Constructed in Motueka in 1897, Te Ahurewa Maori Church, in Motueka has significant spiritual, cultural and symbolic value. Te Ahurewa was built to replace Amate Māori Church, which was the first Maori church in the Motueka area. The driving force behind the project was Fredrick Augustus Bennett (1871-1950) an Anglican priest who later became the first Maori bishop. The church was designed by architect T. Roberts, and built by Andrew Miller. The £100 required for building materials was collected through the dedicated efforts of local iwi, some of whom returned to the area in order to assist with the project. Concerts were held to raise funds, and helpers travelled to Nelson by steam train to sell kete and other handicrafts. The church was named 'Te Ahurewa - The Sacred Place' by Huta Paaka, a faithful servant of the church and people. Bennett, born to high-ranking Ngāti Whakaue woman Raiha Ratete and shopkeeper Thomas Jackson Bennett, was first 'discovered' at the age of 14 years by Bishop A. B. Suter of Nelson, who heard his lovely singing voice during a church service in Rotorua. Suter later asked Bennett to come with him to Nelson to go to school. In Nelson, Bennett was educated at Bishop's School and Nelson College. In 1896 Bennett was ordained a deacon in Nelson Cathedral. He was made a priest in 1897. He spent his first two years as a priest in the Nelson district and, through his efforts, Te Ahurewa Church was built during this period. The small, rectangular church has a simple external appearance. Constructed from native timbers, the building consists of nave, chancel, a transept containing the porch, and a vestry and baptistery. On the roof of the church is a small bell tower. Designed in the Victorian Free Gothic style the church features a steeply pitched roof and exposed timber framing, cross bracing and cladding on the interior. On the 2 December 1928, Bennett was consecrated bishop of Aotearoa, the first Maori bishop in New Zealand's history. He was married in Te Ahurewa Church to Hana Te Unuhi Mere Paaka (Hannah Mary Park) of Te Āti Awa, and his last visit was in 1947 when he attended the jubilee and presented a carved altar to the church. In 1948 he attended the Lambeth Conference in England and was in great demand as a preacher, he was invited to preach at both St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Along with these overseas commitments he was engaged in the revision of the Maori Bible. In the New Year's honours list of 1948 he was made a CMG. His work was complex and beset with difficulties, calling for talent, infinite patience and an ungrudging sacrifice of time. Bennet died on the 16th of September 1950. In 1958 a memorial lych-gate was unveiled in Te Ahurewa Church grounds, a memorial to Bennett and to 100 years of friendship between Māori and Pākehā in the area. Two plaques were set in the base of the gate, the first says, 'To commemorate the life and work of F.A. Bennett, first Bishop of Aoteoroa, and the father of the Māori people of the district'. The second reads, 'In thanksgiving for the friendship of Māori and Pākehā from the beginning of the Nelson province'. At the same time, the interior of the church was also decorated with kōwhaiwhai scroll patterns painted in the traditional manner using black, white and red ochre. Around the interior walls at the front and rear of the church two quotations from the address of Bishop Bennett a the opening ceremony in 1897, 'Ko au tena he hoa mo koutou I nga ra katoa a te mutunga ra ano o te ao' (Behold I will be with you even unto the end of the world); and 'Kia mataara koutou me te inoi' (Watch and pray). Extensive renovation work to the church was carried out in the late 1970s through to the 1990s. This was required because of the considerable deterioration of the building, notably the rotting of the floor and walls due to poor ventilation and drainage. The altar staging and front flooring were replaced in 1978 after they collapsed. In 1979 students were hired to repair the exterior walls, this included steel brushing the walls, spraying for mould, applying sealing substance and repainting. In 1982 Mr Greaney laid a new tongue and groove floor plus bottom plate and floor joist in the vestry. He also replaced a small amount of rotted flooring by the church organ and another at the south-west corner, together with replacing a number of boards in the ceiling and of the south wall. In 1984 the floor and subfloor framing were replaced, with ventilation and drainage being added, the floor was also sanded and oiled, however the walls remained full of borer. The New Zealand Historic Places Trust provided grants of $1000 and $2000 at various points throughout the 1980s and 1990s to assist in the repair and restoration of the Church. On 29 March 1997, the centenary of the church was celebrated, and the land on which it stands, originally gifted to the Weslyan church in Motueka, was handed back into the ownership of Ngāti Rārua Te Ātiawa Iwi Trust.