JUBILEE OF SAINT PAULS CHURCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8629, 27 July 1891, Page 6

JUBILEE OF SAINT PAULS CHURCH.

Exactly fifty years ago, that is on the 27th July, 1841, the foundation of the first church in Auckland and in the colony, St. Paul's Anglican Church, was laid by the first Governor, Captain William Hobson. Since that early period many events have occurred in the history of St. Paul's which are indispensably part of the history of New Zealand, and on the occasion of the church's jubilee it may be interesting to glance briefly at the story of its life. As already stated, the foundation stone was laid on the 27th July, 1841, but it was not till the 17th March, 1844, some delay having occurred for want of materials and funds, that the building had been completed and was consecrated. Bishop Selwyn had been consecrated first Bishop of New Zealand on the 21st October, and an impei tus had been given to the Work of building the church by his arrival on the 30th May, 1842, with funds collected in England. The Rev. J. F. Churton was the first incumbent, and the original trustees, appointed on 3rd May, 1841, were Messrs. Willoughby Shortland (Colonial Secretary), Francis Fisher (Attorney-General), George Cooper (Colonial Treasurer), Felton Matthew (SurveyorI General), and Captain Richmond (Commissioner of Claims to Land in New Zealand). Among those who were present at the laying of the foundation stone, a ceremony performed with Masonic honours, the following still survive, although some of them have left Auckland:—Mr. 11. T. Kemp, Mr. Mitford, Dr. Pollen, Captain Rough, Sir Frederick Whitaker, Mr. W. Young, Miss Coates (the elder), Mr. Mason, Mr. J. Gordon (now churchwarden), Mr. Greenwood (Epsom), and Mr. Thomas Paton (Epsom). Mr. Churton died on the 26th January, 18.53, after twelve years' service. The Rev. J. F. Thatcher was assistant, and at the time of Mr. Churton's death carried on the work for a few months afterwards, when he was appointed to the newly-formed district of St. Matthew's:. In Juno, 1853, the Rev. Mr. Lloyd became incumbent, and was subsequently raised to the archdeaconry, with the title of Archdeacon of Waitemata. On the 24th February, 1861, Mr. Dudley, now Archdeacon, was ordained in this church. In 1863 extensive additions were made to the building at a cost of £2500, the church being temporarily closed and re-opened on the 6th September, 1863. The first General Synod held in Auckland was opened in St. Paul's on the sth October, 1868 ; and .when, in the following yoar, Bishop Selwyn left the colony, the service prior to his • departure was held in it. In 1876, Archdeacon Lloyd left Now Zealand, after 17 years' incumbency of St. Paul's, and Bishop Cowie took care of the church until the appointment of the present incumbent on the Ist June, 1870. In 1876 the exterior of the church was cemented, and the churchyard fenced, at a cost of £700, and in 1879 the choir gallery and organ were shifted, the organ, which had cost £300 and was then 70 years of age, was considerably enlarged. St. Paul's was always the Garrison Church when any of the Imperial regiments were in Auckland, and it is where all the Governors have worshipped when visiting this city. At the time of the North Maori war it was strengthened and barricaded as a refuge for women and children when the natives threatened Auckland. In February, 1885, the old church was demolished, the site being required in connection with the reclamation works, and the place of worship was temporarily shifted to the building now occupied in Short-street, a building previously used and to which considerable improvements were made to fit it for ecclesiastical purposes. The last services in' the original building were held on the 22nd February, 1880, Archdeacon Dudley officiating in the morning and the Rev. C. M. Nelson in the evening. The foundation stone of that old building is lying outside the present church, and it is intended that the interesting and historic relic will be used for the new church, which it is probable will be erected on or near the original site. J übilee celebration services were held in the church yesterday, the celebrants being, as on the last day in the first building, Archdeacon Dudley forenoon, and Mr. Nelson in the evening. The ladies of the congregation had spent a good deal of time and a considerable amount of artistic skill in arranging the floral decorations, the result being that the interior presented a most pleasing and attractive appearance. It was*interesting to note the services were attended by three of those whose names have already been mentioned as having attended the laying of the foundation stone namely, Mrs. Coates, Mr. Thomas Paton, and Mr. John Gordon.

In recognition of the claim of St. Paul's as the first military church in New Zealand, there was a splendid' muster of volunteers of all branches at the midday service. The corps mustered at the Drill-shed in pood strength, and Major Goring, the officer commanding the district, took the command of the column, which, headed by the Garrison Band, marched via Queen and Customstreet to the church in the following order : —" A " Battery, Captain Geddes and Lieutenant O'Brien; Auckland Navals, Captain Parker, Lieutenants Smith and Little ; Ponsonby Navals, Captain Miller ; Victoria Rifles, Captain Cooper and Lieutenant Homers; City Guards, Captain Kohn; Newton Rifles, Captain Robertson and Lieutenant Taylor; Royal Irish, Captain Tobin and Lieutenant Caulton. The Catholic volunteers fell out at the foot of Wyndham-street, and marched to St. Patrick's, but the main portion of the column went on to St. Paul's. The staff officers present were Major Goring, Lieutenant Grant, and Sergeant-Major Scully. The church was crowded at both services, and the sermons delivered were impressive and appropriate to the occasion. The Yen. Archdeacon Dudley took for his text Acts xxvi., 9, "I would to God that not only those, but all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds." They were* met that morning, lie said, to celebrate, in the worship of God and in special thanksgiving, the jubiled or fiftieth anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the first church in the parish, the mother church of the diocese. They would naturally try to picture before their minds the scene on that occassion long ago; the harbour beautiful as now, but much less animated; the humble beginnings in Queen-street of the now populous town with ■ its many fine buildings; the manuka scrub and flax going down to the water's edge; Fort Britomart of which the very site had been removed and the materials buried in the harbour; the few houses here and there; the little company of Europeans including the majority of these in the highest official positions, gathered round the Governor and the Colonial Chaplain ; the Maoris in large numbers and more nearly their primitive condition than at present; the trenches in which the foundations were to be laid of a building much thought of in those days; and the corner stone ready for Governor Hobson to place in position. How far had the minds of those standing there at that time anticipated the future? Had they imagined that New Zealand in fifty years' time would contain so large a population as was spread over it to-day ? Had they dreamt of a Church of six dioceses, more than 250 clergymen, and hundreds of places of worship, and all this of one only of several large and active organisations. Had they anticipated the rapid decay and almost total disappearance of one of the most noble of primitive races? Lastly, to come closely home, had they thought that the building they were preparing with much enthusiasm to erect would, after a chequered and eventful history, be cleared right away, and its very site so lowered and altered as to be unrecognisable? No doubt they had hoped and believed that tha work on that day inaugurated in the name of Christ and of His great apostlo, Paul, would not bo allowed to come to an end, but that under whatevor changes of outward circumstances it would bo carried on

