A GREAT PIONEER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23026, 2 May 1938, Page 6

A GREAT PIONEER

| (MAESDEN CENTENARY *AR-REACHING INFLUENCE , ——' I 1 COMMEMORATION ARRANGED t The centenary of the death of the . , Hev. Samuel Marsden, who in 1814 was the first to bring the Christian faith to New Zealand, falls on May \." 12. He dit-d at Parramatta on May 12, | 1838. Special services of thanksgiving I for his life and work have been ar- | ranged to be held at St. Mary's Cathedral on May 12, and in the parish churches on the following Sunday, May 15. At the cathedral' on May 12 Holy Communion will be celebrated at 10.30 a.m. when the celebrant will be the Primate of New Zealand, Archbishop Averiil. In the evening at 7.40 a special combined service of thanksgiving will bo held in the cathedral, when the preacher will bo the archbishop. The centenary will bo observed in Maori Anglican churches also, for Marsden was the pioneer of civilisation in New Zealand and the founder of the church among the native people. Faith and Courage Writing in the Church Gazette, the archbishop says there is every reason why this centenary should not bo allowed to pass without due commemoration. "Surely," he says, "the man who was the instrument of Almighty God in first bringing the Gospel to this land is worthy of duo commemoration a hundred years after his death and hundreds of years after thtat. Marsden was not only the pioneer of Christianity in this land but the pioneer of the arts of civilisation and as such should receive the gratitude and acknowledgment of the whole community. "The very fact that he was allowed to land safely in New Zealand, even in Whangaroa, was a testimony to his own splendid faith and moral courage, and to his wonderful influence over Ruatara and other Maori chiefs. Marsden,, if he had been a man of less strength of character and of less devotion to his Lord and Master Jesus Christ, than h 6 was, might easily have found cogent reasons why he should stick to his important work in Australia and not worry himself about the heathen Maoris in New Zealand. The massacre of the crew of the Boyd and Governor Macquarie's very natural hesitation in giving Marsden permission ,to undertake such a perilous journey ,to New Zealand might easily have daunted a man of less physical and moral courage from taking such a tremendous risk. First Christian Service "It was Marsden's great privilege to hold the first Christian service in New Zealand and to celebrate the Holy Communion for the first time. The Rev. Samuel Marsden, the apostle to the Maoris in New Zealand and the first priest to celebrate the 'Holy Mysteries,' paid his last visit to this country in 1836, and received the heartfelt homage of the Maoris, who doubtless realised that owing to his increasing infirmity they would see his face no more."