THE METHODIST CENTENARY.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XI, Issue 198, 15 August 1921, Page 7

THE METHODIST CENTENARY.

A RECORD OF ENDEAVOUR. PIONEERS IN THE MISSION FIELD ’ The forthcoming centenary of the 1 Methodist Council in New Zealand will mark an interesting stage in the religious history of the Dominion. When , Marsden was in Australia he met a , young Methodist minister named ; . Leign, and persuaded him to accom- ! pany him on a visit to the Bay of - islands- Leigh was so impressed with I what he saw of the Maoris that he went ■ to England to plead the cause of a jnis--0 sion to the native races of New Zealand r and three years later, on New Year’s Day, 1822, he sailed from Sydney for his new home. At first he was the guest of tho Church of England, Mission at Kerikeri, but in June he moved to b Wliangaroa and established his mission d close to the scene of’the Boyd massacre. Two chapels were built and opened in o June, 1821, and the mission carried on its work at Wesley Vale till the station o was destroyed by the natives same three years later. A new site \yas then > s secured near Hokianga, and the mission , r rapidly extended its work to other 1 parts of the Colony. In 1840 the Primilive joined in the work, and the Rev. Robert Ward a few years later •established a mission centre near New Plymouth. By > 1855 the Methodist Church numbered 2,259 adherents in Auckland, of whom 200 were Europeans, and 1,319 in Wellington, of ' whom all except 308 were Maoris, ■s Great attention was devoted to educap tion, and the first native school was d built in 1823, and in 1844 a grant of d land in Grafton street, Auckland, was o given for the purpose of a school, the •t site being subsequently moved to the \ Three Kings, while similar institutions were established near New Plymouth and Wanganui. On February 6th., 1913, the Primitive Methodists united with tho Methodist Church, bringing , 3,000 members, while tho Bible Chrisj tians also united their membership of , 1609, and tho Free Methodists brought r a membership of 982. y I To-day this united Methodist Church : Jf New Zealand has a membership of a 2< ,552, with 458 churches, besides 525 . other places of worship, and an / ordained ministry of 189, besides 51 r home inissioners, 783 local preachers, 0 and 101 class leaders- A notable s feature is to bo found in the Sunday -; school work of the church. These - schools have 2,851 teachers and 27,346 s scholars on tho roll, while the .Bible - classes have a membership of 6,197. Iho Methodist Sunday schools have i always occupied a high, place in the ) examinations conducted-by the Sunday - School Union, and this is very largely ! due to tho devotion of the teachers, - and the excellent lines on whidh their ; schools are organised. Tho average i attendance at church and Sunday ’ school each Sunday is given as 72,866 ’ ■ 01 . V lO whole of the Dominion, figures • : which speak well for tho devotion of its t adherents. Methodism has widened its I creed since tho early days of Samuel Leigh, and membership of the .Church is open to all those who are . willing to “profess faith in Jesus i Christ, and frame their lives in harI mony with their profession.” Thu i centenary aims at raising a fund of LC 15,000 for the extension of the work, ' and Auckland has already raised £13,016 towards it. There is no doubt I the whole sum will bo more than sub- | scribed before the great Centenary meeting in Auckland in February next. The. whole Dominion owes much to the zea'ous and .self-sacrificing work of these early pioneers of religion, and doubtless others besides members of tlie Methodist Church will be glad to avail themselves of this opportunity of helping forward a cause that has been so closely identified with much of the social and religious life of tho com- . infinity.