CHURCH JUBILEE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 16, 31 October 1935, Page 3

CHURCH JUBILEE

FLEMINGTON PRESBYTERIANS STRUGGLES OF THE EARLY DAYS RECALLED SOME INTERESTING PERSONALITIES The jubilee of the Flemington Presbyterian Church will be celebrated during the coining week-end with a special service at the church on Sunday afternoon and a dinner and social evening on Tuesday. It was on Sunday, April 26, 1885, that the church was opened, services being held morning and evening, but the history of Presbyterianism in that district goes hack for several years prior to that. As settlement advanced in the south-eastern districts of Ashburton County, the need for a Presbyterian Church became more and more apparent.

Occasional services were held from 1876 under the pastorate of the Rev. H. B. Burnett, who was Minister at St. Andrew’s Church, Ashburton. A commit'>ee, with Mr G- Gilmour as secretary and Mr T. Taylor as treasurer, was formed in that year, other members of the committee being Messrs b Anderson, J. Cray, H. Donaldson, W. Dakers, J. Dunn, A. Kidd, J 7. McConnell, W. Prebble and J. Shearer . Plate collections, were commenced early in 1877 and services were held each month In that year. A sum of £23 was handed over to the Ashburton Presbytery in August, and a year lat?r when services were being held fort-

June 9, 1884, there appears this entry: “Proceeds of tea meeting, tickets £22 Bs, bachelors’ table £l4, Mr Donaldson 10s, Mrs Fechney 10s; total £3. / Bs.” At that same meeting a vote of thanks was passed to the bachelors “for their liberal subscription.”

An increasing congregation made the building of a church an urgent question and the committee decided on Oc-

nightly, and alternately in the Ash ton schoolroom and the "W aterton Library, a further sum of £3O was handed over. The suggestion that a church be built at Flemington was first mentioned in October, 1878, but no active steps were taken in regard to it till 1884. . •

In the meantime, the services at Ashton were abandoned in favour of services at the Flemington School. Tlia district then united with Tinwald and Hinds, and the congregations increased greatly. The Hinds district was later severed from Flemingtoh but again was added. In 1882 and 1883, when there was a period of economic depression in the country, the finances of the church were at a low ebb, ana Severn special efforts had to be made to meet the deficiency in the balance-sheet. The congregation met the appeals generously. but as the work of the church expanded to other districts there was an

ever-increasing expenditure. Longbeach and Rangitata, and, at a later date, Lagmhor, were added to the district, and in 1883 there was a request that a Minister should be stationed south of the Ashburton River.

Cali to the Rev. A. Blake. Messrs Taylor, Gilmour, C. Williamson and Prebble were appointed a amputation to the Ashburton Presbytery to sustain a call to the Rev. A. Blake, M.A., to whom the district offered a stipend of £225. Mr Blake took up his work in September, 1884. To raise the funds necessary to carry on the work of the church, tea meetings were held and these proved to he a most profitable source of revenue. In the minutes of the committee meeting, held on

tober 23, 1884, to call tenders for the building. At the following meeting (November 6) the results of a canvass of the district for subscriptions toward the cost qf the work were stated. Mr Taylor said lie could guarantee £49 Is 6d, Mr Gilmour said be could get £39, Mr Dunn £l6 and Mr Dakers £8 10s. Mr R. Bird, of Ashburton, was engaged as architect and at a meeting held on December 5, tho committee receive! six tenders. That of Messrs Barnes and Smith, at £247 18s, was accepted. By the middle of February (1885) a sum of £IOO had been paid to tlfe builders and a further sum of £IOO was in sight. A suitable site was secured, and the committee and members of the congregation spent several days, at intervals, tidying up the grounds ready for the opening, which was fixed for April 26.' The area was fenced and a number of trees planted there as time went on, one hundred being put in on one day.

The committee had seats that had been used in the school and the library when services were held there and these were moved to the new church, a sum of £lO being voted toward further furnishing. It was decided that a whole seatshould be let for £4 a year, and a single seat (or “single sitting” as it was called in those days) for 15s a year, families taking a whole seat to have the first choice of seats, and that in the event of two or more families selecting the same seat, lots be drawn to decide the matter.

