Charm of Age in Church at Howick

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 191, 2 November 1927, Page 12

Charm of Age in Church at Howick

Eightieth Anniversary Celebrated on All Samts’ Day

WORK OF BISHOP SELWYN

•This church has stood for years as a memorial to the great Bishop Sehvyn and the pioneers of the province. Upon all these Selwyn churches might well be written the words, ‘Lest We Forget.’ ” In a sermon during an impressive and largely attended service in All Saints’ Anglican Church, Howick, held yesterday to celebrate the 80th anniversary, Archbishop Averill spoke of the rare beauty and picturesque charm of the little wooden churches designed by Bishop Selwyn. The church at Howick was one of these and the fact that the timber used in its construction'had been hand-sawn by the pioneers of the church and that the Bishop had helped in its erection gave it a value that could not be reckoned in money. The Archbishop said that All Saints’ Day was a day of remembrance of all those who had fought the fight and earned the crown of righteousness. It was of peculiar interest to the parish of All Saints’, Howick, as it marked the completion of 80 years of church establishment. “A spirit of reverence has grown round the Howick church,” continued the Archbishop. “It is talked of reverentially as ‘the little church at Howick.’ One of its greatest assets is its beautifully-kept churchyard, worthy of the name of ‘God’s acre.’ ANTEDATES HOWICK “This church was the first building erected in Howick, in readiness for the coming of the settlers who landed on November 6, 1847. It is, I believe, unique in the Dominion that a church has ante-dated the foundation of a township.” In an address of welcome to Archbishop Averill on behalf of parishioners of All Saints’, Howick, Mr. A. Gerring. town clerk, referred with pride to the establishment of the church. A service was lield in the church in the morning, which was followed by an assembly in the Howick Hall later in the day. “I do not like to hear the word ‘township,’ ” said the Archbishop. “I like to hear it called the village of Howick, for it is one of the few such places in New Zealand.” ITe went on to say that he was sure the church would attain its centenary —a wonderful thing for a wooden church. It would be perfectly safe in the hands of the people of the district and it would not be allowed to become a, derelict, so that people would write to the papers. The Rev. W. E. Lush, son of the Bev. V. Lush, whose father was priest at Howick in the ’6o’s, said he remembered the church as a child and how his father loved All Saints’, preferring to stay there rather than accept the charge of St. Paul’s, Auckland. A life-long resident of Howick, Mr. Lemuel White, senr., aged 77, spoke of his recollections of the early days. Canon H. Mason, the present incumbent, gave many interesting details of the history of the church and its associations.