Elizabeth Papu, 52, was finance administrator of the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church's Northern Division when she used the money to fund her gambling habit.
Stuff.co reports on Thursday she was sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment in the Manukau District Court after pleading guilty to two charges of theft by a person in a special relationship.
Papu admitted she took money from the church and manipulated financial records to hide her actions.
