EARLY TE AWAMUTU.

Waipa Post, Volume II, Issue 72, 22 December 1911, Page 2

EARLY TE AWAMUTU.

[By John H. Mandeno, Esq., Faircroft, Hairini.]

It was pleasant to see the • ministers of the different Protes- • tant denominations in Te Awa- , mutu working together in a , friendly manner in the late prohibition campaign, and it reminded me of the old days when the one church was made use of by all the different sects for the Sunday services. The Anglican Church stood then just the same as it is now, having been built, I believe, about the year 1840. It was, I think, lined and seated by the militia when stationed here. Bishop Selwyn, that great and liberal man, said to a friend of mine, "I have refrained from consecrating these country churches because I wish them to be open to the use of chrjsfian people of any denomination." After the troops left we had an Anglican service once a month, conducted by the Rev., afterwards Archdeacon Pritt. He rode up from Taupiri, some 40 miles, and sometimes found only two or three people to hear him. He said to me once that he would always go through the service if seven people were present, but he did not think it necessary for a smaller number. A Wesleyan minister, the Rev. Joseph Berry, came from Cambridge every fortnight. He afterwards went to Sydney and was succeeded by Rev. Simmonds, who is still, I believe, Principal of the Wesleyan College at Three Kings, Auckland. After him came a Mr Thomas, and it was during his time that the present Wesleyan Church was built. It was in this way. In the meanwhile an Anglican clergyman, a Rev. L. Brady, had been stationed here and held service every Sunday. Mr Thomas having many preaching stations sometimes would send a local preacher, and occasionally one not very suitable. Mr Brady objected and represented the matter to Bishop . Cowie. The Bishop said that though he had no objection to an ordained minister of any denomination using the church, he did not think it proper for anyone else to do so. Mr Thomas said, ; " very well, if my young friends" are to be sent to the kitchen, I am not going to sit in the parlour." He therefore adjourned to the hall until the new church was built. As for the Presbyterians, there was no regular service for a considerable time, only an oc- . casional visiting minister, but in the early seventies a meeting was

held to consider the situation. There were present, old Mr Wm. Scott of Paterangi, John and Wm. Ross of Kihikihi, Major Jackson, Mr Andrew Kay, Mr Ramsay and a few others, all were of opinion that an effort ought to be made to secure a resident minister. As it was a difficult matter to provide a suitable stipend, I suggested that my father, though not a Presbyterian, being a Congregational minister and having resigned his charge near Auckland, might I thought, be induced to come up and take charge until other arrangements could be made. The idea was at once approved and I was requested to write to my father on the subject. The idea of uniting

with the other denominations and of holding services in an Anglican Church at once appealed to him, and very soon the matter was satisfactorily settled. For a considerable time he acted as Minister of the Charge, until feeling that he was too old and infirm

to do justice to so large a district, and having been able to build up a good congregation, he induced the people to make an effort to get a younger and stronger man as a settled minister. Old Mr Scott had already purchased the property where Mr Ahier now lives, and he very generously handed it over for a site for a manse. A manse was built, and the Rev. I. Bruce, lately from the Old Country was chosen as minister.* Mr Bruce did good work in the district and was very popular. It was during his time that the present church was built, but having lost his wife and being in delicate health, he felt compelled to resign and leave the district. It seems as if the old church that he saw built and opened would soon be superseded, and of those who helped to build it so few remain, but one likes to think of the old times, and to recall the old familiar friends of the bygone days. Not that I would say that the old times were better than these :'or I do not think so. I think that the times have improved and I hope will go on improving, and that the people will improve with them.