The opening day services were hell at 11 a.m., and 6.30 p.m., and a tea meeting and social evening was held the following day at the schoolroom. In August ot the same year it was decided that there should be a choir in the church, and Mr J. Dunn was appointed choirmaster. He efficiently filled this position till 1899, when he removed from the district.

Now that the church had become firmly established, it was found that there was need for an even greater expansion in the work, and one of the

most pressing needs lay in the opening up of Sabbath schools. Those at Flemington and Tinwald were in a flourishing state and another was started at Ashton. Four years later a similar branching out was made at Winslow. These schools required staffing, of course, but there was little difficulty in arranging for teachers. In 1891 services were commenced at Lowcliffe, being held monthly. Three years later the Manse was built. This was just after Mr Blake had resigned from the charge. Ho had done excellent work in the district and had been stationed there for four years before he. took a holiday. Even then the comhad to ask him to take this leave. In that year (1888) a communion service was purchased and a year later it was suggested that steps should be taken to purchase an organ, but this instrument was not installed till 1894, by which time the Rev. James Skinner, M.A'., had taken over the charge. Miss Dunn was organist, a position she held for several years. From the commencement of the services in the district till the middle of 1889, Sankey’s hymn hook was used, but at the period mentioned the “Church book was adopted, though it was not accepted unanimous!y. Building of the Manse. The site for the Manse was purchased for £ls, and the building itself cost £275, the builders being Messrs Muir and Reid. Mr Skinner took up office early in 1895. A stable, buggy house and washhouse were not included in the original plans for the Manse, but these very necessary buildings were put up by members of the committee and the congregation a few weeks after the main structure had been completed. Meetings of the committee in charge had been held at irregular intervals from 1876 till late in 1895, when it was agreed to hold the meetings quarterly.

There had been occasions when ,six months had elapsed without a meeting. At that time, too, it was decided co divide the charge into six districts to facilitate the quarterly collection of members’ subscriptions. These districts, and the collectors appointed io them, were as follow: No) 1, Waterton (Mr Donaldson); No. 2, Longbeach Camp to Mr Kidd’s (Messrs Prebble and Johnstone); No. 3, Mr Kidd’s u> Mr W. Anderson’s (Mr W. Anderson); No. 4, the church to Mr Shearer’s (Mr Shearer); No. 5, to Messrs Jameson and Bell’s (Mr R. Gilmour); No. 6, Longbeach (Mr Price). Good progress was made in all :3cpartments of the church, and while, at times, tho state of the finances gave rise to some anxiety on, the part of tho office-bearers, the general trend was upward. Attendances at services at Hinds, Longbeach, Coldstream and Lowcliffe were good, and a student preacher (Mr McKenzie) relieved some

of the burden that had fallen on the shoulders of Mr Skinner. That was in 1900.

lii later years, the church has been administered from Tinwald, where the Ministers have made their headquarters, and a vigorous tone has been apparent in all the activities of the church.

There have been only seven Ministers in the charge. The Rev. James Skinner resigned in 1902, when lie received a call to T'otara, and his place was taken by the Rev. J. Crawford Paterson, M.A., of Christchurch, who took charge several months later. He remained as Minister till the latter part of 1907, and the Rey. J. A. Brown was appointed in April of the following year. Four years later, Mr Brown resigned and the- Rev. J. C. Mill took over the control, remaining till 1916, when the Rev. William Marshall was appointed. Mr Marshall retired from active participation in the Ministry early this vear, and the present Minister (the Rev. D'. D. MacLachlan) was inducted on July 25.

The church has been fortunate in its office - bearers. The have been enthusiastic and energetic, and a numbet of those who hold office to-day have been closely associated with the voik over long periods of years. Mr R. Gilmour, who lias been treasurer for 2S iyears, has been a member ol the committee since 1885. Even before that date he had taken a very active partin the church’s affairs, and liis intciest has not flagged since. The members of the present committee, who, incidentally, have arranged

the jubilee celebrations, are Messrs W. j. Anderson, C. W. Anderson, F. Blee, H. Bratley, R. Gilmour, J. Johnstone, W. J. Taylor, S. P. Taylor, K. Taylor and J. Papworth.