THE BRIEF
ST BARNABAS — FENDALTON Words: Ross Seagar Photo: Graham Stewart Earlier this year, the Parish of Fendalton and the Church Property Trustees Recovery Team celebrated the reopening of St Barnabas Church on Fendalton Road, Christchurch. Following the Great War many churches throughout New Zealand installed memorials to those who gave their lives in that war. St Barnabas is one of the very few churches that was built as a World War I memorial. Conceived in 1919 and opened in 1926, it was a replacement for the original wooden church on the site built in 1876 and dedicated to the honour all who fought in World War I. Recently the final part of the restoration project was completed: the re-installation, following its refurbishment by Stewart Stained Glass, of the large Western window. The inscription on the window reads “To the Glory of God, and in memory of the Fendalton men who served in the Great War, 1914-18, this window was humbly offered by Kate Gerard, 1926.” Miss Gerard, an interesting maiden lady from a wealthy farming family, had a very close association with St Barnabas and the Anglican Church. She lived with another maiden sister at “Willowbrook” (the present-day site of Fendalton Park) and close to another sister, Mary, who built “Avonhoe” on Medbury Terrace in
the late 1890s, when she separated from her husband, George Rutherford Jr of Leslie Hills. Those of you who read the small print of the papers presented to Synod each year will recognize the name Kate Gerard from the Diocese annual accounts Schedule of Special Purpose Funds. In a fine display of what not to do when leaving a bequest to the church,
Reinstated West Window donated by Miss Kate Gerard, 1926
Miss Gerard, who died in 1934, made a bequest with instructions that include: …my Special Trustee shall pay the net income derived from the Trust in equal shares to the Bishops of the Diocese of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin for the purposes in each case of defraying the cost of printing books of poetry which I have in my lifetime written for the spiritual advancement of boys and girls… Whilst the use of language in the will is superb, the instructions to Church Property Trustees (as Trustee) are not easily followed some 83 years later. Each Bishop receives a distribution from the estate of around $43 per annum. The Diocesan Office will shortly be distributing updated information to parishes regarding the making of bequests. Please consider this as part of your giving back to the Church. If you would like to speak to someone about making a bequest, please contact the Diocesan Manager, Edwin Boyce, on 03 348 6960 or diomanager@anglicanlife.org.nz. For service times at St Barnabas, please go to www.stbarnabas.org.nz . Special thanks, for financial assistance with the repair and refurbishment of St Barnabas, go to the Lotteries Environment & Heritage Committee, and Christchurch Earthquake Heritage Buildings Fund.
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