The 1864, R.A. Lawson-designed church has had an uncertain future since its use by the Otepopo-Maheno Presbyterian parish ended, but the Hampden community wants to turn it into a community arts, music, cultural and exhibition centre.
To help maintain the church, a fundraising festival is being planned, starting with planting special trees to mark matariki (the Maori New Year) at 3.30pm.
One of the organisers, Alison MacTavish, said there would also be a spicy midwinter afternoon tea, including a Christmas pudding accompanied with brandy butter or cinnamon sauce and whipped cream.
At 4.30 in the historic church, as the afternoon started to cool, Bridget Ellis would sing her own songs with guitar and Lynley Caldwell would play her harp or bodhran with her for an hour.
''The acoustics of the church are very good, and there is a lovely reflective atmosphere,'' Mrs MacTavish said.
Soon after 5.30pm the audience would emerge in the gathering dusk, where enormous paper lanterns made at a recent workshop under the direction of Elizabeth King, of Herbert, would light up the church grounds and smaller ones would glow in the bare branches of nearby trees.
''We're quite excited to see how it will all look,'' she said.
An ''affordable price'' of $5 per adult had been set, with children free.
