Pacific Chapel in Cathedral opened

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33320, 3 September 1973, Page 14

Pacific Chapel in Cathedral opened

The annual children’s service in the Christchurch Cathedral yesterday afternoon was combined with the opening and dedication of the new Pacific Chapel in the former north porch.

The Bishop of Melanesia (the Rt Rev. J. W. Chisholm) and the Bishop in Polynesia (the Rt Rev; J. T. Holland) were present at the service to give and receive gifts for the chapel. The gifts included a wooden cross and two candle bases and sticks, handcarved and inlaid with shell, from the Diocese of Melanesia, and an alms dish from Fiji and a wafer box from Tonga, carved with an inscription, which translated says: “God and the nations are my inheritance.” The Christchurch committee of the Diocese of Melanesia gave a book of common prayer, and the Friends of Polynesia will give a chalice and paten — a cup and silver plate. The Bishops dedicated the gifts, and the Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. W. A. Pyatt) dedicated the chapef and consecrated the altar.

Before the dedication ceremony. Bishop Pyatt was introduced to the workmen who had altered the porch. The congregation was seated in a circle focusing on the centre aisle, just outside the Pacific Chapel, The choir, clergy, Cathedral Chapter, and Bishop entered the Cathedral in procession, and service began with the singing of a hymn and Bible readings. A hymn in Tongan, Ae kau tau ae Otua,” (“Soldiers of Christ, go forward”) was sung by an inter-denomina-tional Tongan group, and the Samoan Congregational Church sang the hymn, “Tala’i le tala moni,” (“Go, preach the Gospel.”)

Towards the end of the service, the Bishops answered questions from a number of children.

A plaque has been fitted into the inside wall of the chapel marking the gift of the wrought-iron gates and glass doors by Mr A. M. Satterthwaite in memory of a former Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Rev. Martin Sullivan.

The chapel will eventually have stained-glass windows commemorating the service and martyrdom of the first Bishop in Polynesia, the Rt Rev. J. C. Patteson, and a mosaic of the Pacific Islands on the floor of the Cathedral outside the chapel. To construct the chapel, the inside wooden doors were moved to the outside to replace iron railings, and wrought-iron and glass doors put in their place.

A seat was carved out of the stone on the west side and an altar on the east side. All the stone work was cleaned down, and the doors and ceiling painted. The north porch was originally the main door of the Cathedral.