OPENING OF BAPTIST CHURCH HALL

Taupo Times, Volume IV, Issue 204, 23 December 1955, Page 5

OPENING OF BAPTIST CHURCH HALL

Fine Effort By Voluntary Workers The official opening of the Taupo Baptist Ohurch Hiall, on the corner of Taupo View Road and Hatepe Avenue, took place on Saturday, December 17, at lTa.ni., the chairman being the Rev. Roy Bullen, L.Th., of the Rotorua Baptist Church. Among those present were visitors from Auckland, Palmers tort North, Hamilton, Cambridge and Rotorua. The building comprises the hall proper, with classrooms, and in addition to its use for Sunday School and other functions it will be used for church services. At a later date it is planned to erect a church on the property.

Following the opening prayer, the Rev. F. A. Barry, seretary of the South Auckland Baptist Auxiliary, read the Twenty-ifourth Psalm. Pastor Graham Brogden (Taupo) then introduced Mr K. Salter, who had acted as building supervisor, and under whose guidance the building had been erected by a group of voluntary workers, includibg a nurnber from Rotorua who had travelled to Taupo at week-ends over a considerable period. Mr Brogden presented Mr Salter with a gift to mark the occasion and with a key to open the building. Mr Salter, returning thanks, said that he must thank all who had helped so well in erecting the building. There had been heartaches in the job, as well as a lot o.f fun. 1-Ie then opened the doors and invited the gathering to take their places in the hall, where the hymn "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" was sung. The Ilev. T. R. Page, chairman of the New Zealand Baptist Maori Board, led the gathering in prayer, after which Mr .T. Tonge, treasurer, gave details of the financing of the undertaking. It had been a venture in which they had been carried forward by the driving force of Mr Bullen's faith. Mr Bullen mentioned that in the erection of the building some £1500 had been saved as a result of the voluntary work of the various helpers, both Taupo people and those from Rotorua, white there had been help in the lending of concrete mixers, and by way of gifts. Mr Brogden then welcomed the visitors. Mr J. E. .Story, Mayor o.f Taupo, congratulated the people who had worked so hard to build the hall. As the town grew it was good to see the various churches being established. Mr E. Grylls, president, South Auckland Baptist Auxiliary, said that when Mr Salter had told the Auxiliary of the proposed building they had gasped, and when he said that it was to be opened in a few months they had gasped again. But here it was. It was pleasing that there had been no call on the Auxiliary for finance. (Laughter). He noted that they had a fine new piano, which the new church at Kawerau had not, though he was not hinting. The Rev A. J. E. Grange, the Presbyterian Church Maori Missioner at Taupo, and Mr A. Strachan, secretary of the Rotorua Baptist Church, offered their congratulations to the Taupo Baptist community. Mrs R. E. Bullen then sang a solo, after which the chairman called on the Rev. John Pritchard, pastor of the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, which was the oldest Baptist Ohurch in the Auckland Province, as the present building was the youngest, to give the address. Mr Pritchard's text was taken from I Kings 8:11 "For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." They had built primarily for the glory of God, and only secondarily for the up-building of the Baptist Ohurch. They believed that; they had a contribution to make, and rejoiced in having a real fellowship with other groups of Christian people.

If the willing giving and consecrated service that had marked the building of the hall became the mark of the life and work in it, then the glory of the Lord would fill it, for when the Lord Jesus Christ was given His rightful place then the glory of the Lord did fill the house of the Lord. The prayer of dedication was then offered by Mr .Tohn Gibbs, of the Rotorua Baptist Church, followed by the singing of the Doxology, and the benediction, pronounced by the chairman, Mr Bullen. At the first service in the hall, held on Sunday at 11 a.m., the preacher was the Rev. Roy Bullen, who took as his theme the pportunity given to the new church, taking as his text the words from Revelation 3 :8, "I have set before thee an open door."