ST. PAUL’S NEW CHURCH, AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XV, Issue XXII, 30 November 1895, Page 665

ST. PAUL’S NEW CHURCH, AUCKLAND.

A LARGE portion of this week’s Graphic is devoted to illustrations of the handsome new Anglican Church, which was consecrated by His Lordship Bishop Cowie, Primate of New Zealand, on the ist of this month, and to portraits of those who have been associated in connection with the building of it. The beauty of the edifice itself, and the important stage its opening marks in the history of the Anglican Church in Auckland, fully justify the considerable space given to it in these pages. Mr W. H. Skinner, the well-known Auckland architect, designed a building of which both the parishoners to whom it belongs, and the city of Auckland may very well be proud, and the builders, Messrs Neil McLean and Ebenezer Morris, have faithfully carried out his conceptions. The church is at once an ornament to the city, and a testimony to the zeal and liberality of its clergyman and congregation. It is the first building in Auckland in which the fine white stone of Oatnaru has been very largely used in combination with the darker stone, and certainly the effect—a common enough one in the South—is so pleasing that we hope to see many edifices built of similar materials in Auckland The large western window of carved stone is quite a unique thing in Auckland, and the left doorway is equally beautiful. What the steeple will be when it is built we can pretty well imagine from the present incompleted building and Mr Skinner’s plans and it is easy to see that it will add most materially to the appearance of the church. The interior of the edifice is very fine, and on the opening day it

looked its very best. The ceremony of consecration was performed with much more circumstance from the fact of its taking place when the clergymen of the Diocese were gathered in Auckland for the Synod. Together with the Bishop some thirty-four clergymen were present. Preparations had been made befitting the importance of the function and the un-

usually favourable auspices under which it was carried out. A choir, including over sixty voices, sang the choral parts of the service, the talented church organist, Mr J. T. Knight, presiding at the organ. At the hour fixed for the opening ceremony the church was crowded with people, many of whom had to stand, and outside several had to be content with a glimpse

of the solemn proceedings. Ou the Bishop eutering the church with his chaplains by the vestry door he was received by the Vicar, the Rev. Canon Nelson ; the church-wardens, Messrs W. S. Whitley and J. J. Roach ; the chancellor, Mr E. Hesketh, who wore his official garb of wig and gown ; and the members of the Building Committee, Messrs Kidd, Tait, and Drs. King and Wilkins. The petition for consecration having been read by the Registrar, Mr W. S. Cochrane, the Bishop and Canon Nelson passed down the middle aisle between the clergy and choir repeating as they went the 24th Psalm. When they returned the choir took up their customary places and sang : • Christ is our corner stone. On Him alone we build.' After the deed of dedication had been presented to the Bishop by the Vicar, and the special prayers said, His Lordship signed the sentence of consecration, and when it had been read aloud by the chancellor, ordered it to be tireserved with the other records. I.liter on the church service for the morning was gone through, the music and singing being especially fine. The Rev. A. G. Purchas read the first, and Archdeacon Willis the second lesson, after which the choir sang ‘ Blessed are they that Dwell in Thy House ’ (Berthold Tours). The sermon by the Bishop had direct bearing on the occasion. Taking as his text the words, ‘ Worship the Lord in the

beauty of holiness,’ he spoke at length on the becoming building which the parishioners of St. Paul’s had erected, and said that they had set before the diocese an example of energy and devotion to the church which it was pleasant to see. He carried his hearers back in mind to the old St. Paul’s, now demolished, which used to look down on the Waitemata, and had seen —for it was fifty-one years since it was consecrated—the infant city grow in size and beauty. Referring to Bishop Selwyn, whose name is inseparably connected with the Church, he said that the church dedicated to St. Paul in this city would always be regarded as the Bishop’s. In conclusion, he commended it to the care of the parishioners as a memorial of the past and an earnest of the future. When he ended a collection was taken up, and the communion service (chorally rendered) proceeded with. At this office the Primate was celebrant,

and the ante-communion was said by Archdeacon Dudley. The epistle was read by Archdeacon Clarke, and the gospel by Archdeacon Govett. At the administration to 153 communicants the Primate was assisted by Archdeacons Clarke and Willis, and the Rev. Canon Nelson.

The Rev. Canon Nelson, who is an M.A. of Queen’s College, Cambridge, is the third incumbent of St. Paul’s, his predecessors having been first the Rev. J. F. Churton and second Archdeacon Lloyd. He was instituted to the charge on the ist of June, 1870. Besides being a Canon of Auckland, he is Senior Examining Chaplain to the Bishop. For some years past he has been an active member of the Board of Governors of the Auckland College and Grammar School, and lately, ia the absence of Sir Maurice O’Rorke and Colonel Haultain, he has acted as Chairman of the same body. Mr W. S. Whitley is one of Auck. land’s merchants, and a man of many friends. He has been by far the most prominent lay worker in connection with the building of the new church. It is to his unwearied efforts especially that the parishioners owe the present building. Mr Roach is on the staff of the Board of Education, and a prominent worker in chnrch matters. These gentlemen, together with Drs. Wilkins and King, two well kn own Auckland medical men,Mr Tait, the local manager of the National Insurance Co., and Mr A. Kidd, City Councillor, are members of the building committee.

Mr J. M. Butt, of the Bank of New Zealand, and Mr J. H. B. Coates, manager of the National Bank of New Zealand, were both energetic members of the same committee before they left Auckland.