Our History

Deeply rooted in the community

Mahurangi Hope Church has a history that stretches deep and wide within the greater Mahurangi community.

Mahurangi Hope Church roots were planted more than 170 years ago by a passionate man named Reverend David Bruce in his friend Mr George Darroch's home in 1854.

The surrounding community then was largely made up of Scottish settlers who had come for the timber milling. Several families from the community were wanting a church to call home.

The first ordained minister

Within two years a church and manse were built on a piece of donated land, and the first ordained minister Reverend Robert McKinney arrived from the Presbyterian Church of Ireland in 1856. The church building was also used as a school on weekdays.

As the church grew, a second church and school building were built in 1862 on the ground which has since become the McKinney Road Presbyterian Cemetery. And as the demand increased, churches at Mahurangi and Matakana were started.

Rev McKinney spent the majority of his life devoted to his members along with his wife Martha and six sons and three daughters, and was regarded as the father of the parish.

By 1906 a new manse was built and a Reverend E. G. Evans was appointed as an assistant to relieve Rev McKinney of his duties.

Many that followed

From then till now, there have been many Reverends who have loved, grown and sewn into the church family and wider community. They include K. H. Evans, J. Anderson Reilly, H. Melville, R. Bartle, Hugh Smyth, Rob W. Kirkby, R. Dun, Hugh Reid, and W. C. Hunger.

We honour them for their commitment and service in shepherding and caring for the lives of those who attended the church. And indeed the hundreds of church members through generations that have served the community.

Through the years the church has hosted events for the local community like the Annual Flower Show, and upgraded church buildings, school buildings and multiple manses. Eventually the school needed its own facilities and a separate college was also developed.

The church stuck through thick and thin upholding and caring for members and neighbours and worshipping Jesus, including through the World War years and through difficulties and depressions.

A sudden shift

As years passed and the fabric of the community changed, so did the church. And from 1977 under the leadership of Peter Armstrong, the parish began to change from traditional, to more charismatic. The youth group grew and services became more family-orientated.

In the mid 1980s a significant event in the history of the church happened during a visit by Bill and Delores Winder. The church had an encounter with the Holy Spirit in a new way. Lives were being radically transformed, and as a result there was a rapid growth in the church which meant it had to be extended to accommodate the change.

A second service was introduced under the leadership of Reverend Mark Farmer, and during that time short term missions trips were also started.

The Mahurangi Presbytarian Church at its former location on Pulham Road, Warkworth.

An active season

Nick McLennan and his wife Marie arrived from Wellington with their two daughters in 2009. And church growth and change continued, matching the quickly expanding population in the area.

The church started its first English as a Second Language class that year. And the Mahurangi Hope Community Trust (formerly Mahurangi Vision Trust) led by Roger Mackay was formed, actively working within schools and creating programmes and resources for the local community. It employed its first community worker that year and hosted its first Pasifika Christmas Event the following November. Many more branches of the church grew along with its membership.

The official opening of the new Mahurangi Hope Centre in March 2024 was attended by diverse representatives of the community.

A new place

With a huge vision for the future of the church, a piece of land was purchased on Mansel Drive in 2014 for a new building. The congregation approved the start of building in June 2020, and in 2023 the church moved into its new facility.