary wooden

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

was replaced with today's concrete chancel, that is yet to be faced in stone. In 1954 Father Kenneth Prebble inherited a building and congregation both in a poor state, and for the next 20 years he reestablished St Paul's as a centre of Anglo-Catholicism. In the mid-1960s Prebble looked beyond the norm in terms of

high church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

Anglican practise and embraced a revival of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

. Polarising the congregation, St Paul's became Spirit-focused, evangelical and contemporary while maintaining its Anglo-Catholic theology. Through its popular music, and a regular coffee-shop outreach to students and young people, Prebble and his successor Father David Balfour, helped create a church with city-wide and international impact through the 50s and 60s. From 1956 to 1973 many repairs and additions were made to the building, including: cleaning, repairing and replacing stonework; replacing the roof; and the addition of the ''Endean Memorial'', ''Christ in Glory'' and '' Patteson Memorial'' stained glass windows. In 1974 the St Paul's Outreach Trust was formed and by the end of 1976 had produced three records sung by the ''St Paul's Singers'' entitled ''Songs for Prayer & Praise'', ''Arise my Love and Harvest of Joy'', plus songbooks including ''New Glory''. However, in the 1970s, the Anglo-Catholicism that had provided the theological framework for the spiritual and social justice revival of the 50s and 60s at St Paul's "dissolved into a bundle of conflicting theologies without strong leadership or good biblical teaching". During the 1980s and 1990s the parish, with the help of its first Māori curate Wally Te Ua, took steps towards a "more significant understanding of biculturalism" and a Friday night gospel service was established which became an outreach to immigrant families and students from Asian countries. The parish also continued taking an active role in supporting women clergy. However, many congregants of the previous period moved away, and only a "tiny remnant" of Anglo-Catholics remained loyal to the church. In 2002 the parish roll had 46 members.

21st century

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, many young New Zealanders became Christians or renewed their faith at St Mary's London. Returning home, they wanted a similar church in Auckland. With the blessing of the Bishop of Auckland, a team from St Mary's were invited in 2004 to set up new family and young people-focused services at St Paul's, Symonds Street. Reverend Mike and Bex Norris and a core group of about 80 people whom had previously attended St Mary's in London, oversaw huge growth, with 1,335 members on the parish roll by 2009. From 2009 to 2013, St Paul's produced the ''GLOW Carols by Glowstick'' event at Auckland's

Vector Arena Spark Arena (also known as Auckland City Arena, and formerly as Vector Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The venue is located at Quay Park, Parnell, very close to Britomart Transport Centre and The Strand Station. The ...

, with around 10,000 people attending each year. A key part of the event were Christmas films produced by St Paul's including ''The Christmas Story'' which has had 4 million views on YouTube. The 2012 documentary short film ''O Little Town of Bethlehem'' was shot in modern Bethlehem. In 2012 St Paul's produced its debut live worship album titled ''GOD w/ US'' including the voices of around 800 worshippers gathered across three services. In 2013 St Paul's

priest in charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent; they will normally work on a short-term contract and have less freedom to act within the ...

Reverend Mathew Newton officially asked the

Anglican Diocese of Auckland The Diocese of Auckland is one of the thirteen dioceses and ''hui amorangi'' ( Māori bishoprics) of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area stretching from North Cape down to the Waikato River, ac ...

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

to divest from

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

industries due to the threat of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. It agreed and became the first New Zealand institutional body to do so. In 2015 St Paul's published a hard cover book of personal testimonies and photos of 128 children, youth and adults from the church called ''St Paul's Stories.'' From 2015 to 2019, St Paul's produced ''Alt Carols'' as an alternative Christmas experience, combining creative elements of music, art and design. ''Volume One'' of the remixed carols from the events was released as an album in 2017, ''Volume Two'' in 2019. From 2019 to 2022, St Paul's ''Restoration'' leader Esther Grant, heritage & conservation architects Salmond Reed Architects and structural & seismic engineers worked to repair, strengthen and refresh the church building. Seismic strengthening was needed to reach building standards changed after the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

. On 5 March 2020, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei led a blessing for the work, and St Paul's thanked the descendants of Apihai Te Kawau for the gift of the land on which the church was built. Huge timelines telling the stories of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and St Paul's were installed side by side on the scaffold hoardings during the Phase 2 work that was completed in 2020. Future work planned includes renewing the main roof with slate, further increasing seismic strength, restoring the interior, installing stained glass in the

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

and building the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

. In 2020, Reverend Dr Nathan McLellan was ordained as a priest into the ''

tikanga Māori Tikanga is a Māori term for practices, customary law, attitudes and principles. Te Aka Māori Dictionary defines it as "customary system of values and practices that have developed over time and are deeply embedded in the social context". M ...

