Rebuilding options for Christchurch Cathedral unveiled:The Church of England Newspaper, April 21, 2013 6. April 24, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Diocese of Christchurch
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A straw poll of delegates to the 13 April 2013 meeting of Christchurch diocesan Synod has voted to support a proposal to rebuild the city’s earthquake ravaged Cathedral using a contemporary design.
Last week the Diocese of Christchurch and its Church Property Trustees unveiled three designs: a full restoration of the original Nineteenth century gothic cathedral, rebuilding the Cathedral according to its original specifications but using modern construction materials, or a contemporary new design.
A show of hands from the approximately 200 members of the synod presence showed overwhelming support the contemporary design due to its cheaper cost, modern look, and the symbolism of a re-born diocese.
The diocese reports the “praying hands” style Cathedral would feature a restored rose window on the western glass wall, and a glass and steel bell tower. Estimated to cost between NZ $56 million to NZ $74 million the rebuilding project is expected to take from 5 to 10 years. Earthquake insurance payments will contribute NZ $30 million towards the cost of rebuilding.
Christchurch’s Church Property Trustees will make a final decision as to the form the new Cathedral will take. It has launched a website www.cathedralconversations.org.nz to solicit feedback and community on its wishes as well. A series of public forums led by Bishop Victoria Matthews is scheduled for the coming weeks to present options to the wider community. Comments posted at the website indicated majority of the public like the contemporary design also.
Christchurch Cathedral plans rejected: The Church of England Newspaper, August 12, 2012 p 6. August 16, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Christchurch Cathedral, Diocese of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews
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The Bishop of Christchurch, the Rt Rev Victoria Matthews, has rejected as unsafe and expensive a proposal to rebuild the city’s earthquake-damaged cathedral.
Last week, Bishop Matthews said she was not persuaded by the arguments put forth by the Great Christchurch Building Trust that there were feasible alternatives to demolishing the cathedral and that it could be restored.
The difference in cost would “probably be about $15 million, and it’s very interesting in post-earthquake Christchurch we talk about millions like we once talked about hundreds. But when you think about $15 million it could do a great deal of good in other places,” the Bishop said.
No decision had yet been made on the final design of the new cathedral, Bishop Matthews said, but it would not be a replica or a radical departure in style from the Gothic cathedral but a reconstruction.
On 22 February 2011 the city of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island was badly damaged by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The cathedral’s tower collapsed and the walls and masonry were badly damaged, while the rose window above the altar was destroyed in a June aftershock.
At a 28 October press conference the Bishop and Dean announced the cathedral would be deconsecrated in preparation for rebuilding. Bishop Matthews said the new cathedral would never look “exactly as it used to”, but would be a “mix of old and new”.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
New charges in Chichester abuse case: The Church of England Newspaper, July 8, 2012 p 6. July 9, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Church of England, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Diocese of Christchurch, Gordon Rideout
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A retired Diocese of Chichester clergyman under charge for sexual abuse has been rearrested. Canon Gordon Rideout is accused of 38 accounts of sexual abuse committed against 18 young girls and boys in their early teens over an 11-year period between 1962 and 1973.
On 28 June 2012 Sussex Police released a statement saying that after a nine month investigation, it was charging Canon Rideout (73) with having committed 31 offenses in Crawley, West Sussex and one in Barkingside, Essex between 1962 and 1968, four indecent assaults in Middle Wallop, Hampshire between 1971 and 1973, and with two counts of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl in Crawley between 1962 and 1966.
On 16 April was arrested by police on suspicion of having committed four sexual assaults and released on bail. The retired priest was rearrested and charged with the additional offenses after questioning and further investigations by police.
The police investigation followed the release of a report prepared last year by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss into the Diocese of Chichester’s child protection practices.
According to the police, the allegations of abuse were first raised against Canon Rideout in 1972, but no charges were filed. A second allegation was made to police in 2001 and an arrest was made at that time, but the charges were subsequently dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Last week the diocese said it was “committed to ensuring that our churches are safe communities for children and vulnerable adults and to giving the highest priority to statutory safeguarding practice and Church of England policies on safeguarding.”
It added: “At every stage of this investigation the Church continues to co-operate fully with the police and other statutory agencies. The diocese is not aware of any allegations of recent or current offending. The diocese repeats its commitment to support those who come forward to assist the police with inquiries during the course of this investigation.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Cardboard cathedral under construction in Christchurch: The Church of England Newspaper, May 13, 2012 p 7. May 21, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Christchurch Cathedral, Diocese of Christchurch, Victoria Matthews
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An artists rendition of the cardboard cathedral. Photo: Christchurch Cathedral
Construction has begun on Christchurch’s “cardboard cathedral” – a transitional A-frame church built from 104 tubes of cardboard.
On 22 April 2012 a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Christchurch on the site of the new cathedral. “It’s a time of celebration and joy and we are full of hope,” Bishop Victoria Matthews told the congregation.
Expected to cast in excess of £2.75 million, the 700 seat church replaces the city’s Gothic cathedral which was heavily damaged in the 22 Feb 2011 earthquake. Designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, the building has life expectancy of at least 20 years – and will house the cathedral congregation for the next ten years while a permanent replacement is built.
