That man is former park ranger Andrew Wilson, whose decision to buy the former Anglican church and return it to its congregation for perpetuity - independent of its diocese - has been described as "divine intervention".

According to the Herald, when Mr Wilson saw St Aidan's was for sale online, he offered the local diocese full price of $130,000 for the church and three acres of what he believes is rare original native forest.

After settlement he mowed the lawn and handed the keys back to the congregation, which had been locked out since last November by the diocese.

"I said: 'There are no conditions. Period. I trust you enough to give you a key, and take it wherever the spirit leads you'," Mr Wilson said.

The church was closed last November when Bishop Ian Palmer announced it would be among 12 churches sold to raise about $2 million to provide compensation to victims of institutional child abuse in the region.

The name of the church’s buyer was not widely known until the Herald report.