'' Te Pīhopatanga o Te Tai Tokerau and, uniquely, was then licensed by Bishop Ross Bay to minister at St Paul’s, which is a part of the ''tikanga

pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

'' Auckland Anglican Diocese.St Paul's Annual General Meeting, 29 June 2022, Advance Information, Executive Summary. Due to government and diocese restrictions during the 2020 to 2022

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, for a total 52 weeks St Paul's, led by vicar Reverend Jonny Grant, replaced services and events in its buildings with 400 pre-recorded and live online videos that received a total of 436,700 views, including its first online-only Christmas services in 2021. On 13 December 2023, Reverend Pete Watson was inducted as the 13th Vicar of St Paul's. He came from the Wellington Diocese where he was Vicar of Masterton and Archdeacon of Wairarapa. In 2025, St Paul's had a staff of 17 which included a vicar, two assistant priests, a worship leader, four other full time employees, three part time, three additional Sunday workers and three contractors.

Discography

St Paul's Singers

* ''Songs for Prayer & Praise'', album (1974) * ''Arise my Love'', album (1974) * ''Harvest of Joy'', album (1975) * ''New Harvest'', album (1981)

St Paul's Music

* ''GOD w/ US,'' live album (2012) * ''Creation's King'', single (2014) * ''Alt Carols,'' compilation EP (2016) * ''Alt Carols, Vol. 1'', compilation album (2017) * ''Alt Carols, Vol. 1.5'', compilation EP (2018) * ''Alt Carols, Vol. 2'', compilation album (2019) * ''See Again (Bartimaeus),'' single (2020) * ''You Are My Desire,'' single (2022) * ''Garden,'' single (2024)Apple Music, 12 May 2024

Bibliography

St Paul's Outreach Trust

* ''Arise my Love – song book'' (1974) * ''Harvest of Praise'' (1975) * ''New Glory – songs of renewal'' (1976) * ''New Harvest'' (1980) * ''To God be the Glory – the first 10½ years of the charismatic renewal in St Paul's'' (1981) * ''A Brief History of St Paul's Symonds Street'' (1991)

St Paul's

* ''St Paul's Stories'' (2015)

Videography

SPAM (St Paul's Arts & Media)

* ''The Christmas Prophecy'' (2006) * ''Google Earth Christmas'' (2006) * ''Open'' (2007) * ''The Open Post 1&2'' (2007) * ''Open – Alice'' (2007) * ''Family – An Exploration'' (2007) * ''The Big Little Easter Story 1&2'' (2009) * ''O Little Town of Bethlehem'' (2012) * ''766 Christmases'' (2013) * ''Star of Wonder'' (2016) * ''Gold Frankincense Myrrh'' (2017) * ''Stained Historical Stories – Talks 1–4'' (2018) * ''This is Christmas'' (2019) * ''Palm Sunday Reading'' (2020) * ''Easter Sunday Reading'' (2020) * ''Christmas, I Choose to Remember'' (2020) * ''Common Christmas Questions'' (2020) * ''The Stories of Advent 1–6'' (2021) * ''Jesus Meets His Mother'' (2022)

St Paul's

* ''Life'' (2007) * ''How We're Doing It'' (2009) * ''Life Questions'' (2011) * ''GLOW Event Opening'' (2011) * ''Date My Mate NZ'' (2012) * ''International Students'' (2013) * ''Life Course'' (2013) * ''Mike & Bex 10 Years'' (2013) * ''Twins and Twins'' (2014) * ''GLOW Promo'' (2014) * ''Visual Identity'' (2018) * ''Big Issues'' (2020) * ''Restoration Update'' (2020) * ''The Story of St Paul's (so far ...)'' (2021) * ''The Open Course'' (2021) * ''The Evening Service'' (2022) * 400 pre-recorded and live online service, prayer, youth and kids videos, during COVID-19 restrictions (2020–21)

SPANK (St Paul's Arts 'n' Kids)

