On the 7th June 1876, exactly 150 years ago, the little wooden church (now dubbed the First Church) in Hororata was consecrated. It had been built by local builder Jesse Prestige. It was located where the stone church now stands.

Prior to these times, services had been held at the nearby school and before that in Coton’s Cottage – dubbed the ‘Old Cathedral’. The first services in the new church were held in August 1875. In 1909/10 it was moved over the road to make way for the stone church.

One hundred and fifty years later, St. John’s Parish in Hororata is celebrating the hard work and foresight of our ancestors. We are going to have a party. We would like you to be part of it.

On 19th July, next month, our celebrations will start with a commemorative service at the First Church at 10.30 am after which we will move to the Hororata Hall for lunch and talk.

Past and present clergy and parishioners will be there. There will also be a display of memories of historic Hororata to provoke more discussion.

If you have memorabilia or conversation starters, please bring them – after you have made sure that they are carefully labelled.

This is going to be a fabulous day of connection and reconnection, memories and talk.

If you would like to be part of this celebration, then please RSVP to owebbnz@gmail.com with numbers for planning and catering purposes.