Presbyterians In New Zealand.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 43366, 1 September 1908, Page 2

Presbyterians In New Zealand.

The Rev. Robert Wood, in an article on “ The Religious Census of 1906, states that the Presbyterian popu’ation all over New Zealand in in 1906 was 203,577. Of this number 79,459 were in the North Island, 82,117 in Otago, and 42,001 in the South Island outside Otago. In recent years there has been an enorinou- increase in the Presbyterian population in the North Island, while in vthe supported citadel of Presbyterianism) the Presbyterian population has been almost stationary. From 1901 to 1906 there was an increase, according to the census, in the Presbyterian population in the North Island of 17,309. In 1906 the Presbyterian population was less than 3000 lower than in Otago, and to-day the North Island Presbyterians are probably as numerous as those in Otago. The percentage of church attendance in the North Island provinces is as follows : Auckland, 41 per cent ; Hawke’s "Bay, 47 per cent; Wellington and Taranaki, 37 per cent. Wellington and Taranaki have thus the blackest spots as regards non-church going, while Hawke’s Bay comes out in a favourable light.