for the benefit of successive generations. That hope and belief had not yet been falsified, and they now ventured to look forward to a day, not far distant, they trusted, when the re-built church of St. Paul, a worthy successor to 'the old structure, might be the centre of a flourishing city parish, and of activities , of all kinds for the benefit of the citizens, such as, in its present hampered condition, the parish finds itself quite unable to arrangefor.adequately. One's . mind naturally turned on such an occasion to the name chosen for the parish and the building, and one desired to know what feelings influenced the selection, and he did not think in this case the feelings and motives would be hard to discover. What more appropriate name could be 1 chosen for the first church of the early settlers in a new country, what name more inspiring and saggostive than that of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, and what higher aspiration could they have than that the teachers and workers in the Church should for all time be imbued with his doctrines and animated by his spirit. And the name was peculiarly appropriate for the first city parish, for St. Paul, by birth "a citizen of no mean city," had always been a lover of cities. After refering to the life of the Apostle and his teachings, the Archdeacon proceeded to say that there were two things they would care to retain in connection with the parish. Though the old building with its hallowed and touching associations has disappeared; though all but a few of those present at the stone-laying had departed this life, and the majority of the survivors had gone elsewhere, the name remained and would remain while Auckland was inhabited, and the doctrine of the Apostle was still preached in that place. They trusted, too, that the spirit that animated those early workers in the : parish — John Henry , Churton, for example, whose memory' was still among his surviving contemporaries—might' ever accompany and be manifest in their successors. They all sympathised with the present incumbent, who but recently had completed the 21st year of his Ministry among them, in the hampered and fettered position in which he and those associated with him found themselves at the present time by reason of the cutting down of the site of the old church and of their inability to find a suitable site available for their new church. This was the "except" in their case, but for which their position would be an honourable and enviable one indeed. Bub he ventured to suggest that what seemed difficulties and unmitigated evils had been intended, in the providence of God, to subserve some gracious purpose, and that the genius and power of Christianity in its patient bearing ot tribulation and in its struggling through difficulties. Ib was hard for flesh and blood to be " cribbed, and cabined, and confined." How trying it would be to Bishop Selwyn at the present time to be prostrate, helpless, and obliged bo go to England, when the work of God [ seemed to be so wondrously prospering in his hands, and so sorely to need his oversight and episcopal ministrations; and it was a mysterious dispensation which called away so faithful and capable a worker as John Hilford Plant, just when the great want of the Melanesian mission was more men of his ability and animated by his spirit. Bub the work was God's, and they should accept as of His ordering the circumstances which seemed to cramp and hinder them, and wait upon Him that all things may work together for good. It was to be hoped, therefore, that the people of the parish would pass through their time of parochial trials and difficulties, and that when the time of emancipation arrived and prosperity again shone on them, they might be able to look back to the season as one in which God was working for much blessing and that through them. This had always been preeminently the soldiers' church, and ib had also been the church in which the Governors of New Zealand had ever worshipped. St. Paul's special mission was to bear Christ's name before governors and kings, and so from the pulpit of St. Paul's might their rulers ever have the plain reminders that rulers needed | " Finally," said the Archdeacon, " may the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ be manifest in this place ; that blessing in which men have gone forth from this place in past days to other parts of New Zealand, to Melanesia, and even to England. May your right to the name of the great Apostle and to the position of the first church of Auckland be fully justified in the years to come. May you go on and prosper until you are more abundant in labours and in successes hereafter than all the parishes around you, and that, manifestly, because of the grace of God that is with you, with you each and all." The Rev. Mr. Nelson's text was St. Luke iv. 19, "To preach the acceptable : year of the Lord," and upon ib he based a powerful exhortation to his hearers to follow in the teachings of Jesus the Christ. He made but a brief reference to the Church's history, mentioning, however, the exertions of Bishop Selwyn in connection with it, and praying God that some one might now bo animated with the spirit of that great Christian. The members of the congregation would be asked shortly to make up their minds about rebuilding the church, and he appealed to them to make up their minds to do it. He asked them to rescue the workers from a position which had been described by the rev. gentleman who had occupied the pulpit that morning as "cribbed and cabined and confined," to enable them to perform their Christian duties properly. Although acquainted with all the details of the Church's history he would not, he said, repeat them. He was there To preach the acceptable year of the Lord," and he took 'acceptable year to mean jubilee year. This, then, was a year in which they might hope for great blessings, and when was the time ? "The time," said he, in conclusion, "is Now. Behold now is the accepted hour ; now is the day of salvation."