METHODISM IN TARANAKI

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 241, 20 March 1915, Page 5

METHODISM IN TARANAKI

SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. To-morrow will be a day of special ,; -i services throughout : the, Methodist Church in the Taranaki province. The occasion is provided by the fact that seventy-five years ago missionary work .MS in this area was by Methodist 's| ministers. The Rev. Mr. Skevington J® was then located on the Waimal e plain, 'ra the first service being held at Waingo- ,'|l ngoro. A fews month later—January •% 14, 1841, to be exact—the Revs. Charles a Creed and J. Waterhousc landed from the "Triton," by wliialeboat at the Sugar "J Loaves. With them came Mrs. Creed, Aj the circumstantial account of whoso ".a landing describes here as, hcing carried ifeS ashore by seven Maori women. In a raupo building near the landing-place the first services were held. The events of those far-away days, with many that Njl closely followed, are well worthy of ro- .a call by reason of their revelation of the 'fM heroic mould in which the early mission- -• , s | aries were cast. They left a lasting ira-1 'ij pression upon the whole subsequent de- H vclopment of this area. n The services in Whiteley Memorial > Church tomorrow will fittingly celebrate this notable anniversary. The story of ia the missionary enterprise and associated '■* happenings "nil be told, the sermons of the Rev. A. B. Chappell dealing specially 1 '• with them. At the morning ser\ ice the Veterans' Association, the Defence Rifle Club, and the Boy Scouts will parade, their march from the Coronation Hull i where they assemble at ! 10.30 t being headed by the Citizens' Baid. The band « will take part in the service also. At *,j night the service will be specially remin- ■*:' iscent of the early j . In the morning the choir will render "X Percy B. Gale's anthem, "Hail, Gladdev \ ing Light," and at night Benson's quar- ? tette, "O, Word of Peace," will be rendered as a full chorus. The hymns for the day will all be old favorites. < Arrangements have been made for a % pilgrimage on Thursday afternoon next -p to tlie landing-place itself, where at ' l s three o'clock a commemorative function ■'£ will take place. The Revs. T. G. Ham- ' mond, P W. Fairclough, R. T. Iladdon, and A. B. Chappell will take part. On that evening the celebration will be con- ' -t turned by a concert programme, with ad- * dresses, in Whiteley Hall. ' i J