A church staff member has described the moment a heavy roller door fell on pastor Helen Verry, killing her during preparations for a Sunday service.
The incident occurred in 2022 at Church Unlimited in West Auckland, New Zealand, while staff were setting up for worship.
Pastor Kathleen Woollett, who serves on the church's pastoral leadership team, told a coroner’s inquest she turned around, saw the door falling and tried to warn Pastor Verry.
Her warning came too late. The door struck Pastor Verry on the side of the head, pinned her to the ground, and she died shortly afterwards.
Because of her administrative experience, Pastor Woollett was later placed in charge of the church’s response to the aftermath of pastor Verry’s death and a WorkSafe NZ investigation.
At the inquest, she acknowledged shortcomings in the church's handling of the situation.
“Hindsight is wonderful,” she said. “We could have done a lot better in managing the aftermath and investigation.
“But we were ... grieving we were in shock ... I fully admit there have been some areas we did not see.”
Pastor Woollett told the hearing the church had regular maintenance and safety checks in place before the incident, and said the roller door had not previously been identified as a hazard.
“It’s not that we weren’t assessing risks, we just didn’t see this one in that way," she said, adding that the organisation had relied on people raising concerns if something was wrong.
They were also relying on people coming to them and telling them if something wasn’t right, she said, and no one had done that in relation to the door.
The inquest also heard criticism from pastor Verry’s husband, Tim Verry, who questioned why a 230kg door had not been identified as dangerous and said safety systems remained inadequate years after her death.
A lawyer for the roller door manufacturer and installer, SDL, questioned pastor Woollett about the church’s internal investigation.
The inquest also heard that Pastor Verry was deeply committed to her work as a youth pastor, often supporting young people in the hospital and spending long hours listening to them.
“Helen was often the only person in their lives who believed in them. ... Such was her heart for youth in the community.”
The inquest continues.