WHS Journal 2007 Wesley Historical Society
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WHS Journal 2007 Wesley Historical Society – Publication #85 Page 1 WHS Journal 2007 Wesley Historical Society – Publication #85 Page 2 WHS Journal 2007 Contents Editorial — Terry Wall ‘Saddlebags and Navvies’ — Douglas H Burt Irene Eva Cornwell — Obituary by Stan Goudge Charles Wesley — Protagonist or ‘push over’? — Norman Brookes Spiritual Journey — Graham Whaley The Marsden Cross Heritage Centre and Chapel — Rev. Patricia Bawden Directory 2007 Anniversaries 2008-9 Wesley Historical Society – Publication #85 Page 3 WHS Journal 2007 Editorial The completion of the North Island Main Trunk Line in 1908 was a significant moment in the development of the New Zealand economy. Doug Burt’s article commemorates this event. He tells the story of the chaplains who worked in the camps along the line and the commitment of the church to provide worship and ministries of evangelism and pastoral care. It was a pioneering fonn of what we know today as industrial chaplaincy or workplace support. Doug draws attention in his article to the novels of Herman Foston. Published in 1921 in London, At The Front is an imaginative interpretation of the ministry of the church in the railway camps. It tells the life of Ralph Messenger, the hero of the novel, who travels from England to start a new life. An earnest young man seeking to vindicate himself, he is an example of piety, who through hard work and study, manages to better himself in the Dominion. The novel is an intriguing social history of the times and of the way in which the church sought to be in touch with those who endured hard lives in remote regions. There are discussions of socialism, deemed to be inadequate, and of temperance, endorsed enthusiastically. There is a sermon on Christ’s Sympathy (p. 109). The theme of the novel is the mysterious work of God’s providence in the lives of those who are faithful to the gospel. The author provides numerous accolades for Ralph’s heroism. It is interesting to discern the motivation to engage in mission to the construction camps. It seems that “Sunday passed like the weekdays” and those who worked on the line were deprived of the opportunity to develop a spiritual life. We hear an impassioned speech to Conference imploring the “Fathers and Brethren” to take an initiative in embarking upon this mission. The speaker concludes his address by making a few suggestions as to the qualities which the one to be appointed to such work might possess: 1. He should be able to sing. 2. He should have an intense love for his fellow-men. 3. He should be able to make himself at home in the camps and settlers’ homes. 4. If possible, he should have a slight knowledge of doctoring and ambulance work. 5. He should be intensely spiritual, and full of sound common-sense. 6. He should be a good organiser. (p. 96) The story of the mission reveals a church alive to opportunities for mission and conscious of the needs of those involved in heavy and at times dangerous work. There was a willingness to take risks, to invest in places where full-time ministry could not Wesley Historical Society – Publication #85 Page 4 WHS Journal 2007 be funded by those for whom it was offered. We are reminded of John Wesley’s dictum, “Go not to those who need you, but to those who need you most.” Doug Burt’s article recalls the church’s impulse in those Edwardian days to reach out and establish communities of faith. Stan Goudge’s fitting tribute to Irene Cornwell invites us to reflect on her distinctive contribution to our mission work in the Solomon Islands, notably employing her linguistic gifts in translating scripture into indigenous dialects. In this year when we have celebrated the tercentenary of the birth of Charles Wesley, Norman Brookes probes the relationship between the two Wesley brothers and comments on their personalities. The poetic work of Charles has not always been given its rightful place in studies of the evangelical awakening. Certainly Norman sees Charles in the wider context of debates about the relationship of the Methodist societies to the Church of England and his understanding of the grace of God. Jack Penman, who died in September of this year, was a long time supporter of the Wesley Historical Society. In recent years he was proof-reader for the Journal. Plans are being put in place to recognize his ministry in a future issue of the Journal. It was Jack who prompted the editor to encourage Graham Whaley to make his spiritual journey available for publication. The article by Patricia Bawden introduces readers to the exciting developments in relation to the Marsden Cross. Pat has been faithful to a vision she received forty years ago of a centre on the site of the first preaching of the gospel in this land. She outlines the history with particular reference to early Wesleyan contact. There have been strong, healthy ecumenical relationships from