The Church of the Good Shepherd is a small stone church on the shore of Lake Tekapo, opened in 1935 as a memorial to the Mackenzie Country's pioneers. Its plain window above the altar frames the lake and mountains. The grounds are open daily from 9 am, the church asks for a NZ$5 donation, and photos are not allowed inside.
The Church of the Good Shepherd is the small stone church on the shore of Lake Tekapo, on Pioneer Drive just across the footbridge from the village. It opened in 1935 and is still a working church, the only one in Takapō. People come for one view: the clear window behind the altar, which looks straight out over the lake to the mountains.
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Grounds open | 9 am to 8 pm in daylight saving time; 9 am to 5 pm the rest of the year |
| Night | No access inside the fenced grounds |
| Inside the church | Limited hours; a volunteer guide may be on duty 10 am to 3 pm, Wednesday to Sunday, not guaranteed |
| Private tour | About 30 min, book a week ahead; minimum NZ$100 donation for up to 2 people, NZ$20 per extra person |
| Donation | Suggested NZ$5 at the tap-to-donate station inside the gate |
| Sunday service | 4 pm every Sunday; Catholic Mass 6 pm on the last Sunday of the month (not May to July) |
| Photography | Not allowed inside; professional shoots need a NZ$100 permit, none on Sundays |
| Drones | Banned over the church and the whole village |
| Toilets | None at the church; nearest about 400 m away on the village side (NZ$1 or card) |
Checked November 2026 on the church’s own website. The church’s home page says the guide may be on duty Tuesday to Sunday, while its visitor page says Wednesday to Sunday. Plan on the shorter one.
The church may close for up to two hours for a private wedding or funeral. If a service is on, keep quiet and don’t try the door or look through the windows.
Park on the village side of the footbridge and walk over. The church says parking on Pioneer Drive is now very limited because the land around the church is being returned to its natural state. Campervans, minivans and coaches should use the car park just over the SH8 bridge beside the Godley Hotel. From there you can walk a loop over the footbridge to the church and the collie dog statue.
Once you are there, stay on the paths. The church asks visitors not to climb the fence or sit on the tussocks.
The idea of a church came from the Rev. W. E. D. Davies, then Vicar of Fairlie, and the local runholders took it up as a way to honour the families who first farmed this hard, high country. The Murrays of Braemar Station gave the land. According to Heritage New Zealand, it was the first church built in the Mackenzie Basin.
The design began with drawings and a model by Esther Hope, a painter from Grampians Station. Christchurch architect R. S. D. Harman turned them into a plainer, older-looking building than the Gothic church her sketches suggested. It was his first solo design for a whole church.
The builders had strict instructions:
The walls are poured concrete faced with these local boulders, some with their lichen still on. Heritage New Zealand links the restraint partly to the Depression, which left little money for building.
The Duke of Gloucester laid the foundation stone on 15 January 1935. The Bishop of Christchurch, Dr Campbell West-Watson, dedicated the finished church on 3 August 1935. The original wooden shingle roof was replaced with slate in 1957, and a cupboard in the vestry is made from timber from the old Tekapo bridge, demolished in 1954.
The window above the altar is plain glass. Where most churches would have stained glass or a carved screen, this one has Lake Tekapo and the Southern Alps. Heritage New Zealand notes the idea had been tried first at St James Church at Franz Josef in 1930, where the window looked out on bush and the glacier.
The carving is by Frederick Gurnsey, who had taught Harman at art school: a Good Shepherd on the altar, and alpine plants and animals on the font, which is made of Oamaru stone. A Book of Remembrance lists the original Mackenzie runholders. The church is a Category 1 historic place on the Heritage New Zealand list, entered in 1985.
The church sees a steady stream of photographers and has rules to manage them. Ordinary visitors can photograph the outside freely in opening hours. No photos inside. Professionals, including wedding photographers for couples not married there, need a permit.
You will have seen photos of the church under the Milky Way, but the gates close at dusk and night access inside the fence is not allowed. For a guided look at the night sky, see Lake Tekapo stargazing.
The collie statue stands close to the church. Without a car, the most-reviewed Mount Cook day tour from Christchurch on GetYourGuide stops here on its way to Lake Pukaki and the Tasman Glacier. Back in the village, Tekapo Springs and the road up Mount John are covered on the Lake Tekapo page. If you are driving on to Aoraki/Mount Cook, the Christchurch to Mount Cook page covers the route, and Lake Tekapo accommodation covers where to stay.
13 hoursPickup included
The most-reviewed Mount Cook day from Christchurch: a coach via Geraldine and the Church of the Good Shepherd at Tekapo to a Lake Pukaki stop and a walk to the Tasman Glacier and its iceberg lake, with lunch included.
from$145
Check availability13 hoursPickup included
A small-group Christchurch day with lunch included that stops at Tekapo and Pukaki and lets you choose between the Hooker Valley Track and the Tasman Glacier walk once you reach the park.
from$152
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
Sometimes. The church says a volunteer guide may be on duty for a few hours between 10 am and 3 pm from Wednesday to Sunday, but this is not guaranteed. Outside those times you can arrange a private tour of about 30 minutes, with at least a week's notice. That costs a minimum donation of NZ$100 for up to two people, plus NZ$20 for each extra person.
There is no ticket. The church asks each visitor to donate NZ$5, using the tap-to-donate station just inside the front gate or a donation box. It receives no other income: a small group of local parishioners and volunteers looks after the building and grounds, and the donations pay for its upkeep and keep it open to visitors.
The grounds open at 9 am every day and close at 8 pm while New Zealand is on daylight saving time. The rest of the year they close at 5 pm. The building itself has shorter, irregular hours. There is a Sunday service at 4 pm, and the church may close for up to two hours for a private wedding or funeral.
Yes, outside. Photography inside the church is not allowed. Wedding and commercial photographers need a permit, which costs NZ$100 for a 30-minute session, and no professional shoots are allowed on Sundays. Drones are banned over the church and the whole village because Tekapo aerodrome is within 4 km. At night the fenced grounds are closed.
Park on the village side of the footbridge over the Tekapo River and walk across. The church says parking on Pioneer Drive, the road to the church, is now very limited while the natural landscape is restored. Campervans, minivans and coaches should use the car park over the SH8 bridge beside the Godley Hotel. The nearest public toilets are about 400 m away on the village side.
Lake Tekapo (Takapō) is a turquoise glacial lake and small village at 710 m in the Mackenzie Basin, about 3 hours' drive from Christchurch on State Highway 8.
Lake Tekapo is inside the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, set up in 2012, and has guided stargazing every night.
Stay in Lake Tekapo village if you want to walk to the lake, the Church of the Good Shepherd and the restaurants.
Christchurch to Mount Cook takes about 4 hours by car, roughly 320 km, with Lake Tekapo about 3 hours in and Mount Cook Village 1 h 10 to 1 h 15 min beyond it.