* ''When God Was Born'' (2008) * ''Boys'' (2009) * ''The Christmas Story'' (2010) * ''Good News of Great Joy'' (2011) * ''My Mum'' (20012) * ''An Unexpected Christmas'' (2012) * ''Star News Bethlehem'' (2013) * ''The Story of the Whole Bible'' (2019)

St Paul's Music

* ''GOD w/ US 1–14'' (2012, 2014) * ''Creation's King'' (2014) * ''Alt Carols 1–5'' (2016) * ''See Again (Bartimaeus) 1&2'' (2020) * ''You Are My Desire'' (2022) * ''Garden'' (2024)

Gallery

File:St Paul's Auckland Waterfront 1852.jpg, The

Auckland waterfront The Auckland waterfront (rarely the Auckland harbourfront) is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitematā Harbour coastline in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously mostly dominated by Ports of Auckland uses, from the 2000s on it is becoming i ...

with

Māori waka Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and the original St Paul's building above

Point Britomart Point Britomart () was a headland in the Waitematā Harbour, in Auckland (), New Zealand. Located between Commercial Bay and Official Bay, Auckland, Official Bay,

, painted in 1852. File:Temporary St Paul's Auckland 1880s.jpg, The temporary St Paul's building photographed in the 1880s. File:St Paul's Auckland Architect's Perspective 1894.jpg, Architect's perspective of the third building published in 1894, showing the unbuilt

. File:St Paul's Church, Auckland, 1909.jpg, The third and current St Paul's building photographed in 1909. File:Interior of St Paul's Anglican Church (Symonds Street).jpg, A St Paul's Evening Service, 2012. File:St_Paul's_Alt_Carols_2017.jpg, A St Paul's artist performs at ''Alt Carols'' for Christmas 2017. File:St_Paul's_Church_on_Symonds_St,_Sept_2018.jpg, St Paul's on Symonds Street, 2018. File:St_Paul's_Quiz_Night_2019.jpg, St Paul's community participating in an annual Quiz Night, 2019. File:St Paul's Alt Carols 2019.jpg, Artists perform at ''Alt Carols'' for Christmas 2019. File:St_Paul's_Church,_Auckland,_Scaffold_Wrap,_2020.jpg, Building restoration scaffold wrap, including Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and St Paul's timelines, 2020.

Windows gallery

File:St Paul's Auckland, Rose Window, 1895.jpg, The large western

Rose Window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

, with tracery designed by

William Henry Skinner William Henry Skinner (1838–1915) was a Welsh-born architect who migrated to New Zealand, and reached the rank of major in the Royal Rifle Volunteers. His notable buildings included the Evening Star office, Onehunga Woollen Works, the Grand H ...

, glazed with

, was the only

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

installed during construction, 1895. File:St Paul's Auckland, Derbyshire Window, 1951.jpg, The northern Derbyshire Window, by

James Powell and Sons The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained-glass window manufacturers. As Whitefriars Glass, the company existed from the 18th century, but became well kno ...

a.k.a. Whitefriars Glass, in the

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

, depicting the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

and

Presentation of Jesus at the Temple The Presentation of Jesus is an early episode in the life of Jesus Christ, describing his presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem. It is celebrated by many churches 40 days after Christmas on Candlemas, or the "Feast of the Presentation of Jes ...

, 1951. File:St Paul's Auckland, Endean Memorial Window, 1959.jpg, The southern Endean Memorial Window, by

a.k.a. Whitefriars Glass, in the Requiem Chapel, depicting the

Baptism of Jesus The baptism of Jesus, the ritual purification of Jesus with water by John the Baptist, was a major event described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament ( Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghta ...

, Adoration of the Shepherds,

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

and

Flight into Egypt The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13–Matthew 2:23, 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the Biblical Magi, visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Saint Joseph, Joseph in a dream telling ...

, 1959. File:St Paul's Auckland, Christ in Majesty Window, 1967.jpg, The large eastern

Christ in Majesty Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory () is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whose membership change ...

Window, designed by Lawrence Lee,

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

, in the

Chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, depicting

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

, a dove symbolising the

and an eye symbolising

God the Father God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first Person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, Jesus Christ the Son, and the third person, God th ...

, 1967.

List of vicars

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul's Church, Auckland 19th-century Anglican church buildings in New Zealand Paul's Church Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Auckland Region Listed churches in New Zealand Anglo-Catholic churches in New Zealand 1890s churches in New Zealand Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand 1841 establishments in New Zealand Churches completed in 1894 Auckland CBD Stone churches in New Zealand Learning Quarter