METHODIST UNION

Northern Advocate, 8 February 1913, Page 5

METHODIST UNION

The Union of the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Churches in New Zealand finally accomplished at Wellington on Thursday first came up for discussion at the General Conference ■of 1881. So confident were members of the Wesleyan Church of securing their independence, that they entered into negotiations for- union with the other Methodists, and a basis of union was prepared in 1883. It was approved by the district meetings, but the General Conference held (in Christchurch in November, 1884, refused to •sanction the independence of the New Zealand Church, and as a result all the negotiations were rendered futile. The next step in regard to union was in 1894, when, the General Conference, sitting at Adelaide, laid down a basis upon which, it was prepared to sanction union with other Methodist •churfches throughout Australasia. It was as a result thereof in 1896 that the union of the Wesleyan, Free Methodist, Methodist, and Bible Christian Churches in New Zealand took place. That union was consummated in Auckland in 1896. In 1902 Methodist union became general throughout Australia, and New Zealand was the only colony in which union was incomplete. The Primitive Methodists from time to time declined to unite, with the other Methontsts so long as the latter were still connected with Australia. The conference then set about again to secure separation from Australia. This was finally sanctioned by the General Confeernce at Adelaide in 1910. The conditions under which it was granted, however, necessitated the passing of Acts by all the Australian State Parliaments, as well as the Parliament of New Zealand. All these Acts have now been passed, and the president of the General Conference, pursuant to his authority, fixed January 1 as the day on which the independence of the Church of New Zealand should take effect. The independence of the New Zealand Methodist Church having been sanctioned in May, 1910, the Primitive Methodist Conference held in the following January appointed a committee to confer with a like committee of the Methodist Church, to formulate a basis for the union of the two churches. Those committees met in Wellington in June, 1912, and a basis was agreed upon. This tentative agreement was subsequently approved by the churches, and was finally completed on Thursday.