“Christchurch is moving forward,” the chairman of the cathedral’s rebuilding campaign, Richard Gray, said. The eco-friendly cathedral demonstrated that “people are finding solutions that are not only innovative but environment-friendly,” he added.
The phased demolition of the old cathedral has prompted protests from civil activists, however. On 26 April 2012 Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee stated that all the papers held by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) would be released to the public.
Preservationists have challenged the diocese’s plans to demolish the cathedral and have called for the church to be rebuilt. Mr. Brownlee said there was a “range of views on the very difficult decision the Anglican Church has made about the future of its cathedral, and given the significance of the building this issue is of huge concern to many people in the community.”
However, a “demolition permit has been issued to deal with the dangerously unstable tower and further permits will be issued to partially deconstruct the building,” the minister said. Construction on the cardboard cathedral is expected to be completed by Christmas 2012.
Christchurch Cathedral to be demolished: The Church of England Newspaper, March 9, 2012, p 7. March 15, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Christchurch Cathedral, Diocese of Christchurch, earthquake, Victoria Matthews
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The Diocese of Christchurch in New Zealand reports that it will level its earthquake ravaged cathedral, bringing its walls down to a height of two to three meters. However, Bishop Victoria Matthews announced that the cathedral’s footprint would remain untouched and no wrecking balls would be used in the demolition.
Speaking to the press on 2 March 2012, Bishop Matthews said that safety and cost considerations were driving the diocese’s plans. “This is now a very dangerous building that needs to be made safe,” she told reporters, adding that the top priority was to “ensure people working on-site are safe.”
It is not feasible to rebuild the cathedral as it was, she said. “Currently, the Church Property Trust has estimated a $20-$30 million shortfall over the whole Anglican Diocese, which does not include the potential cost of any future damage.”
“In regard to the cathedral specifically, the sums are staggering,” the bishop said.
“A replica cathedral has been ruled out due to an estimated $100 million shortfall, while a new build incorporating some of the old would incur a shortfall of up to $50 million,” Bishop Matthews said.
“I am sad to have to relay this decision but I believe it is the way forward,” she added.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Christchurch cathedral in media storm: The Church of England Newspaper, December 16, 2011 p 6. December 19, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Christ Church Cathedral, Diocese of Christchurch, Peter Beck, Victoria Matthews
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Dean Beck and Bishop Matthews at the service of deconsecration
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Reports of the Bishop and Dean of Christchurch have fallen out over the future of the city’s earthquake ravaged cathedral are overblown, Bishop Victoria Matthews tells The Church of England Newspaper.
On 11 Dec 2011, the Press newspaper reported that relations between Bishop Matthews and Dean Peter Beck of Christ Church Cathedral “had become strained, to the point where Beck had taken advice from an employment lawyer.” It further stated the dean had announced on 7 Dec that he would be resigning after nine years in office to enter politics, running for a vacant seat on the Christchurch City Council.
The Press reported the bishop and dean “disagreed on the vexed and complex issue of what to do about the severely damaged cathedral” with the bishop favouring “demolishing the cathedral and building a new church, either on the same site or elsewhere” while the dean “wants to repair the cathedral and restore it to its former glory.”
On 22 Feb the city of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island was badly damaged by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The cathedral’s tower collapsed and the walls and masonry were badly damaged, while the rose window above the altar was destroyed in a June aftershock.
At a 28 Oct press conference the bishop and dean announced the cathedral would be deconsecrated in preparation for rebuilding. Bishop Matthews said the new cathedral would never look “exactly as it used to”, but would be a “mix of old and new”.
The demolition work would “gives us time to explore further options about what we’ll be doing to build a new cathedral – as the bishop says, a mix of old and new,” Dean Beck told reporters.
However, the Press reported relations have since soured. In a 9 Dec letter to the Press, a canon almoner at the cathedral, Mr. Haydn Rawstron accused Bishop Matthews of “flying in the face of public opinion” over the rebuilding plans and suggested she step down over her “serious errors of judgment.”
Bishop Matthews told CEN the controversy had turned into a “media mess.”
“I returned home on the weekend from Seoul South Korea and the meeting of the Inter Anglican Commission on Unity Faith and Order, to find that the Press newspaper and others were into an extraordinary misrepresentation of what is happening in the diocese,” Bishop Matthews said.
She noted that the “reports in the local media suggest the dean and I disagree totally about what the new cathedral should look like. We do not disagree about this, and I think it is fair to say that we are both open to various possibilities.”
She added the dean, “who has always had a lively political interest and voice, and who has previously considered entering local politics, now has resigned to run in a by election for a city council seat.”
Dean Beck “has my gratitude for his time” as leader of the cathedral, she said. But his resignation should not be construed as being a result of an internal conflict as “he had already said that he would not be dean to see the new cathedral completed due to his age.”
Diocesan press officer Philip Baldwin told the Press that those who believe the bishop wants to demolish the cathedral were mistaken. “They have not listened to what the bishop has said. She has said over and over again that we are going to proceed very slowly, very cautiously with any demolition work.”
