OPENING OF THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER, HEAD OF THE BAY, LYTTELTON.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2472, 1 April 1871, Page 2

OPENING OF THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER, HEAD OF THE BAY, LYTTELTON.

The service in connection with the opening of the above Church took place on Thursday. Although the day was threatening and gloomy a large number of persons attended the service. It must have been both gratifyworked so hard, and subscribed so liberally to the building fund to see the interest taken by those residing in the district in the proceedings of the day. Many persons were unable to get seats, and stood throughout the service. The Church was very well decorated; a large floral cross was placed over the altar, the font was filled with flowers and ferns, and laurel leaves adorned the pedestal ; upon tlu walls were various ecclesiastical emblems. The service began at half-past one, the prayers being said by the Rev. F. Knowles, of Lyttelton, and after the tfwftf-Cominunion service, a short but very telling sermon was preached by the Rev. B\ W. Harvey. Curate of the district. The rev. preacher took for his text the words of our Saviour, '• Blessed are the eyes that see the things that ye see" ; and in opening his subject said, " This is a day to call for special thankfulness from all our little community. It is a day to which some of you have been looking forward for years. Your work has met with many delays, many disappointments, but now at last you have been permitted to raise a Church in which you aud your children may assemble to worship God. It is an event well worthy to be celebrated with heartfelt rejoicing, and in your rejoicing the feeling uppermost in your minds ought to be, as I trust and believe it is, the feeling of gratitude to the Giver of all good things for the possession of this House of Prayer. But there may be some who do not understand why we should lay any great stress upon the duty of being thankful for the opening of this Church ; it is a good thing, they will say, to have a ; Church in this place, but it is a thing we can always get if we choose to pay for it. We have chosen to pay and we have got our • moneys worth no doubt, but still nothing to , call for special thankfulness ; and if we are to look no further than mere externals < perhaps they are right, but I want you to ] think to day of the spiritual realities to ] which these external things correspond. < l'o think of the history which every such Church as ours carries, as it were, written i upon its walls, the history of the mighty t struggles the world has had to undergo jefore such a Church became a possibility, t :hen I think you will agree with mc that v •ye have cause for exceeding gratitude to t >ur God that we are permitted to worship aim in this house. You will see in these a rails not a mere equivalent for so much p lardly earned, hardly gathered money, but a l, >ossession beyond all price, a blessing to a rhich, without irreverence, may be applied t he words of our Saviour in our text, v Blessed are the eyes which see the things tl hat ye see."

Another passage in the sermon was as follows :—" In the horror of their recoil from the superstitions of the middle ages, men, as they always do, rushed into Ihe opposite extreme, and denounced some things, innocent, even sacred, in themselves, because they had been abused. Among these the symbol of the cross, which from the very earliest times, had naturally been the bad°-e of the Christian Faith, became an object of jealousy and suspicion to many timid well meaning persons, whilst the danger from I which they had escaped, was fresh in men's j miuds : this feeling was natural aud excusable.

But thank God, a superstitious horror of the cross is no longer needed to prevent a superstitious reverence of it ; men of all parties and shades of opinion now make use of it, as indeed a sacred symbol, one I that ought to be dear to the heart of every christian man. Thank God we are able to set up that sacred sign over our Church without leading anyone to bus- j pect us of wishing to bring them back into, the slavery from which we have been delivered. I look upon the free reverential use of that sign in Protestant Churches as a mark of the most complete deliverance from the corruptions which had well nigh destroyed the faith of our forefathers.

The offertory amounted to £5 and after the prayer for the Church Militant, the Apostolic benediction was pronounced. ' ' The following are some particulars connected with the building, & c ; 'The plan is. simple but churchlike, and was designed by Hr Mouotion, an. architect

many years has exerted himself to improve the style of church building in fhis province, and whose name is a sufficient guarantee for the correctness of his plans. Mr Wm. Dyer, of Governor's Bay, builder, has carried out the architect's plan to the entire satisfaction of the committee ; the building is 36 feet x 16, aud is seated to contain eighty persons ; if necessary a number of sittings can be added. The contract for the building was „ 125. and for fittings, including altar cloth, carpet, prayer desk, seats, and a very handsome Glas'tonbury chair, £50 additional. The font of white Oamaru stone was presented by Mrs Philips, of Governor's Bay; and the chalice and paten, from the ehasteness of their design, and excellence of their manufacture reflect much credit on Messrs Coates aud Co. The site for the church was given by Mr Gebbie. Grccnsland, who, with all the members of his family, has always taken a lively interest in church matteis in the district. We should mention that the font was the work of Mr Weybourne, Lyttelton.

At five o'clock a large number of persons sat down in a tent, that had been erected for the occasion, to a substantial and elegantly prepared tea. The tables were furnished by Mesdames Gebbie, John Gebbie, Wheeler, Manson, Ward, Bradley and Blatchford. The bachelors of the district also provided a table.

After tea a meeting was held, which was opened with prayer by the Rev. F. Knowles; after which the Rev. Mr Harvey addressed the meeting, and apologised for the absence of the Very Rev. the Dean. He then spoke of the bond of union that ought to be felt by those who meet together in the same house of prayer. The Church ought to remind all who pass by it that they are indeed Christian brethren and sisters, and so all ill-feeling aud petty animosities should be put away. He sincerely thanked those who had worked so unanimously on the committee, and whose exertions have been crowned with success.

Mr David Gebbie, treasurer, then read the financial statement, by which it appeared that a deficiency of only £12 had to be made up to pay all liabilities.

The Rev. W. H. Cooper, mission priest, then addressed the meeting, and suggested an immediate subscription so as to clear off the debt at once; £10 was collected before the meeting separated.

The Rev. F. Knowles referred to the connection he formerly had with Governor's Bay. He congratulated the meeting on the church work, the completion of which they had met to celebrate. The day over-head was dark and gloomy, but it was the brightest day the Head of the Bay had ever seen. He would give those present a little advice — to make use, full use, of all their religious advantages. There is a social element in religion, so when we meet together in public worship we meet in a social way. The one sore point in your congratulations is that you are about to lose your beloved pastor. But you should feel that your loss will be the gain of the whole Church, for he has been chosen to fill, without exception, the most important incumbency in the Church of New Zealand.

The Rev. Wm. Harvey spoke of the regret he felt at leaving those he had been working amongst; he must say he had been very happy in Governor's Bay, and he must speak of the work which had been done by Mr Blatchford in the district.

Mr Williams said that he would make up the sum required to pay the debt.

The meeting separated after singing an evening hymn and prayer.