Venue: Former Trinity Methodist Church
Address: 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin
Town: Dunedin, NZ

The former Trinity Methodist Church is registered as a category I historic place by Heritage New Zealand, which recognises its historic and architectural significance. Originally a Methodist church, it is located on the corner of Moray Place and Upper Stuart Street, in the heart of the southern city of Dunedin. In 1977 the church was refitted and operated as the Fortune Theatre. Financial difficulties in 2000 threatened the theatre with closure, and forced the sale of the building to the Dunedin City Council, who leased the building back to the Fortune Theatre Trust. The theatre trust closed in 2018. As of July 2021, the building is empty with no current plans for its use. The Methodist congregation of Dunedin initially met at the Oddfellows Hall and then at the City Council Chambers, previously the Dunedin Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute, on the corner of Manse and High Streets. The congregation were gifted a plot of land on Bell Hill. A wooden building with a slate roof, designed by W Greenfield, was erected but during construction strong winds damaged the building, which was on an exposed site near the present-day Dowling Street. The structure was required to be fortified with buttresses and a transept, which more than doubled the original tender price of £1100. The finished building was reportedly draughty, uncomfortable and the lights swayed in strong winds. Eventually the church was considered unsafe, and services moved to the Lyceum. When the first minister for Dunedin was appointed, Isaac Harding (1815-1897), services were held in a canvas tent on Stafford Street. Mr Harding was succeeded by Mr Aldred in 1864, and then by Reverend A R Fitchett. The Otago gold rush swelled congregation numbers, and plans were made for a new church on Stuart Street. The Trinity Methodist Church was designed by Scotsman R. A. Lawson and was opened in 1870. Made out of the local materials trachyandesite and Oamaru stone, the former church is an example of Gothic Revival archi