Hanmer Springs’ Church of the Epiphany has been the recipient of great kindness. 

A young man approached Rev Wally Behan after a service in January and told him the church looked like it was falling apart and needed painting. 

“I agreed!” says Wally. “I knew he was a builder and he wouldn’t have liked seeing the church in the state it was in.

“We had just been talking about it at vestry meetings.

“We didn’t have the funds to get it done professionally and, with the age of most of our small congregation, we didn’t want to put them up on scaffolding and ladders!”

The young visitor, Matt Hewat, then asked Wally: “Would you like us to do it for you?” 

“I thought he was joking,” says Wally. Matt has his own building company in Christchurch and he assured Wally it wouldn’t cost the church anything.   

“I asked Amy, another member of his group, if he was serious,” says Wally.  “She said he was, and because she grew up in a rural church, she knew how hard it is to get big jobs like this done.”

Matt says: “We put notices in the newsletters at our churches – St John's Latimer Square and Rolleston Baptist and people were keen to help. A few of them knew Wally from when he was at St John's.”

So on February 28, Matt and his wife Emma travelled from Christchurch to Hanmer Springs with 15 volunteers and all the equipment needed.

The volunteers included friends and colleagues of Matt.

It was a hot day but the crew worked well and a good amount of scraping, sanding and priming was completed.

Wally says he thanked each volunteer personally, and the common response was: “We are just here to serve.”

“It is difficult for a rural church in 2015 to keep its building up to scratch,” says Wally.

“It’s not like it was 100 years ago. Matt and his team hoped it would encourage our congregation.”

Matt’s explanation for his generosity is typically understated; “We just thought it would be a nice gesture.”

Matt and his team plan to return next month to finish the prep and spray paint the church.