Ashley Community Church Incorporated

The Ashley Church is the only surviving church building left in the Ashley Bank township. Its foundation stone was laid in October 1870 and it was built in timber to a design by Benjamin Mountfort. It was consecrated by Bishop Harper in the winter of 1871. By the late 1960s use had fallen away and the Woodend Anglican Parish, which administered the church, decided to sell the building. Local residents petitioned to retain it and were dismayed when it was sold to a builder for removal. The church had not only served the township of Ashley Bank but also the area from Loburn across Mt Grey Downs, as far as Sefton and over the Ashley Rakahuri River towards Woodend.

There were plenty of people keen to support recovery of the building for non-denominational use. A committee was formed, money to buy the church back was gifted, and the building was saved. A restoration project began and well attended services resumed from 1973. By the 1980s use had declined again and the committee sought a tenant. The Eastern Orthodox Church answered the call and used it for regular worship until 2012.

This of course was after the Canterbury Earthquakes had unsettled everyone and the committee members, have found it hard to regain momentum for fundraising and promotion. Without evidence of fundraising we cannot apply for various funding for repairs and maintenance. Now it feels time to recover that lost momentum! Although the Committee is a secular body, we do present an annual Christmas Eve Carol service for the wider community to which everyone is welcome. The church seats 75 comfortably and is also available for hire for weddings, funerals, baptisms, concerts and worship. It is open most days for casual visitors.