Trinity Presbyterian Church Is Seventy-Five Years Old

Waikato Independent, Volume XLIV, Issue 6106, 26 September 1947, Page 5

Trinity Presbyterian Church Is Seventy-Five Years Old

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Even though Trinity Church, will •celebrate its 75th birthday in a day or two, the Presbyterians of still earlier years w T ere not without their means of worship'. The early records v . of the Church disclose that in the sixties the Rev. James U. Taylor was

appointed in charge of the Waikato area and that he conducted services at Cambridge, Hamilton and ™Ngaruawahia.‘ These three centres > with the addition of Pirongia, were the earliest settled areas in the Waikato. Services were also occasionally held at Te Awamutu and Ohaupo. But prior to this the Rev. T. Norrie, Minister of Papakura since 1855, had the very difficult task of endeavouring to service the Waikato, in addition ' to his pwn charge. It was in 1886 that the Rev Taylor took charge, but after three years he resigned and the Rev Norrie had to step into the breech again. Two years later, however, a young man named Thomas Stewart, a student, arrived from Scotland and he, became the first resident Minister of Trinity Church .and on the date aforementioned. There was ,no church building then and so the early services were held In a school-room in Wilson Street. A little later a Manse in Wilson Street was purchased at a cost of £250, It » can be appreciated that , the responsi- ‘ -Abilityof .the Charge in ; -thpse ; days was rid light one ' and it is-recorded - that in 1874 the Rev. Stewart ' wdnt to Coromandel and after only a year there, returned tp 'Scotland. ,pnce - more the Rev. Norrie had' tWiVyfsit - these parts and in May, .18^,• the. 'Rev. Samuel J. Neill,was inducted-to ■ the Charge and held fortnightly sera vices in the Episcopal Church which ®had been gladly granted to.the Pres-, . byterians. : A But early in 1878 Trinity Church became really established when the Rev. William Evans was appointed. An experienced Minister, under his ' . guidance, the church progressed markedly, so much so that a new church was completed that year. With Cam-, bridge as the centre services- f wepe Kekl in many districts and as far away as Hamilton and Whatawhata.v . A Sunday School was formed," the old Manse in Wilson Street;was/ sold and a new one, with three acres of land ’’ in Alpha Street was acquired. Long and Able Ministry > So long as Presbyterism lasts in this '7 Dominion the name of William Evans will not be forgotten and to him is due much of the credit for the firm •■ laying of the foundations' of the Church' in these parts.:,* Actually, his* ' Ministry lasted for ,19' years. * . - The Rev.' Thomas-Scott, M.A.,' of

t Tauranga, followed and he was resident Minister for three years, during which time the congregation had grown—likewise the activities of the > Church—-that it was felt that a larger building was necessary and the extensions were completed in 1889 at a cost of £Bl3. The new church was opened in June 1898 by the Rev Jphn Mackenzie, M.A., then of Thames. A.s the Rev. Scott had. resigned owing to ill health, the Rev. John Erwin, B.A„ was inducted in December, 1899, and he occupied the office for about five years. Steady Progress Recorded

From the opening of the present century it is recorded that the progress of the- Church was steady and continued, " In 1908. the Communion Roll was ; 125; ' Ministers of. Trinity Church wlio -followed' were the Rev. . Gow, it Gow’s ter ip ,£he had been such tliat' f !i)t became necessary ' for him to have an , the needs of the outlying . djstiScta. # This arrangement was changed yhdn a Home Mission. Station, celled ‘ffirai? kato East”, Whetf The 9ev,' Gow * icC«pted, a call ,to Maraekakaho, Hawke's Bay, ( J.n l9ld, be was followed at Trinity Church by the Rev. T. H. Roseveare. J ['■'. Following the, 1914718. war orial tablet . unveile^.'jC*:';tM Church to perpetuate the 'memoir’or those members of the - Church—who made the supreme sacrifice. This was in July, 1921. Later it'was decided to recognise the service, of ,all

One has to hark, back a long way in seeking the beginnings of Trinity Presbyterian Church of this town and district. .The time goes as far back as September 29, 1872, and so it is appropriate that those who administer to-day are seeing to it that the seventy-fifth anniversary is suitably marked. Actually there will be services in the Church on Sunday next and on Tuesday evening there will be a re-union tea at which it is anticipated there will be a representative assemblage.

who served in the war and as *a Thanksgiving for peace, the Peace Memorial Hall was erected at a cost of £4OO. In 1922 the .fiftieth anniversary of.the Church was celebrated with special services, while at that time a historical record, of the Church was prepared by the Hon. John Fisher. ..

l> Ministers - who followed were the -Rey. James -Hay, 1923 to 1932; Rev. AY C.' McLean, M.A., to 1936; Rev. H. W. Hitchcock, 1937 to 1945. During the nine years of the Rey. Hay’s Ministry it .was recorded that the .congregation of the Church had almost doubled itself. The Rev McLean, a young man of great ability, was not allowed to remain here long „as indicated in the foregoing and he accepted 1, a call to Wanganui. It is to the‘credit of the Rev. Hitchcock, that he did so much, both in the interests of the congregation and of Cambridge as a whole, during the years of the last war. When the Rev. Hitchcock resigned at the end of 1945,, to go to Scotland, his office was subsequently filled by the appointment of the present Minister, the Rev. Colin MacKenzie, B.A. He was inducted on May 22, 1946. The Rev. MacKenzie cam£; to Trinity Church after five years’ service as a Chaplain to the Forces. Most of the time he was attached to the New Zealand Forces in the Middle East. Already the Rev. MacKenzie has'endeared himself, not only to the congregation of Trinity Church, but to the people of the whole district. | Contifiu^d[ Progress' />; •j, That Trinity* Church has continued to progress over the latter years was conveyed in the seventy-fifth annual .report, presented to the annual meeting of the- congregation on the 20th of last month. It will be recalled that the Communion* Roll numbered,339, an increase of 13. Actually 29 new members were received, but there were 21 removals by transfer and 4 by death; while 5 were deleted. The Sunday School .roll disclosed a total of over 180, with a staff of 18. All the branches of the Church showed a healthy state and were a clear indication that the Church continues to serve well the purpose, for which it was established no less than seventyfive years, ago. • : r .

The constitution of; Trinity Church remains as sound as ever*, that ,is as applied spiritually arid materially and as in the past, so in the future, it is certain it will continue to worthily play its part in prompting the wel-fa’-ft pf tho community of the Cambridge. ’district*- ■ ■ . f&ention has not been made of many stalwarts who lent their valuable aid tp .itp! maintenance, over the 75 years; will 'be' maxje ]}p .issues of “The Inde.pendept.” Meanwhile we would exappreciation of the co-opera-tion of the present Minister and his Church officials in assisting us with information available and the illustrations associated. We must rapnreon, though, that a special issue of ‘‘Trinity News” is shortly to be ,issued, therefore, considerable detail has been left to the Church’s monthly repord.