Former parishioners, heritage stakeholders and local residents came together at the former Glenkenich Presbyterian Church earlier this month to say goodbye before it was moved across the district under new ownership.
The church was built at Crossan’s Corner in 1935, to serve the congregation in the West Otago district of Glenkenich, about 12km west of Tapanui.
When it came under the ownership of Brian and Dianne Erickson in the 1990s, they promised Heriot District Presbyterian Church elder Garth McKenzie that, if sold on, its foundation stone and the rumoured time capsule it hid would be passed on to a local museum.
Mrs Erickson said she was delighted to have been able to fulfil that promise after selling the church to nearby new owners recently.
"I wanted to make that promise a reality, so we invited about 40 people to a celebration of the church before its removal, which included a ceremonial removal of the foundation stone.
"We were all very excited to find the rumour was true, and behind the stone was a glass preserving jar, apparently containing documents still in good condition."
Mr Geddes said his team were working carefully to open the jar, as its aluminium lid was sealed shut.
"Four papers can be seen in the jar, two newspapers of the day, and what seem to be two handwritten documents giving a history of the congregation up until the date of the new church’s foundation at Crossan’s Corner. As might be expected, they’re in fragile condition, so we will be taking all due care to conserve the documents as we remove and examine them, and plan eventually to digitise them for public access."
The two newspapers were a copy of the Mataura Ensign dated January 21, 1935, and the Tapanui Courier of January 22, 1935, Mr Geddes said.
The land on which the church was built was donated by local farmer and Presbyterian Thomas Crossan.
Grandson Russell Crossan, now of Timaru, said he did not mind seeing the church removed from its long-standing berth.
He said his family had kept the time capsule a secret until very recently, when it had learnt the church was to be sold.
