A brazen thief sneaked into a church and stole the handbag of a woman teaching toddlers in the creche while the group had their eyes closed in prayer.

The female victim, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Herald she had attended the service at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Auckland's Symonds St before heading into a room specifically for parents and children under 5.

She then settled in to teach the young children and lead them in prayer.

But when she opened her eyes, she noticed her handbag was missing and initially assumed that she had just misplaced it.

"I was looking for it, and then someone [in the church] said they had CCTV so they could see from that a person came in to the room and took it."

The alleged handbag thief was caught on CCTV leaving the church. Photo / Supplied

She says the man was "tiptoeing" in before taking her purse.

"He came in while our eyes were closed and took it."

The woman has been with the church since 2005 after immigrating from Indonesia and said she would never have thought she would be the victim of a theft like this in New Zealand.

"When I was in Indonesia, I was very careful with my bag – I always kept it close beside me, or under my arm but here I didn't do that because I always thought it was safer."

Another long-time member of the church, and personal friend of the victim told the Herald the theft was "shameless".

"I just feel so angry, you can clearly see people are praying...what a shame to be stealing from the church."

Her bag contained all her credit and Eftpos cards, her watch, and jewellery – and the alleged thief immediately went and spent money at a nearby supermarket and petrol station.

The woman told the Herald she knew times were tough at the moment but she wished the thief would have chosen a different path.

"It's a hard situation with this economy – but it's not good for you to steal from other people. There are many things you can do to earn money, not just to steal."

The Herald has contacted the police and the church for further comment.