FIFTY YEARS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16484, 25 February 1914, Page 6

FIFTY YEARS.

JUBILEE OF TRINITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. A STORY OF PROGRESS. .The Trinity Congregational Church will celebrate its jubilee on Sunday, when Dr Adeney, ex-chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, and until recently principal of the Lancashire College, will conduct a jubilee service in the evening. The jubilee will celebrate the actual formation of the church under the first pastor, the Rev W. J. Habens. As long ago as 1861 a few residents in Christchurch who had been members of the Congregationalist Church in England, met to consider what steps should be taken to form a branch of the church in Christchurch. The first meeting was held in the house of Mr Gee, situated on the spot where Mr Carey’s drapery establishment now stands, and later meetings were held in the old Oddfellows’ Chambers in Lichfield Street. The; result of these meetings was. the despatch of a letter to the Colonial Missionary Society in London, asking that a minister might be sent to Christchurch.

In the meantime services were held in the Oddfellows’ ! Chambers, and several good preachers were developed, notably, Mr Easton and Mr R. W. Morley, who afterwards became a Congregationalist minister in England. ' Towards the end of August, 1863, the Rev W. J. Habens was ordained, and it was announced that he was the pioneer Con§regationa!ist minister to Canterbury. n Sunday, January 10, 1864, Mr. and Mrs Habens arrived by the ship Canterbury, and were met and ' welcomed at Lyttelton by several of the friends of the cause. Mr Habens met the members of the church for the first time in the Oddfellows’ Hall, on the following Wednesday morning, and on the Sunday services were held in a larger hall over Mr Bennington’s music warehouse, Cathedral Square, where Dalgety’s Building now stands. The church .itself was formed on February 3, 1864, and Mr Habens.was elected pastor. The original, members of the church numbered only fortyfive, and of those there are several still alive at the present time, including Messrs Samuel C. Farr, Edmund Ford James Ford and James Woodham, and Mrs Mary A. Farr. By the end of 1865, the membership of the church had reached a total of ninety-four. In May, 1864, the infant church received a notice that tho hall in which its Sunday services were held had changed hands, and that another place of meeting would have to he found. In this new emergency the project of erecting a, church had to be faced. Many months before Mr E. Ford had selected the present location as a suitable site for the church, and with some friends had purchased it for £SOO on a system of deferred payments. The building which was then erected was known as the Trinity. Hall, and was demolished only recently. In 1872, the Church found it necessary to consider the erection of a larger place of worship. Over £7OO was promised at the meeting held on August 29, 1872, and by December this amount had increased to £1607. Competitive designs were called for, and that of Mr Mountfort, the designer of the present church, was accepted. The new church was. opened in January, 1875, with a debt of £2600, which was not repaid for some years afterwards. In March, 1877, Mr Habens accepted the position of Infcpector-Goneral of Schools, involving his removal to Wellington. The Rev Edward '.Walker temporarily took over the pastorship of the church, hut ’ his state of health prevented him from accepting the position permanently. In 1884, .Mr Walker relinquished the pastorate, and was succeeded by the Rev Henry Williams, who had recently arrived from England. Tho present organ was acquired in August, 1882, and it was during Mr Williams’s pastorate, also, that Rinwood became an independent church. The Ferry Road Mission was starred a few years after Mr Habens arrived, and for some sixteen years the Trinity Church carried on the mission work in that neighbourhood. In 1882, it was decided to send to England for a minister for Linwood, and’tho result was the arrival of tho Rev John Hoatson, who was made pastor of the independent Congregational Church at Ferry Road.

Mr Hoatson’s engagement with Linwood terminated in March, 1884, and as Trinity Church was vacant at the time lie was invited to the pastorship and commenced his ministry on May 4, 1884. Tlie church at that period was strong and well officered. The Sunday School had over two hundred scholars, the Young Peoples’ Association had a membership of 63, and the Temperance Society* numbered 72 adults.and 122 children. Very early in the- pastorate of Mr Hoatson a determined effort was made to reduce the debt on the church property, which then stood at about £2400. A large bazaar was held in December, 1885, and this resulted in a net balance of £452, reducing the debt to £I9OO. In the following year £6O was given by the Hon F. T. Sargood, on the condition that the church could raise £350 in two years. This gave rise to another effort, and £4OO was eventually raised.

Early in 1892 the Rev Sidney J. Baker commenced a ministry of great acceptance, which continued for nearly nine years and was concluded at the instigation of the Congregational Union of New Zealand, which urged Mr Baker to take up new work at Palmerston North. In* 1893 the old wooden fence which surrounded the churoh was replaced by the present iron railings and kerbing, designed by Mr W. Widdowson, and erected at a cost of £IBO, an effort which was achieved by tlie ladies and young people of the church.

In 1899 a successful effort was 'commenced to raise £4OO as a “twentieth century fund,” to pay off the debt on the organ, to renovate thoroughly the church and schoolroom, and to liquidate a rather large deficiency on the general account. Nearly £350 was subscribed under this fund. In June, 1908, the church was fortunate in securing the accent a nee of the pastoratOj which the Rev David Hird had resigned in April. 1908, by the Rev J. L. Closs, of Ipswich, Queensland. He commenced his ministry in September, 1908. The extension of the churoh to Tennyson Street was the result of the influence of Mr Closs. On Sunday, April 4,1909, a Sunday School was opened in the house of Mr A. M. Owen, in Colombo Street south, where accommodation was provided until the now building was ready in September. The new structure was opened on September 9, the total outlay being £6OO, of which upwards of j £2OO had been raised. I

In 1912 Mr Closs left Christchurch | to assume the pastorate of Brighton. ! Melbourne. His ministry was one of I the best for the church, and he left it in every respect stronger and richer. His successor was the' present the Rev Harry Johnson, who arrived with his family in Christchurch just a year ago, and commenced his ministerial duties. The only debt .at present on the church is a mortgage of £IOO, and this it is proposed to liquidate as a jubilee effort, so that before the end of the year the land and buildings, which have cost £7OOO, t should be freehold.