This young congregation, established January 2021, is providing a consistent Christian presence in the small community of Kingston and is looking to grow with the community over coming years.
While a young congregation it actually does have a long history as it incorporates the long established, Garston Presbyterian Church, 12 minutes further south. As early as 1879 Garston and Kingston were part of the Taringatura Parish, and then in 1903 were included in the Athol Parish where they remained until that itself was reconfigured into the Limsden-Mossburn-Athol Parish in 1948 and then in 1960 to the Lumsden-Kingston Parish. In 1969 Balfour was added to form LBK – Lumsden-Balfour-Kingston.
Finally as of January 2021 LBK handed responsibility for Garston/Kingston to the Wakatipu Church where it now forms the base for the new Kingston congregation.
The Garston Church was built in 1924 and opened on Christmas Day that year, with a service attended by 100 people. (they must have been a tight squeeze)
From the 29th January 2023 services are held every Sunday at either the Garston Presbyterian Church or in Kingston at the local Golf Club.