Horowhenua heritage-listed church goes up for sale
Levin’s St John Methodist Church is for sale, and community members are hoping it will be bought by another church.
The church on the corner of Kent St and Cambridge St first opened its doors in 1936.
Levin Uniting parish clerk Allen Little said the church had a proud history and was a wellknown landmark in the town.
Over the years, dwindling church numbers led to an amalgamation between St Johns and St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, to form Levin Uniting Parish.
‘‘Eventually the methodist church dissolved itself and formed the parish.’’
He said all congregations were held at the St Andrew’s site in Oxford St.
Little said part of the St Johns building was up for sale, while another section of the property was still used by community groups.
He said it was a beautiful old building that was hard to miss and had a real purpose in the community.
‘‘It’s been a church that has served the Levin community well over the years.’’
Little’s hope for the building was that whoever bought it found it as useful to them as it had been to the Levin community it had served since 1936.
Harcourts Commercial Levin agent John Pope said the church had been on the market for two to three months.
‘‘It’s still for sale and people have been inquiring. There’s a bit of interest from another church to take it up.’’
The church is part of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and is in a residential-zoned area.
He said there were a few ‘‘fish hooks’’ that meant it could be a tricky sale, but he was confident someone would pick it up.
He hoped another church would buy St Johns so it continued to have a purpose.