Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo

“A memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie, the Church of the Good Shepherd, lies on the shore of Lake Tekapo on Pioneer Drive with the surroundings left in their natural state covered with matagouri, tussock and rock. Registered as Category 1 with the NZ Historic Places Trust. Historic place of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value.

For years church services were held at the various station homesteads in the Mackenzie. In 1933 some residents wrote the Anglican Vestry, Reverend W.E.D. Davies, asking for a church to be built and backed their suggestion with generous promises of money and land. Mr George Murray, Braemar Station, donated the land.

The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Gloucester in January 1935 and seven months later dedicated in August 1935. Built to last from lakeside stone and oak with a clear plate glass window to allow a view of the blue lake from its dam-controlled outlet at the village, due north for almost 20 kilometres to tussock brown hillsides and mountain scenery.

This Church is in the Cooperating Parish of Fairlie and the Mackenzie with regular services once a month sometimes fortnightly. A dedicated committee of locals oversee the church activities, maintenance, landscaping and employee a caretaker. The bushes in front of the church are matagourie with a pine tree behind and the Southern Alps covered in snow.

The architect was Richard S.D. Harman of Christchurch (1896-1953) but he worked on a plan drawn by Mrs Norman Hope of ‘The Grampians’. The pews and other items where donated by families in memory of someone’s beloved. Seats up to eighty five. In 1948 heating and lighting was added. In 1956 it was decided to change the roofing material, wooden shingles, to slate and purchase additional land around the church to prevent the land from being built on.”

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