Author(s): Richard Sundt

Maori Non-fiction | NZ Non-fiction

Soon after the missionaries arrived in nineteenth-century New Zealand, Maori began converting to protestant Christianity in large numbers. Without the manpower or materials to build their own churches, missionaries largely relied on Maori to build houses of worship. As a result, the early churches drew on strands from the British ecclesiastical tradition as well as elements from Maori art and architecture to produce a distinctive and arresting new style. The last of these whare-style churches was destroyed when the Rangiatea church at Otaki burned down in 1995. In this book, Richard Sundt draws on a range of primary materials to chronicle early Maori church building in New Zealand for the first time. The book focuses on the Anglican/Church Missionary Society churches that dominated the period. After looking at British church architecture and early interactions between Maori and missionaries, Sundt looks at how key arguments were resolved - oveer carving and painting in churches, the use of liturgical space, etc. - by looking at particular buildings in detail. First published June 2010. Hardback 240pp h220mm x w185mm illustrations, map