All the examples quoted were adaptations of the prevailing English stylistic fashions of church architecture. Considering that New Zealand was at its formative stage, beset with all the problems of colonisation, many of its church designs were meritorious, but few possess the outstanding qualities of their English predecessors. The modern critic seeks something indigenous–an expression of distinctive New Zealand qualities either geographical or structural. In this respect there is sincerity in the very simple chapels of the very earliest period, but few of these now remain. The two timber churches already mentioned, St. Paul's in Wellington and St. Mary's in Auckland, both have an indigenous quality–a feeling of rightness for their environment and an honest use of their building materials. An interesting early example is the Maori church at Otaki, near Wellington, designed about 1850 in the form of a Maori meeting house. It provides a spacious auditorium, supported by tall central columns, lighted by lancet windows at the chancel end and decorated with painted Maori rafter patterns. A more recent example on the same theme is All Saints Church, Ponsonby, designed by Dr Toy, which received a merit award from the Institute of Architects. Another example of individuality is a recently built church at Waiho, South Westland, where architects Turnbull and Rule placed plate glass behind the altar, thereby giving a view of the magnificent alpine environment.

The most successful group of early churches possessing these indigenous qualities was the so-called Selwyn churches, constructed by the famous Bishop, throughout the Auckland Province in the fifties and sixties of last century. Mostly built of timber as the logical building material, notwithstanding the Bishop's love of stone architecture, they were designed for the most part by the Rev. Frederick Thatcher, a cleric with architectural design training. They express the timber structure in a manner reminiscent of English “half timber” work, have shingle roofs and an interior of distinctive local character. There are many examples; the most successful are probably All Saints, Howick, and St. John's College Chapel, both at Auckland.