ST. DAVID'S CHURCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19736, 8 September 1927, Page 8

ST. DAVID'S CHURCH.

MODERN NEW BUILDING. r A HANDSOME STRUCTURE. NEARLY COMPLETED. OPENING NEXT MONTH. The new St. David's Presbyterian Church in Khyber Pass, the largest Presbyterian Church in Auckland, and probably one of the best equipped in New Zealand, is now nearing readiness for occupation. The opening dedication service, over which the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, the Right Rev. G. H. McNeur, will preside, will take place on the evening of Thursday, October 13, and on the following Sunday the first regular services will be held in the church. The foundation stone of the building Avas laid last Anzac Day, and the contract prico was £16,112. The total cost of the scheme, including the purchase of land and the removal of the old church buildings, is somewhere about £24,000. Of this, about £22,000 has already been raised.

The church, with its exterior of dark red Kaino pressed brick t and its square tower rising 75ft. from the street level, presents a massive and strikingly handsome appearance. The style of architecture is the modern perpendicular, snd Oamaru stone has been used for windows, doorways and other facings. The great south window facing Khyber Pass displays the burning bush which is the historic symbol of the Presbyterian Church. Within, the building provides in its two storeys a most comprehensive and complete equipment to meet the varying needs of modern church life. An unusual and up-to-date provision for the needs of worshippers whose hearing is impaired is the installation of six church acousticons. A microphone in the pulpit is attached by wire, to these instruments which are placed in seats in different parts of the church for the use of those requiring them. The church interior is finished in brickwork. The panelling is of rimu, and the roof of dark open Oregon beams. The .windows are softly tinted leadlights. Opening off the front vestibule are large separate cloak rooms for men and lor women, and a small reception room. At the back of the church are three fight rooms commanding a great panoramic view of the harbour. These are the minister's .vestry, the officebearers' vestry, and the choir room. The basement below the church is largely designed for the use of the Bible classes of the congregation, and contains six class rooms, and a gymnasium measuring 47ft. by 23ft. 6in., to which a dressing room and shower baths are attached. At the other end of the basement is an assembly hall 22ft. by 34ft. with platform in addition, behind which there is a fully equipped kitchen. Provision is also made in the basement for the sewing and missionary activities of the women's organisations and for cloak rooms.. Near the centre is the plant by means of which the church is warmed in winter by gasheated air. In the summer the building will be kept cool by means of-an electric suction fan placed in the tower. At the request of the Auckland Presbytery a capacious strong room, outside the building and beneath one of the main ramps, has been constructed to store the records arid documents of the Presbytery. £The church is approached by two ramps without steps. The architect is Mr. D. B. Patterson and the contractor Mr. C. W. Ravenhall.