My Account
Mahurangi Hope, the 3000 square metre Presbyterian church and community centre in Warkworth, was officially opened with a powhiri, prayers, speeches and song on Saturday, March 2.
More than 200 guests, speakers and performers were formally welcomed into the building off Mansel Drive with a traditional Maori summoning chant, or karanga, by Ngāti Manuhiri’s Jacky Ruck, followed by a speech and prayers in te reo from Rev John Marsden (Ngāti Whatua).
The centre includes a large function centre, public sports hall and café, and was funded by the church in conjunction with Auckland Council Sport and Recreation, a number of grants, community fundraising and a bank loan (MM, Mar 4).
The two-hour opening celebration, which was MCd by Brent Harbour, featured speeches from more than a dozen supporters and people involved with the six-year build, all in front of a colourful backdrop of traditional Kiribati embroidered dresses and a woven banner mat depicting the word ‘Hope’.
Speakers included Kaipara ki Mahurangi MP Chris Penk, Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers, Mahurangi College teachers Michael Winiana and Catherine Hutton, and representatives from other Warkworth churches, as well as key Mahurangi Presbyterian Church members who made it all happen – executive pastor Roger Mackay, senior pastor Nick McLennan, Mahu Vision Community Trust chair Frank Grose and key build team members, Brian Dangerfield and Gary Caldwell.
All spoke of the tremendous local collaborative effort that had made the new centre possible, and of the value it was already bringing to the wider Mahurangi area as a spacious community venue and sports facility.
Between the speeches, contemporary worship songs, Māori waiata and traditional Kiribati garland songs and dances were performed, and the formalities were followed by refreshments, lunch and entertainment from local kapa haka and Pasifika groups.
