PRESBYTERIAN JUBILEE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13307, 13 October 1906, Page 7

PRESBYTERIAN JUBILEE.

. * . . * . V i* -, ,* I f • '►) ,; i; STORY OF THE AUCKLAND CHURCH. A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS. > The Presbyterians of Auckland wilt cele* brate the jubilee of the Auckland I'recbytory by special services at St. Andrew's, ' the mother church, to-morrow, and a public meeting at St. James' Church on Wednesday. The. story of Auckland Presbyterianisrn is' so interwoven with : the his- - tory of the'settlement' and growth of the city and it would bo well-nigh impossible to separate the one from the other, without robbing each of some of its most momentous incidents. Presbyterian ism as our fathers knew it was a sturdy faith, accustomed to take hard knocks, and equally accustomed to give them, if need be, but it has become less aggressive in ; . a physical sense than it originally was, as may well be understood when it in considered that in this country and in lie Homeland men can now worship as they list, without, let or hindrance. Nevertheless, the old, dogged, uncompromising spirit which moved the Presbyterian. to action or resistance in, matters that he believed to be right is as strong and powerful in him to-day as it was when the gentlemen of Mearns; in 1557, " refuissed all societie with idolatric, and banded tliamo sellis to ye uttermost of I bare-" poweris to mantaine ye trew preaching of ye evangell of Jesus Christ, as God should offer unto thame preachearis and oportunitie." The Presbyterian Church claims to be ' - th true Episcopal Church of New Testa- . - ment times, holding that the terms presbu- ;• tteros (elder) and episcopos (bishop) were identical in the Apostolic Church i moreover, they maintain that One is their Master, even Christ, and to Him only will they render obedience,. worship, and honour. Professor Dorner, the eminent German divine, described Presbyterianism , as "the muscular system of Christianity." " His expression was a very happy one, so far as the pioneers of Presbyterianism in New Zealand were concerned. They were muscular in more senses than one when' --' the vanguard of them left Glasgow for New Zealand in 1839. They were coining, . so they thought, to a land full of noisome ; beasts and over-run with barbarous hordes. A poet among them burst into song at the time, and sang of how ,v - Oil Zealand's hills, where tigers steal along, And the dread Indian '(.'hurts a dismal song: Where human fiends on midnight errands walk * And bathe in brains the murderous tomahawk. But in spite of this dismal stanza, the first Scottish emigrants to New Zealand sailed in the Bengal Merchant, fortified with ; the benediction of the Lord Provost of f*, Glasgow, and the presence among them of " the Rev. John' Macfarlane, not only the w first Presbyterian miqjster sent out «■';<» • pressly to minister to the colonists, but, it is claimed, the first minister of any Christian. Church despatched, to New Zealand. -i -, /i For this specific purpose they arrived;, < in , Cook -Strait, after--a- passage of 113 - days, on February 10, 1840. A few months , afterwards the sovereignty' of Queen Vic- v. ■' '• toria was proclaimed over New Zealand . ..ji" at, Kororareka, .pr the Bay of Islands, and the country became once and for all a separate British colony in November of. the.' , same year. • » T ■ ' : c> ■ : The trials of the immigrants on board ship, and all they did on shore, , are they < t , • ' not ..written in the - hearts of the , pioneer* .>. •; themselves and in these of their children?. • They were a religious people,. and are to- ' .. day. these early settlers. For only this week they assembled together to render j : thanks to God for mercies vouchsafed to them, and theirs during residence in 'this favoured land. But the records showed that " their experiences of life on shipboard were nat always happy, otherwise it is difficult y to explain why minister of these early days should have taken for his first- sermon , .iii New Zealand the text, .".Aridthere. shall be no more sea." . Notwithstanding: somewhat trying experience;) at Wellington and trouble from within her own household there, the Church in . New Zealand grew from within and from,;, without. Auckland Presbyterians re- ' ceived considerate accession to their . strength by the arrival of the ships Duchess of . Argvle and Jane • Gilford, both from . ' Scotland; with 5551 passengers on board, in October, 1842.' In the following year the % Rev. W. Comrie < began Presbyterian services in Auckland', the congregation meeting ' in the old Supreme Courthouse,, in Queenstreet, but the worshippers moved to the ' Total Abstinence Hall in 1844, but after- , wards, from a variety of causes, dwindled down, and services were finally discontinued. ' > In 1847 there was a revival, when a large - • meeting of Presbyterians was held in the Courthouse to consider the supply of Presbyterian ordinances. The outcome of that meeting , was a collection of £1120 for a . church. The present site of St.' Andrew s !•; Church was secured from the Governor, Sir George Grey. Then steps were taken to ' build the first Presbyterian Church in Auck- . land, but this work was not accomplished 0 wit.' i-ut great difficulty and the expendi- " . ti.ra of £6000 ere the present building mil, tower were completed. y ; : The first minister for St. Andrew's, ♦he mother Church, was the Rev.'A .G. Pafii- -i who arrived in January, 1849. On April 7, 1850, the new church was opened, but . the first minister did not minister there ' beyond October of the same year, when he left for Scotland. The Rev. David Bruce,' now of Sydney (but a visitor to Auckland : . to-day), succeeded Mr. I'anton in 1853, and * when he arrived lie was met. .by " the. .Ssy authorities with the doleful news that the church was.£l6oo in debt, and that the ' congregation had suffered acutely through * , lack of a minister and internal differences. " So ye see what sort o" wark ye hae set before ye." • The new minister assured ! his -" v friends that he would' wipe off the debt in "■■'•' " three months, and lie did it. . ' The church prospered under Mr. Bruce'* ministry, and the existing St. James' Church, Wellington-street, and, St. David's / , Church,, Khvber Pass, are the fruit of his labours It; the cause of chr extension. In additV-n to these there i s now eight, churches in fhe city and subu-bs. In 1861.1 the, first. Auckland Presbytery , was forced, the following gentlemen being -y the members: Ministers, The Revs.D.", Bruce, John Macky, T. Norria, and R. - MtKinney; elders, Messrs. W. Gorrie, Ji:'"* . ■ Walla- h. Archibald Clark, and John Nisbet. ;, "*j Of the above-named ministers one only sur-' vives, namely, the Rev. Dr. Bruce. -The Rev. E. McKinney died last year, .eight „' days after completing his ministerial jqbi- " lee,'.and .the Rev. T. Norrie died in May, - 1905, just font days before' the 50th. anniversary of his ordination. ' *.. v In i?>62 the first meeting of the General: , Assembly was held in Auckland. ■ This was the first occasion on which tlv. detached portions of the Presbyterian Church in New- . Zealand had - m_-t together.. Prior" to that year the Auckland Presbytery had been in •*> communication with the Son-hem or Otago • district, which had remained separate, and the first object that the Auckland Presby- " tery set itself to attain was" the union of. the two courts, embracing all "other ' Presbyterian courts in the colony. A convocation for this purpose was held, and all details having been satisfactorily arranged a union was decided upon, and the General Assembly was formed. - But the Otago Presby-' "". terians failed to carry out their part of the agreement, and the Churches remained sepa-..- ; ; ' rate until October 31, 1901, when the union, which had originated in Auckland.-was con- ; summated at Dunedin; Dr. Bruce being present as a commissioner from the ■' I resty terian Church of New South \A ales. . V'. •. The first clerk of session of the AucK__ , land Presbytery was Dr. a pl the Rev. George Brown, of -Oneliunga. «P ; pointed in 1863; and his s « cces^ in 1879, the Rev. Robert SommervilJe, who still oc ' c pies the position, and from whom most. of the material for this article has been obtained. ' '' .