METHODISM CENTENARY.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1921, Page 5

METHODISM CENTENARY.

GLIMPSE OF EARLY HISTORY. PREPARATORY CAMPAIGN. In 1819 the Rev. S. Leigh, the first VVesleyan missionary in Australasia, visited New Zealand and saw the need of evangelical activities in these lands, and <n 1822 he returned with his bride, landing on January 22 at the Bay of Islands. On June of the same year he enjoyed the temporary assistance of the Rev. Walter Lawry, who was en route to Tonga, where he started a mission m the same year. In 1823 the Revs. J. Stack, W. White, Nathaniel Turner and John Hobbs reinforced Mr. and Mrs. Leigh at Wesleydale, near Whangaroa. The mission house stood within a few hundred feet of the flat at Kaeo, where the Whangaroa Maoris had eaten the bodies of some of the crew of the “Boyd." This merchant brig had been captured and burned in 1809, and all on board massacred except a boy, two women and a little girl, who afterwards became grandmother of General Bridges. The Church of England missionaries who had commenced their work five years after tho “Boyd.” massacre, showed all possible kindness to the Wesleyan missionaries. In 1529 the Wesleyan mission house was sacked and burned, the mission party narrowly escaping massacre, but finding a haven of refuge in the Anglican mission station, at Keri Keri. Later in the same year, Messrs. Hobbs, Stack and White continued their labors among the Maoris, but changed tlfeir location to Hokianga. From that time until the Maori wars the Methodist mission greatly prospered. The first Christian services conducted by any communion in the South Island were those initiated by the Rev. J. Watkin, in 1840. In 1884 the Rev. R. Ward came to New Plymouth as the pioneer of the Primitive Methodism in this country. The Free Methodists commenced in 1860 and the Bible Christians in 1877. In 1913, however, complete union was effected, and there is now but the one Methodist Church in New Zealand. In 1922 the centenary celebrations will be held; Commemoration Sunday will be January 22, 1922, and Thanksgiving Sunday March ,19. Distinguished speakers are expected as visitors from overseas, and in tffat year will be laid the foundation stone of a memorial church at Kaeo, near Whangaroa.

Already the Methodist Church in the Dominion is feeling the urge and stimulus of the preparatory work, led by Revs. T. G. Brooke, W. A. Sinclair, W. Laycock, Principal Laws, 8.A., and the general secretary, Rev. A. C. 0 Lawry, who is grandson of the 1822 veteran Rev. Walter Lawry. The centenary movement has its important spiritual and historical aspects, and the financial side is represented by the attempt to raise a thanksgiving fund of £45,000. In varying proportions, this money will be allotted to the following objects: Home Missionaries’ Retiring Fund, Local Preachers’ Funds, Memorial Church, Deaconess Institute, School for Maori Girls, Wesley Training College for Maori Boys, Special Equipment Fund for Solomon Islands Mission, Church Building and Loan Fund, Supernumerary Fund, and New Theological College. Already one third of the amount has been given and promised, in spite of the adverse financial conditions. The Rev. A. C. Lawry will speak at a mass meeting which is being arranged for Whiteley Hall to-night. There will be special musical items, hearty singing, and lantern views illustrating Mr. Lawry’s theme, “One Hundred Years of Heroism.” Mr. W. Ambury will preside.