A NOTABLE JUBILEE.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15729, 24 October 1916, Page 3

A NOTABLE JUBILEE.

SPREYDON BAPTIST CHURCH,

SOME EARLY HISTORY

Tho jubilee. of the Spreydon Baptist Church is to be celebrated from October 29th to November sth, and arrangements have been made for special services and other functions to fittingly mark the event.

The establishment of Baptist services in Spreydon was du e to a suggestion made by the late Mr Thomas Jefcoate (then newly arrived from ltugby, England) to Mrs Trigger, who iived in a house that still stands in iSpreydon. It was in September, 1860, that Mr Jefcoate pointed out to Mrs Charlotte Twigger that it was a long way for Addington and Spreydon people to walk to Lichfield street, where the baptist Church was situated, and Mrs twigger responded with the practical proposal that a sod wharc of considerable dimensions, situated on the Twigj ger property some fifty yards from Lin- ! coin road, aown Wright's road, ou the left-hand side, should serve the people of the district-, and at her own expense she placed this at Mr Jef- . coate's use. The ''whare," which was about 16ft by 12ft, was inspected, j cleaned up, the waLs white ivasued, and ! the necessary furniture was supplied by i various friends. The opening service : took place on the afternoon of Sunday, September 17th, 1805, the pieachor being Mr W. yV. Davey. The first anniversary, celebrated by "a good old tea meeting," was held in a large marquee erected near the wiiare, and the late Rev. W. J. Habens, then Congregational minister in Christchurch, presi'ded, and speeches were madg by Dr. Foster and others. Mr jefcoate unaounced that a section of iand at the corner of Martin's lane had been given by Mrs Twigger as a site for a Baptist cnurcn. Dr. Foster made out tne first trust deed, free of cost, for the church, and toon many enthusiasts were busy collecting for the building fund. On one occasion the deficiencies of the whare as a place of worship was demonstrated when an aggressive (and possibly curious) cow shoved head and horns through a portion of the wall!. On December 12th, 1866, the Spreydon Baptist Chur h was formed, the first six members beino- Thomas Jefcoate, Janet Jofcoate, AV W. Davey, Mary Ann Davey, Richard Potts Pole, and Charlotte Twigger. In March, 1867, a tender was accepted for a building _24ft by 20ft to be erected on the section given by Mrs Twigger, and the church was opened, free of debt on April.7th, 1867. Mr Jefcoate' was appointed first deaoon in-October 1868. The folio win j, year .Mr Jefcoate and family left for Pareora, and Mr and ! Mrs Davey had gone to Australia. A few, under Mr Thomas Dixon, were I left to carry oil the work. Soon after the church was built, a Sunday School was formed, and a Sunday School library was opened. Mr W. Polo was the first pastor of the c' h, and was appointed in 1869 and continued till ,1876 when Pastor J. S. Clarke was appointed. He remained in charge for two years. In 1878 it wag found necessary, owing to the growth of the congregation, to enlarge the church, but by 1&B0 further expansion was necessary, and the land* on which the first church stood was sold, and .the. building removed to the site on which the present church stands. Pastor T. A. Cato was called to the church in January, ISBO, and remained for; isix iiionths. The foundation, stone of. the ..church was laid on May 24th, 1881, "and the following month Mr James Marrinor • was appointed pastor and continued till March 1882. lie wtts by the Rev." W. C. Spencer",' w.ho/stayed till November of tho same, year, being succeeded by the Rev. James Standring, who continued till April 1886. Tho Rev. A. Dewdney" took up the pastorate in April, 1887, and two years later.. on the eve of his marriago, the church members decided to build a manse which was comploted early in 1889. In 1890 the Itev. Thomas "Spurgeon responded to an invitation to conduct an evangelistic campaign. In 1892 the Rev. A. Ager, of Victoria, succeeded -ir. Pewdney and the name of the church was altered from tho "Lincoln ' road Baptist Church" to the "Spreydon Baptist Church." An offshoot from the church was established a< Hornby in .1895,". and the following year Mr A. H. Turnbull gave a quarter-acre section at Hornby for a church, and in 1897 the church was opened, free of debt, by the Rev. J. J. North who, in 1895, was appointed pastor of the Spreydon Church. He resigned in November, 1903. and the Rev. J. C. Martin, of Napier took his place. Mr Martin resigned in April. IJK>B, the Rev. Robt. Elder succeeding 'him. On October yoth, 1908. he was succeeded by the Rev. J. Farqtiharson Jones, who. in turn, was to have b°en succeeded by the Rev. J. Butler, but before he began his labours he passed away. On August Ist 1912 the present pastor, the Rev. John. Laird, took up his work.

The value, of war munitions exported from tho. United States of America for ttia fiscal year ending Jane 30th, last, amounted to .£97,029,600, in the items of explosives and firearms alone, says U.e '-Exporters' and Importers' Jourr.al'' of America. Shipments of accesconsisting of aeroplanes, auto--mobiles, motor-cycles, scicntific instruments, and barbed-wire, reached £3fj,900,000. Outward cargoes of other materials used chiefly in war making, such 2g horses and mules, railway cars, engines, and rails for Russia, 'metalworking machinery for the munition factories, boots and shoes for the armies, and gasoline Avere valued at .£60,500,000. The grand total of our exports of materials most closely connected with the big -war reached £194,437,000, or considerably more than of the total export trade of the country for the year. This does not include the vast increase in the shipment of other American products stimulated by the demands for clothing in countries whose industries have been disorganised by the war.