Church Glass

St Mary's, Tikitiki, East Cape. May 2009. Ajr

Last week I brought you a piece about William Pepere, the kaikarakia (lay preacher) at the astonishingly beautiful Tikitiki Church at East Cape. Since it’s Sunday and the little church is ‘open for business,’ I thought I’d pay a return visit and show you some of the beautiful stained glass windows. Little St Mary’s was built by the local Ngati Porou people as a memorial to Ngati Porou soldiers who died in the World Wars. It is a fitting tribute. The outstanding carvings and tukutuku panels are second to none. I forgot to mention in last week’s blog (below) that the elaborately-carved pulpit shown in one of the photographs (scroll down to view) was a gift from the Te Arawa tribe. This exquisitely crafted church was one of my favourite discoveries on my recent trip around New Zealand.