First Church building celebrates 100th birthday

The First Church building on the corner and Tay and Ythan Streets celebrates its 100th birthday this weekend and the Southland community is welcome to join in the celebrations of this iconic heritage building. Tours of the Church buildings and graphic displays will be held between 10am and 12 noon on Saturday, 14 February 2015. Tours will include the opportunity to climb the 32 metre Campanile bell tower and view Invercargill from a height. Following the format of the buildings opening in February 1915 a Celebratory Ecumenical Service of Worship will be held on Saturday afternoon at 2.00pm, followed by a heritage themed dinner in the evening.

On Sunday, 15 February a Service of Holy Communion will be held where a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between First Church and Pacific Island Church (Samoan). This will be followed by a pot luck lunch and farewell to Rev Richard and Morag Gray.

"First Church is an iconic heritage building and we would be delighted to show people through the building" said Rev Richard Gray. "The buildings design, construction and maintenance means that we were delighted to recently receive a report from Hadley & Robinson Limited, Dunedin based consulting engineers, who confirmed that the building rates at better than 80% NBS. This means that the building is not earthquake prone. It allows the congregation to move forward with confidence knowing that this important Church building will serve the Invercargill community for another 100 years."

It was Rev Richard Grays great-grandfather (the Rev R M Ryburn) who was minister of First Church when the controversial design for the building was chosen, when the foundation stone was laid in 1910 and at the official opening in February 1915. "When I accepted the call to became Minister of First Church I was delighted to be able to preach in the same pulpit as my great-grandfather" Rev Gray said.

First Church is a major Invercargill landmark which was opened in 1915 and is of an Italian Romanesque design. Over one million bricks were used in the construction of the church which has a height of 15 metres. The Campanile bell tower has a height of 32 metres, with the walls at its base being one metre thick. Arthur Sefton, bricklayer, was regarded as one of the finest tradesmen in the country when the building was constructed with its complex arches and patterns.

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First Church building celebrates 100th birthday