the very beginning. We are glad to offer for readers the Wesley Historical Society Annual Lecture, given at the Wellington Conference 2007. Jim Stuart explores the social and economic environment in which the Wesley brothers ministered and provides a case for seeing John Wesley’s thought as containing an alternative economics — an evangelical economics, which critiqued and called in question the reigning political economies of the time. Finally, I should like to draw attention to Fred Baker and Tatiana Blagova’s well- received article in the 2006 Journal “Harold Whitmore Williams — The Forgotten Genius”. The New Zealand Listener for January 5 2008 carries a review of a new book on Williams: Russia’s Great Enemy: Harold Williams and the Russian Revolution by Charlotte Alston. It is heartening to see Williams being given the recognition he merits, even if he served the Methodist Church for a few brief years in his appointment at Waitara. — Terry Wall Wesley Historical Society – Publication #85 Page 5 WHS Journal 2007 ‘Saddlebags and Navvies’ The Methodist Mission to Railway Construction Workers on the North Island Main Trunk Line, 1895-1908 — Douglas H Burt Introduction It was in 1876 that the provincial government system was abolished in New Zealand. In order to reach the capital, Auckland parliamentarians travelled by train to Onehunga and then embarked upon the long sea voyage to Wellington. Today an hour’s flight bears them over the rugged interior that was then an insuperable barrier. Now the alternative of a tar-sealed highway is also available. But for most of the past century iron tracks provided the principal means of conveying people and goods between our chief cities. At a time when the facility is being curtailed we recall that this is more than a tale of two cities. Because of the presence of the North Island Main Trunk railway, construction camps matured into rail and rural service centres, and backblocks communities have developed established towns. At the same time immigrants from the other side of the world found new homes, sometimes in newly accessible corners of this rugged land. Such relocation of people provided a challenge to followers of the Rev. John Wesley who told them to “Go not only to those who need you, but to those who need you most.” Already in 1839 a Methodist missionary, the Rev. James Buller, had rowed and walked from his Northern Wairoa station at Tangiteroria to Port Nicholson (Wellington) at the time of the arrival of the first New Zealand Company settlers. Along the West Coast from Whaingaroa (Raglan), missionaries and natives brought the Christian message to Maori kainga, sometimes up such rivers as Mokau, Waitotara and Whanganui. With the coming of European colonists some missionaries, especially in coastal Taranaki, extended their ministry to Methodist settlers. During the tragic conflict of the sixties, in which Rev. John Whitely was killed, many of these sought refuge in Nelson. By the time these refugees were able to return, the seat of government had been transferred to Wellington. Though steam railways were both linking and creating settlements, the mountainous interior of the North Island remained largely unknown to any but its scattered Maori inhabitants. The extent of that ‘no-man’s-land’ can be recognised by the fact that Methodist circuits at the 1880 rail heads — Waikato (Te Awamutu) in the north and Rangitikei (Marton) in the south — were administered by the Auckland and Wanganui Synods respectively. Emerging from the devastation of its land wars, the young colony faced a challenge which was to transform this latent region into a highway towards national prosperity. The time was ripe for a bold move to use modern technology to open up this untapped North Island hinterland. With his belief “that railways, generally speaking, in each island, should be designed and Wesley Historical Society – Publication #85 Page 6 WHS Journal 2007 constructed as part of a main line”, Premier Julius Vogel’s 1870 Railway Act opened a new chapter of New Zealand history. METHODIST HOME MISSIONS Wesley Historical Society – Publication #85 Page 7 WHS Journal 2007 Our purpose is to explore the way in which the Wesleyan Methodist Church ministered to those constructing the North Island Main Trunk railway. During the great railway building era in Great Britain, in the first half of the nineteenth century, construction workers were commonly known as ‘navigators’ — abbreviated to ‘navvies’. The particular resource, which New Zealand Wesleyans used for the kind of pioneering outreach that included railway navvies, was an often inadequately recognised band of Home Missionaries. At the time that Julius Vogel arrived in this country New Zealand Wesleyans formed a District of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australasia, but in 1874 they gained a measure of autonomy as one of the seven conferences of that church with representation at the triennial conferences.