ABSTRACT
In 1992, ninety years alter the Church Missionary Society withdrew from New Zealand, the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia approved a constitution to replace the one drawn up in 1857. In New Zealand there are many wooden church buildings dating from last century. When people came to erect places of worship they often used the cheapest materials closest to hand. These buildings have distinctive characteristics that clearly mark them as churches: bell towers, lancet windows, steep roofs, porches, vestries, and crosses. Church structures were of little importance to the first missionaries. Their priorities were learning the Maori language and surviving in an alien, sometimes hostile environment. Williams, a former naval officer, gave firm direction, forbidding trade and emphasizing evangelization in place of Marsden's civilizing concern. The mission worked in the 1820s amidst internecine tribal warfare exacerbated by access to muskets.
