St Augustine's Anglican Church in Cashmere was broken into on Tuesday night.
Vicar Kofe Havea said a number of items were taken including four silver chalices and a large eagle lectern.
Havea said she arrived at the church on Wednesday to find splinters of wood on the floor and she saw the door had been kicked in.
"I discovered our storage cupboards which I'd kept under lock and key had been opened and our altar brassware had been taken... all our holy communion silver vessels had disappeared too," she said.
A large eagle lectern at the front of the church was also missing, she said.
"That really threw me because it's a hefty, big heavy one for anyone to lift out of place."
"All of the things that were taken were actually gifted to the church. We celebrated our centennial as a parish back in October. So these items would've been gifted to the church to start up St Augustine's on Cashmere Hill 100 years ago. And to put a value on those items that old, I can't begin to imagine."
Police said they were notified of the burglary.
"Police undertook a scene examination and unfortunately there was nothing located that would help us identify the offender/s," a police spokesperson said.
"If anyone has information which could assist, they can contact police via 105 and quote file number 250212/2871. Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111."
Havea said the church was dealing with insurance which was proving difficult.
"There's no records of a physical value of each individual item because they were gifts. They were used every week," she said.
"The spiritual loss that this church feels right now, and the invasion of the sanctity of our God space, that's what a lot of people are suffering through right now."
