125th Anniversary Campaign

2006 was an important year for both Christchurch City and ChristChurch Cathedral.

The situation post earthquake is now very different and the task of rebuilding an enormous challenge. Damage to the Cathedral in 2201 and 2011 came only a few years after an extensive restoration and repair programme in 2006 and 2007. ChristChurch Cathedral has always played a major role in the life of the City.

• It lay at the heart of our city, in both spiritual and civic roles.
• It performed an enormous public and civic service to the City of Christchurch, and without question, wass the icon of the City, as the City Council’s own logo will attest.
• The image of the Cathedral featured more prominently than any other representative image of Christchurch City, both domestically and globally.
• The Cathedral clearly spoke of the hopes and aspirations of the Canterbury Association settlement for the physical and spiritual development of Christchurch, as we know it today.
• It was a nationally recognised Heritage Building, which was accorded the highest level of heritage recognition by both the Council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust – Pouhere Taonga.
• While the Cathedral conducted 15 regular services weekly, totaling approximately 9.5 hours of scheduled worship; it was open to the public approximately 68 hours per week, 365 days a year, to ensure it meets its spiritual and civic duties to the City.

2006 represented the 150th Anniversary of the City and the 125th anniversary since the consecration of the Cathedral (on 1 November, 1881). It was also the 150th anniversary of the launching of the first appeal for funds to build the Cathedral, 6 years after the ships of the planned settlement arrived here, carrying the first 1,000 settlers, and the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Bishop Henry John Chitty Harper as the first Bishop of Christchurch – a Bishop without a Cathedral, however, for another 25 years!

Since 1881 the Cathedral has graced the heart of our city, a monument to the faith of our founders, a spiritual and cultural centre and a place of pilgrimage. 2006  was a year of addressing urgent work on the building to prevent the Cathedral falling into decay.

This work went far beyond routine maintenance – it included the repair of the slate roof, its fittings and supports, the repair and conservation of the stonework and stained glass windows and the replacement of electrical wiring and lighting. Costs of repairs came to some $4.8 million. The permanent funding of the Cathedral Music was another urgent need addressed during this anniversary year. The upkeep of the Cathedral’s musical tradition is the Cathedral’s largest expense. The cost of the choir is offset by some income from concerts, the sale of cassettes and compact discs and by modest income from The Cathedral Choir Educational Trust. Considerable funds were raised in 2006 to secure the long term future of the Cathedral Choir and the choristers educational needs.