Leith Valley began as part of an inner city church called St Stephens based in what is now part of the campus of the University of Otago. The Valley was settled very early because of the valuable fertile soil and so some work had been done to service the area by a variety of churches since the mid 1800’s. In the 1970’s a bequest left a property to the church on which was later built a simple concrete block building from which to base a more permanent work. This grew gradually into a thriving community whose sole aim is to encourage and care for people using the resources of faith.

We are committed to being a healthy and humble community where the care of Christ is practiced in a very practical and unbiased manner.

We are especially concerned that children and young people should find themselves at home in the church setting and that their faith is strengthened and resourced by the teaching and life of the church community.

We also support a special regional initiative into the student population in Dunedin. Dunedin is a university city with the oldest and most vibrant university in the country. Each year about 25,000 young people flood into the city to go to the university and the Polytech. The university takes very seriously its role in caring for these students on what is often their first extended time away from home and has a wide variety of caring agencies and policies to ensure the every student’s time in the city is as productive and enjoyable as possible. One of these is the university chaplain Greg Hughson who contributes enormously the spiritual well being of the whole institution.

Leith Valley joined with the local Presbytery 9 years ago to begin a more specialized ministry to tertiary students and out of this arose the studentsoul church which meets every Sunday evening on Campus at 7pm. This is a vibrant and mission focused church which aims to help students coming to Dunedin grow in their faith and share it effectively with other students.