The Government’s idea to tax churches has church leaders totting up the work they do free-of-charge for the community. The idea doesn’t make sense to them. What price community good? Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki (pictured left) doesn’t think much of the tax reform suggestion. The current tax law – which exempts churches from paying Read more
Free English classes at a Christchurch church are helping people improve their language skills and fit in better. The 100 international residents who have attended the classes say they feel “less isolated and disconnected from society”. The English classes are held at the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church every Tuesday. Jane Cong Ye organises the classes. Read more
Mental health advocate Mike King is all for getting rid of the Suicide Prevention Office after an announcement that a number of staff would be cut as part of the Ministry of Health’s cost-cutting proposal. Speaking to TVNZ’s Sunday, King, known for his endeavours in the mental health area including the I Am Hope charity, Read more
Scaffolding is up on a Wairarapa landmark as work begins to restore it to its former glory. Greytown’s Sacred Heart Church on Main St is getting a much-needed makeover after being sold late last year. New owners Jane and Wayne Gillingham have started the restoration project, which includes plans for a new roof, new wiring, Read more
NZ Catholic Bishop Steve Lowe (pictured) is dismayed Easter trading – and the current ban on it – is up for change. He’s concerned about the ACT Party’s Easter Trading bill, which was drawn in a ballot just before Easter. “I guess when I read about this, I groaned. I thought: ‘Here we go again’. Read more
Sister Josephine – both a person and a movie about the boy she taught to box – is coming to a screen near us one day soon. Their story is being turned into a short film for the New Zealand Film Commission under the direction of long-serving police officer, film director and author Stef Harris. Read more
Tauranga baker Harriet Campbell is on a mission to help in Ukraine. She wants to feed the hungry in the Ukrainian war zone. Not somewhere in the left-right-out corner either. On the front line. Just as she was in this picture (front) when she was packing medical supplies. This isn’t a sudden whim. She and Read more
Even the name of the street disgraced Marylands School was on will be obliterated. A new name for the Christchurch street and its adjacent reserve is being sought. Nobody wants to remember Marylands Place and Marylands Reserve. Both are associated with abuse of children and young people. One in five of the boys who attended Read more
Skyrocketing costs have caused the Taranaki Cathedral earthquake strengthening project in New Plymouth to come to an immediate halt in the face of a $8.5 million funding shortfall. Built in 1846, the Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary is New Zealand’s oldest stone church and was undergoing earthquake strengthening and upgrades. The project has a Read more
A historic church in the heart of Dunedin will become “a space for the whole city” once a $4 million upgrade project is completed. Logic Group has been granted a consent from the Dunedin City Council to conduct maintenance work on St Paul’s Cathedral in the Octagon. The cathedral was constructed more than 100 years Read more