Operation St Mary’s— Army moved in to help restore old church

Press, 24 February 1979, Page 15

Operation St Mary’s— Army moved in to help restore old church

By

NANCY CAWLEY

When the Reverend Leicester Kyle took over the ministry of the 113-year-old Church of St Mary the Virgin, in Church Square, Addington, 18 months ago, there had been no resident vicar for four years. The Anglican church was the haunt of vandals and was almost invisible behind a high holly hedge. Across the road the 10room vicarage had been used as a commune and needed to be completely renovated. But Leicester and Miriel Kyle and their four children had moved from Okains Bay and the parish of Eastern Bays, and were established in St Mary’s vicarage before they realised just how big a job was ahead of them. The extent to which the old church was being abused became apparent during dinner one night, when the police arrived to tell them the church had been broken into and damaged. For a time, this was part of a regular pattern. Gates were wrecked and windows broken; motor-cycles were ridden through the grounds; and the remains of burgled loot was found near the

church. Making a start, Leicester Kyle tackled the youths who were doing the motor-bike riding. They promptly “did over” his garden and told him that it was “just a warning.” At that time, the parishioners were few and elderly, and Leicester Kyle did not feel he could ask them for help with what he regarded as the most important job — cutting the hedge around the one acre of church ground.

In desperation he approached Camp SergeantMajor D. W. Gargett at Addington Military Barracks in Poulson Street, a block away from the church, for assistance. The reaction was generous and prompt. A group of men and women from the Addington Barracks cut the hedge, and 3 Signals Squadron offered to paint the roof of the church. The vandalism stopped at once, and the makeshift beds found under the bushes were cleaned out.

The old church began to take on a new life. Leicester Kyle says now that if the army had not been willing to help he could not have kept the church going.

As the soldiers worked they began to ask questions about the history of the kauri church. With increased enthusiasm, they finished the roof and moved on to the walls. By last Christmas, 12 months after Operation St Mary’s started, the church and grounds were transformed. The congregation doubled and younger parishioners started attending the services.

There is an atmosphere of, village involvement now. Army weddings and funerals have been held at St Mary’s, and the various corps in the Addington Barracks have celebrated their annual Corps Days in the church. The grounds have been used for small army field and communications exercises, and church parades are held. The selfless work of Leicester Kyle is appreciated by the church authorities. When it is

considered that he is a part-time vicar, on a half stipend, the scope of his activities is double impressive. He emphasises that despite the “skeletal” nature of his work, he is always available to his parishioners, and “never refuses any pastoral requests.” Besides regular church duties, Leicester Kyle’s work includes everything from hospital visiting to family counselling.

The officers and men of the Addington Barracks have shown their cordial feelings for the parish and its vicar, by giving Leicester Kyle right of entry to the Sergeants’ Mess. He visits them regularly, to dine or to attend a dance with his wife. It is hoped that he will become a chaplain to the Territorial Force.

Leicester Kyle likes to feel that the liaison between church and garrison is a two-way one. "It is an unusual relationship of which I am proud,” he says. “I think the soldiers regard their work as a community project. They

don’t think of it as just repairing an old church, but as maintaining an historic building.” The history is there alright and the church is full of reminders. There is a memorial to the Boer War over the vestry door, and in the Memorial Booklet at the door are details of many past parishioners: — such as, “Florence Chisnall. Associated with St Mary’s all her life. A benefactor of the Parish by her will. Died 1963.”

And on one of the panelled walls in the church there is a plaque: “This tablet was erected by the parishioners in affectionate memory of Augustus Schwartz, who died February 28, 1916. For forty years a faithful worker in this parish. He was a good man.” Schwartz was certainly well-liked. St Mary’s centennial booklet, printed in 1967, describes the past Inspector of Public Works in Canterbury, as a “tall handsome Dane,” who was always popular with the vicarage children because of the sweets he brought in his pockets every Sunday.

Another item of historic interest connected with St Mary’s is the ornate wooden bell-tower standing beside the church. It is a memorial to Richard John Seddon, “New Zealand's great statesman and humanist,” who, we are reminded, was born in Lancashire and died at sea in 1906. Seddon was father-in-law to St Mary’s longestserving vicar, the Reverend W. S. Bean, who was there from 1892 to 1933.

On probably the last of his many visits to see the Beans and his five granddaughters, Dick Seddon left money for “some bells worth ringing.” Today, the eight bells are rung enthusiastically for church services by three bell-ringers, and a dedicated band of church workers help to maintain building and grounds. A church hall built in 1955 gets regular use from several groups, ranging from senior citizens to playcentre children.

Leicester Kyle is optimistic about the future of St Mary’s and the area in which the islanded church stands. “Although the motorway, which will come to within a block of Church Square, is depressing the people near it who must sell their houses, there is great vigour and a sense of community here,” he says. It is a densely settled part of the city where, in spite of the encroachments of light industry, population numbers are increasing. This is due to the new council estates and blocks Of flats, such as the soon-to-be-completed Harman Courts with 100 units. Within the compass of St Mary’s parish are six communities of elderly people, as well as a Salvation Army Centre and Addington Prison. Both the church and the army are involved in many different facts of community life to the benefit of all concerned. In the 1967 Centennial Booklet, the then vicar, the Reverend J. D. Froud, wrote of his church: “Let us hope that the ‘Church in the Square’ will be a means of serving a changing parish as a spiritual storehouse from which people may readily draw.’’ Amen to that.