Consecration of Auckland's Holy Trinity Cathedral 28 October

Consecration of Auckland's Holy Trinity Cathedral

History will be made with the Service of Consecration for Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland this Saturday 28 October.

The land on which the Cathedral is built was purchased by Bishop George Augustus Selwyn in 1843. The Cathedral foundation stone was laid in 1957.

A project called Selwyn’s Vision was launched in 2012 to complete what had been started by previous generations. Holy Trinity Cathedral is the last Cathedral to be consecrated in New Zealand, signifying that the building has been completed and is debt-free.

The Anglican Bishop of Auckland, the Rt Rev’d Ross Bay will lead the consecration service. He says the completed Cathedral is an accomplishment to be proud of with 60 years of building and 175 years of dreaming.

“The first Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Selwyn, offered us the vision of a cathedral to serve the people of Auckland. It is very exciting for our generation to see that vision fulfilled, and to be able to offer Holy Trinity Cathedral to God for that purpose”, says Bishop Ross Bay.

The project has included a new Cathedral organ, a completed Cathedral with the 150-seat Bishop Selwyn Chapel, and the removal of the bridge that linked the ‘old’ and ‘new’ parts of the Cathedral known as the chancel and larger nave.

To consecrate a building is to set it apart for the purposes of God as a place where all people can focus on an awareness of God’s presence.

Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Rev’d Anne Mills, says in many parts of the Cathedral one is able to look out to the city and the building is a space for church and for city.

“Bishop Selwyn purchased the land where the Cathedral sits and described its purpose as to be a ‘centre for educational, social, charitable and missionary work’. He was looking to the future and so this generation has a place where there can be joy and lament as well as an expression of local and international concerns,” says Dean Anne Mills.

Bishop Selwyn arrived in New Zealand as the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand in 1842 and returned to the United Kingdom in 1868 to be Bishop of Lichfield until his death. The current Bishop of Lichfield,, Dr Michael Ipgrave will attend the consecration service along with bishops from New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific. The previous Dean of the Cathedral, Jo Kelly-Moore led the project to complete the Cathedral before leaving to be Archdeacon of Canterbury in England and will attend the service.

ENDS

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