Masterton Anglican History is a website which tells the story of the Anglican Parish of Masterton, a large and diverse parish which encompasses both town and country.
In its heyday, the Anglican Parish of Masterton had its
mother church - St Matthew's - in Church Street, Masterton (at two different sites) -
the Church of the Epiphany at Kuripuni,
and had satellite churches at
Fernridge - St Andrew's in the Paddock;
Kopuaranga;
Bideford - the Church of St Francis of Assisi;
Tauweru [Taueru] St Alban's;
and held services in other buildings and churches at Rangitumau, Mikimiki, Brancepeth and Wainuioru.
Today the parish is reduced to three churches:
St Matthew's in Church Street,
St Andrew's in the Paddock at Fernridge and
St Alban's at Tauweru.
The Church of the Epiphany was separated from the main parish in 1970 and is a separate parish in its own right, although for much of its existence it was a separately run faith community within Masterton Parish.
This website is a work in progress - it started as a sub-set of an earlier Masterton Anglican website and has now moved to its own home - Masterton Anglican History.org
It has two purposes:
to tell the long and complex story of a very large, diverse and busy parish, and
to provide primary sources for researchers: vestry minutes, parish magazines and in the future parish registers. (Originals of all the photos and documents transcribed or cited on this website are in safekeeping at Wairarapa Archive.)
to provide a source of family records for genealogists and others researching family history.
to contribute to Masterton's social and religious history.
If you'd like more information, or you have photos or artifacts about the parish or any of its churches, please email mastertonanglicanhistory@gmail.com