We began to tell you before about our parish’s varied history. The first services were held in large sheep stations or in gold towns, not necessarily on Sundays, but just as and when the vicar arrived.

The station would come to a stand still and all workers would knock off from their days work and travel to the homestead. Children not yet baptised, or born since the last visit by the priest, were baptized. Others took the opportunity to be married. A meal would be shared and then the priest would climb onto his horse and continue to the next station. The visits were often weeks apart. Later lay ministers were appointed to take regular worship between the vicar’s visits.

Before 1880 the area was connected to Gladstone Parish of Invercargill . In Lumsden, the lay minister, Mr Johnson held services regularly in a room over his shop in the township. Many ofMr Johnson’s descendants are to be found in the congregation even today. The first Masonic services were also held here. Then as congregations increased the services were held in the new Masonic Hall.

In 1890 the area was able to have its own church, and on November 23,1890, the Bishop of Dunedin baptised fifteen people. In 1892 the church was built and soon afterwards the vicarage, still in use by the present vicar, was built and a minister appointed. He was curate to Gladstone until the building was free of debt when it became a parish.
The Rev’d T. L. Stanley became the first Vicar in Residence of Waimea Plains. Initially the parish covered the northern half of today’s parish. Te Anau and Milford were added and then Dipton on the southern side.

About 20 years ago the government opened up the area from Mossburn to Te Anau and surrounds. Small farms were created. Then ballots were held for young people who saw this as an opportunity to commence farming.

With this sudden new life, and the amazing growth of tourism, Te Anau looked set to blossom. The only church established in Te Anau belonged to the Catholics. Occasionally other denominations made visits.

The church’s plan for Te Anau was to have it become its own unit. The estimate was that the township would have a full time priest stationed within a couple of years. The Rev’d Jim Brook, a non stipendiary priest who had retired from the Post Office was appointed as a curate to the vicar of Waimea Plains. He was housed in Te Anau.
A Synod motion established Te Anau as its own parish. Other changes took place. Dipton was given to the Winton Parish to aid it through its financial difficulties, and the neighbouring Parish of Tapanui was split. Waikaia and Riversdale came onto the Waimea Parish and Clinton was attached to Balclutha. The rest of the Tapanui Parish was attached to Gore.

The church did well in Te Anau and some say too well because before long other denominations and groups moved to the town. Now about ten different congregations are active in the township.

Jim Brook’s success had him called to his home Parish in Oamaru, the first non stipendiary to be called into full time ministry in the Diocese.
Like parts of the Waimea parish, the down-turn in farming throttled the economy. Te Anau might have weathered this financial storm except that suddenly tourism was not so profitable any more.
These factors destroyed much of the church’s hopes for the area. Then Rev’d Stan Mawhinney became the new replacement and his enthusiasm injected new life into the parish and in many ways resurrected a lot of the former success. But last year, Stan retired.

Lay ministers from Waimea support the township’s congregation one Sunday a month, and a second Sunday may well be involved soon too. Members of the Te Anau Parish undertake other Sunday services.

In 1989 the present vicar was appointed.

A continuing shortage of funds is obliging us to makes some major changes. We are training parishioners in lay roles and the outlook for a form of self-governing looks good. These changes have certainly changed the feelings of isolation and of ‘us and them’ to being ‘part of a family’. This is still in the process of being fully operational but is seen, by us, as one of our assets.

Although the aim is to give the responsibility of ministry into the hands of the Christians of each area the greatest aim is to allow ministry, as we see it, to take place. Our first aim is to reach out to God and to try to find God’s presence and direction in the everyday experiences of our lives.

Next aim is to serve and care for the community and the world that God has called us too. We have no distinction between those who are and those who are not. It is our belief that all people carry the spark of God in them and so we reach out to meet that spark.

We come together in worship and thank God for the beauty and wonder that surrounds us. We come together to share our life journey and to be free to be ourselves ‘warts and all’ in a special and trusting way. We come together to support, to learn, and to uphold each other in the joy and frustrations, in the surety and the questions of life

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