CHURCH CENTENARY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 666, 18 May 1929, Page 5

CHURCH CENTENARY

DAYS OF MISSIONARY ENDEAVOUR WAIMATE NORTH HISTORY New Zealand will celebrate a significant 3 00th anniversary on Sunday, January 12, 1930, at Waimate North, that settlement so prodigal of associations with Samuel Marsden and his fellows. When the first white settlers arrived in that little place, New Zealand took one of its first steps toward civilisation, for Waimate North was i the first inland mission settlement, and the birthplace of successful systematic farming and secondary education in New Zealand. It has been felt by the residents of the district that some fitting celebration and commemoration of the accomplishments of the pioneers should be carried out, and accordingly it is proposed by the committee which has the arrangements in hand that a thanksgiving service should be held at St. John Baptist Church on the Sunday, and that a lychgate ip permanent material and a tablet in' the church should be erected to the memory of Samuel Marsden and his fellow missionaries. To this end, the committee is inviting subscriptions from all people interested. Te Waimate was selected by the Rev. Samuel Marsden as a mission station on his sixth visit to New Zealand in 1830, amid the tumult of war. Supplies of foodstuffs were available botli in the Dominion and from New South Wales, but a necessity which was in irregular supply was flour. The mission station had to grow its own grain. Accordingly a. block of land was purchased. comprising the township and the farming area# which was about 250 acres. The price paid was 40 gallons of lamp oil, 20 rugs, 801 b of tobacco, 3 belts, one pair of duck trousers, 80 blankets, one red shirt, 72 horn combs, 12 axes, 30,012 fiishhooks, 60 plane irons. 30 h'oes, 60 knives, 36 chisels, 60 scissors, and 45 iron pots. Early in 1831 a few cottages had been built, and the success of the mis- | sion was assured, the Alaoris having promised to leave the missionaries and their station unmolested. In this j Waimato was neutral ground. apd ! served as a common meeting-place for members of the various tribes. CHURCH FIRST The missionaries thought of their church before their permanent homes, and while they were still living in whares they started on the construction of St. John Baptist Church. This work was carried out in six weeks, the building being made of kauri procured from an additional area of land which was bought by the Church Missionary Society. Native labour was used in the building, the missionaries overseeing the work. It was begun in Alay and finished at the beginning of July. 1831. St. John Baptist Day falling on June 24 accounted for the name of the church. Soon, however, the little building was i too smalhfur the congregation, and in I 1839 a more permanent structure was i completed, with a capacity for 400 people. In the building there were j 70.000 ft of sawn timber, i On Sunday, September 26, 3 841, the i congregation was too big for the new ! church, and daily services had to be I held in the church yard. The missioni aries had an abundant field for their labours in this northern area of New Zealand, for within four years the number of converts jumped from 2,000 35.000. When Bishop Selwyn arrived in the Dominion and established his headquarters at Waimate in 1842, there was begun St. John’s College, which is now carrying on its work for the Church in Auckland. And so through the years the church has grown in power in inffuence, has seen soldiers in war panoply assemble for morning service, has seen men with serene eyes, stalwarts in Christian endeavour. at tlieir worship; and now sees New Zealand citizens of the 20th century, farmer and business man, worship under the old roof. Although the old building was pulled down in 1871. it was rebuilt of the same timbei, and stands a reminder of older and more arduous times today.