St Mary’s Parish 100 Years Old

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31306, 28 February 1967, Page 7

St Mary’s Parish 100 Years Old

St. Mary’s Anglican Church at Addington could never be quite what it was in the past, the Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. W. A. Pyatt) told 162 parishioners at a centennial banquet. It was unlikely to be a residential parish in the future.

Bishop Pyatt said that the church generally would be faced with a lack of support from men for some time to come. With the advances of science and technology man believed he had come of age and no longer needed the Church, he said. Whatever changes occurred, and whatever challenges lay ahead, God would still be there, His Church would remain and ultimately man would realise he could not truly get along without them. Bishop Pyatt congratulated St. Mary’s on its centenary. “In your parish you have covered a whole slice of New Zealand history. In Canterbury we like to feel proud of the role the Anglican Church has played right from the start. I like to feel we witness in this place,” he said. Replying to a toast to the diocese of Christchurch Bishop Pyatt said he gathered from conversations overheard that many parishioners viewed it as an appallingly centralised organisation which among other things sent out parish quotas to be fulfilled. While far from wealthy the Canterbury pioneers had set aside moneys so that today it was a reasonably well endowed diocese. In fact although the quotas often looked high they were only about half those of some other dioceses, he said. Earlier the vicar of St. Mary’s (the Rev. J. D. Froud) in proposing a toast to the city of Christchurch, said a tremendous debt was owed to the men and women who founded it. Although the present city fathers had good material to work on it might be felt by some people they were not up to the mark of their predecessors. “They’ve turned Cathedral square into a bus stop, allowed huge buildings to dominate the square, and have allowed heavy industry to move closer into the city,” he said. However, the city could boast of a good airport and a tempo of life which allowed one time to think things out a bit. The life of the city had always been bound up with the churches, he said. The Deputy Mayor (Mr H. P. Smith) agreed. He said the City Council valued the close association between the churches and local government. Not all the problems of governing were related to raising money. Some were far bigger and needed the help of the churches, especially in helping today’s youth. Mr R. E. Betteridge, who proposed the toast to the diocese, said some former parishioners - had come from Auckland, the West Coast and Otago for the centennial functions. Mr Betteridge said he was not sure how many years St. Mary’s would be able to continue as a parish. Industry I was closing in and the numbers attending was falling. But he was confident that the church would remain many years although it might one day be without a vicar in residence. Memories of the church 30

years ago were related by Canon F. V. Fisher, the oldest surviving vicar. The vicar’s warden (Mr R. Brittenden) said he regretted the lack of young people at the banquet. Yesterday Bishop Pyatt celebrated Holy Communion and Canon R. P. Andrews was the preacher at the 10 a.m. family service. After a garden party in the church grounds in the afternoon there was tea in the parish hall. Bishop Pyatt preached at evensong. About 30 former choir members held a reunion last night.