Three of Wanaka's Christian faith communities are responding to the pressures of town growth with building projects of their own. Marjorie Cook reports.
The key to doing God's business in Wanaka is hospitality, Presbyterian minister Diane Gillam-Weeks says.
Wanaka is a meeting place on a well beaten track between east and west; a popular escape for people wanting to explore lakes, rivers and mountains.
At least 7000 live in the wider area and another 5000 people visit daily.
By 2026, four million visitors a year could be making their way to Wanaka.
There has been a frantic decade of construction and growth and now the town some refer to as paradise has started to face the consequences.
Parents are figuring out how to raise children without extended family support.
Many are struggling to make new connections, find new jobs, or pay for their new homes.
Wanaka's social service agency, Community Networks, has been struggling to keep its head above water with the deluge of inquiries and pleas for help, although the generosity of the town means the cupboards at its foodbank are rarely empty.
Now, three churches are building to provide more support for newcomers.
Last year, Wanaka's Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic communities released multimillion-dollar construction plans.
Catholics will build a new church next to the 4-year-old Holy Family School, in Aubrey Rd.
And Anglicans want to build a $1.9 million community facility next to St Columba's, on McDougall St.
The Catholic church will the first project out of the blocks.
It starts next month and should be completed before Easter next year.
Building committee chairwoman Yeverley McCarthy says Wanaka's focus has turned to the needs of the community, which included fostering spiritual growth and nurturing children.
The roll at Holy Family School is still growing - it is about 50 and capped at 100 - and a fifth classroom is now being built.
Relocating from the Brownston St church was part of the new school plan.
It was sold last year for close to $4 million and the purchaser agreed to delay possession until the new church was finished.
"For churches to grow, you have to have the young people coming through . . . That works hand-in-hand with the special character of our school," Mrs McCarthy said.
Young families also feature in plans developed by the Presbyterian parish.
Around the same time the Catholics began planning their new school, the Presbyterians recognised their old, out-of-date hall was bursting at the seams with activities for small pre-school children.
They also began planning for the next 50 years.
A variety of options were considered and neighbours consulted before the plans were drawn up.
The hall and the under-used St David's Church at Luggate will be sold to raise capital to build a $1 million extension for the 21-year-old St Andrew's Church.
Resource consent documents were filed with Lakes Environmental in December and a hearing date will be set.
There is talk the recession means Wanaka will not grow as fast as predicted, but Rev Gillam-Weeks says that does not matter, because the people already there need support.
She began her Wanaka ministry eight years ago and has noticed young families are desperate for a sense of community.
"Clearly, you cannot be in ministry and not notice the needs of the community. Regardless of the socio-economic status, people are often hurting or lost. Relationships are in peril, people need help parenting . . . It would be appalling to go through that without support," she said.
Hospitality is another key reason for building.
She believes newcomers, by virtue of bringing in fresh perspectives and resources, have effected a subtle shift in the community.
Even though long-timers now faced a different kind of future to the one they envisaged growing up, their hospitality had formed the town's character.
One day, Rev Gillam-Weeks asked the congregation to form a timeline from those who had lived here the longest to the most recent newcomers.
Long-timers were amazed to see more than half the line were newcomers, she said.
"If you don't have a message of hospitality in this town, you might as well move away. We have this opportunity, winter and summer, to be hospitable to complete strangers - not just to newcomers but to complete strangers. That is a pivotal thing. That is why the message is about all people," she said.
Hospitality is also a feature of the developments proposed by the Anglicans.
St Columba's Church comfortably houses its 50 to 70 regulars but fills up at funerals, forcing the overflow into marquees.
There is no hall or kitchen at the church and nowhere to meet after services.
The proposed community hall, planned for empty land between the vicarage and the church, would provide an opportunity for closer networking.
It will also provide space for youth group meetings and Community Networks, which has signalled its intention to take up a tenancy.
The St Columba parish project has taken a lead from a similar successful parish venture in Stratford in the North Island.
Feasibility studies have been completed and the Anglican campaign to raise $800,000 from the wider community is under way.
The parish hopes its members can foot about half that amount.
Anglican minister Denis Bartley says the Wanaka Ministers Association is key to ensuring the churches do not end up duplicating or trumping each other.
"Each faith is separate in several ways, although we work together as a team," he said.
"Through the Ministers Association, we knew what the others were doing. We know the Presbyterians are building a bigger church, so we don't need to do that. If we need a bigger church, we can use theirs."
"We are working for the same boss, just different branches," Rev Gillam-Weeks said.
