PRESBYTERY OF CLUTHA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22519, 13 March 1935, Page 10

PRESBYTERY OF CLUTHA

SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY EARLY HISTORY OF CHURCH i The celebrations in connection with the seventieth anniversary of the Presbytery of Clutha will be commenced at Balclutha to-day, and it is interesting to recall some of the early history of the church in that district. The first regular meeting of the Presbytery of Clutha was held on March 1, ISGS, in the church at Inch Clutha. A very brief preliminary meeting had already been held in Dunedin on January 13 of the same year, and a short special meeting at Warepa on January 26. Practically, however, the presbytery began to function as such at the date first mentioned. Lona prior to 1865 work had been carried on in the area covered later by the Presbytery of Clutha. It was in the vear 1854 that the Rev. William Bannerman, then a new arrival in the colony, accompanied bv the Rev. Thomas Burns, of First Church, Dunedin, held a service in the house of Mr Alexander Duthie at Tokomairiro. The following Sunday a service was held in Mr Redpath's house at the head of the island (Inch Clutha). The Rev. James Chisholm writes:— "There was an attendance of between 30 and 40 persons. Some of them walked over 10 miles, threading their tortuous way through the tall flax and the rank Growth of tussocks and toi°By the time the Presbytery of Clutha was formed the following charges had been established within its area:—Clutha (June, 1854), Tokomairiro and Waihola (February, 1858); Waihola, July 18o8; Inch Clutha and Kaitangata, December, 1861; Pomahaka and Mataura, December, 1862; Warepa and kaihiku. June, 1804. In September, 1864, the original Presbytery of Otago agreed to divide into three presbyteries; the Presbytery of Dunedin was to cover the whole of Otago north of the Taieri River; that of Clutha, all between the Taieri and Mataura Rivers; that of Southland, all congregations in the province of Southland. When the Synod of Otago held its first meeting in January, 1866, the following names of representatives from the Presbytery of Clutha appeared on the roll of membership:—The Revs. William Bannerman (Clutha). A. B. Todd (Tokomairiro), James Urie (Tapanui), James Kirkland (Inch Clutha), James Copland, M.D. (Lawrence), John M. Allan (Waihola), John Waters (Warepa), and John M'Nicol (unattached). There was only one elder on the_ list—Mr Robert Murrav. of Tokomairiro. From the beginning the Presbytery ot Clutha was a vigorous body, and despite the great difficulties of travel, it was active in the formation of new 'parishes, particularly in the goldfields, where the Rev. C. S. Ross was settled in April, 1868; Roxburgh (the Rev. Robert Telford, May 1868); and Cromwell, where, after a few years of supply, the Rev. B. Drake was settled as minister. In the year 1866 Balclutha was declared a preaching station under the charge of Inch Clutha and Kaitangata, and in 1867 Balclutha and Lovell's Flat were constituted a sanctioned charge. Prior to this time, ''the settlers in and about Balclutha were in the habit of worshipping in the old church across the river, near Mr Anderson's at Balmoral. In 1870 the first minister (Mr Arnot) was .settled. Clinton was originally part of Mr Urie's huge parish of Pomahaka and Mataura. In May 1869 it became a separate charge under the name of Popotunoa, and the Rev. Charles Connor was settled there. Lower Mataura was disjoined from Popotunoa and formed into a separate charge in 1873, and the following year the Rev. James Henry was ordained and inducted as first minister, the service taking place at Tuturau —a famous scene in old Maori history. Waitahuna did not become a separate charge until 1874. Owaka in 1885, and other charges followed. In the eighties a goldfields presbytery was formed by the name of the Presbytery of Dunstan, and in IS9O the Presbytery of Mataura was constituted. These changes reduced the Presbytery of Clutha practically to its present dimensions. To-day there are 13 charges and two home mission stations, possessing 31 churches and 20 other preaching places, a communicant membership of 2246, and 7397 persons under pastoral care, and a gross revenue for the last complete year of £8855. There were some notable men among the early ministers. They were well trained intellectually, rigorous in body and mind, and were manifestly men of courage and faith. Notable among them were the Revs. George Hall and D. Bowie, of Waihola, the Revs. A. B. Todd and James Chisholm, of Tokomairiro, the Rev. James Skinner, of Waitahuna, Dr Copland, of Lawrence, Dr Bannerman, and the Rev. A. M. Dalrymplc, of Puerua, the Revs. J. Waters, G. B. Tnglie, and Kilpatrick, of Warepa, the Rev. J. U. Spence, of Popotunoa. Dr dime's long ministry of 40 years in Balclutha is one of the most notable. It is interesting to observe (hat the first foreign mission convener of the Synod of Otago and Southland was Dr Copland, of Lawrence; and that the convener with whose name more than any other one foteign work under the synod was identified was Dr Bannerman. Dr Bannerman was perhaps best known jn his later days as clerk of the synod. 'lt was by the Presbytery of Clutha that the Rev. Oscar Michelsen, the veteran foreign missionary of the New Hebrides, was ordained in 1880, and the late Rev. Alexander Don, in Lawrence, in 1886. From his parish of Lovell's Flat the Rev. P. B. Fraser went forth to undertake the work of Home Mission superintendent; and the present holder of that office (the Rev. George Budd) was ordained and inducted as minister of Milburn. Many of the moderators of the United Church were ordained or spent part of their ministry in the Clutha Presbytery. One of this number, the Rev. G. H. M'Neur, is the senior member on the active list in the presbytery, and is the pioneer missionary of the Canton Villages Mission. Many students have gone forward to the ministry from Clutha presbytery, the earliest being the late Rev. John Steven, of Papakaio, and the most distinguished the late Rev. John Ferguson, of First Church, Invercargill, and St. Stephens Sydney. From Tokomairiro and Waiwera and Kaihiku came a remarkable number of earnest and devoted men. Not only was the presbytery rich in the scholarship, ability and zeal of its ministers, but there were many capable and devoted office-bearers, such as Messrs James Adam, Henry Clark, William M'Caw, and James Reid, of Tokomairiro; John Shaw, of Finegand; R. C. Johnston, of Kaihiku; John Stenhouse, of Lawrence, and Thomas and James Taylor, of Wairuna. Home missionaries, too, played their part, and the names of James Ray, of Gilbert of Lovell's Flat, of Taylor, and and John M'Caw, and many others are held in grateful remembrance. Though their names and works find little mention in any official records, there were good women whose character and service well merit equal recognition; and, as always, among ministers and laymen, "mothers in Israel" and mothers " whose only sphere was the home,, many faithful souls who did their share in the upbuilding of the nation and of the church. Marked changes have taken place in the area covered by the presbytery. Waihola "was a busy, prosperous place in the early days of the cold discoveries, for the river and lake were then the one practicable highway for all the up-country traffic which was carried by sea to Taieri Mouth, and thence conveyed by boat an 1 dray to its destination." To-day it is a small and quiet village. The goldfiehi centres of Laurence and Waitahuna have shrunken sadly, in population from the great days of the sixties and later; and even sonic of the purely country districts carry a much smaller population. Elsewhere, of course, there have been notable increases. Readjustment of parish boundaries, necessitated by altered conditions, will, it is hoped, contribute to the strengthening of the cause in places that have been affected by changes in the population.

During the whole life of the presbytery, while, in accordance with Presbyterian practice, there have been many " moderators " presiding over the meetings, there have been only five clerks: —Dr Bannerman (1865-68), the Rev. J. M. Allan (1868-1001), Dr Currie (1901-1025), the Rev. W. R. Hume (1925-1932). and the present clerk, the Rev. H. H. Barton (1932).