The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of NZ by G. I. Laurenson The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of New Zealand 1872 – 1894 Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #13 (1) 1955 Page 1 The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of NZ by G. I. Laurenson INTRODUCTION In the Home Mission Report for the year 1875, printed early in 1876 appears this brief paragraph: "Scandinavian Mission." A Scandinavian Missionary, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, having followed to New Zealand a number of his countrymen, the Conference received him as a probationer, and he is successfully employed itinerating among the Danes and Norwegians and receives £50 a year from the Fund toward his support, his congregation providing the rest. In this way our records introduce a very interesting interlude in the pioneer stages of Methodism in this' country. Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #13 (1) 1955 Page 2 The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of NZ by G. I. Laurenson HOW METHODISM CAME INTO THE PICTURE It is a far cry to a day in about the year 1849 when a young Norwegian sailor, Ole Peter Petersen wandered into the Methodist Seamen s Mission ship in Brooklyn, New York, known as the "Bethelship" and heard for the first time in his life an evangelistic sermon by a Methodist preacher. This ship the "Henry Leeds" was fitted up as a Mission for Scandinavian sailors and immigrants and it was placed in the care of Ulaf Gustaf Hedstrom, a Swedish born Missionary. On the decks of this ship hundreds were converted including the "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind the most famous singer of her day. I am indebted to an article by Dr. Roy L. Smith of Chicago in the "Christian Advocate" of Dec. 2nd, 1948, for an interesting account of the winning of Peterson and its result. The following extracts give a link with New Zealand which is most unexpected. "As a boy in Norway, Peterson had been trained by the schools and the state church in the catechism and the "fundamental doctrines" of Christianity. As a sailor, he had mingled with men who had been hardened by the sea. But there was something in the fervency of the preacher and the sincerity of his message that awakened a great wistfulness in the youth's heart, with the result that, when the invitation was given to "come forward and accept Christ," he went and knelt at the crude altar. "No one could have guessed it that night in the old "Bethelship" but that service in which O. P. Peterson knelt, a penitent, and sought forgiveness for his sins, was the beginning of the Methodist Church in Norway. Upon his return to his native land on his next voyage, the young man told the story of his conversion to his friends and to some old neighbours, besides his family in Frederickstad. Then, almost before he knew it, he was preaching to them. As a consequence of his zeal, a revival broke out and several score came into an entirely new spiritual experience. "But the young man knew little about his new faith. He had had only a brief contact with the Methodists at "Bethelship" in Brooklyn, and within a few months he found himself at his wit's end. He could tell his converts little, and the only place he knew where he could learn more was back in America. So back he went. "Not long after his arrival he applied for membership and was admitted into the New York East Conference. Then after a brief period of training he returned again to Norway in 1853 and took up his work where he had left off. In 1856 the first Methodist Church was organised in Sarpsborg, not far from the place where he had held his first revival as a lay preacher. Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #13 (1) 1955 Page 3 The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of NZ by G. I. Laurenson "Out of this humble beginning Methodism in Norway has grown until it is now organised as a complete Annual Conference composed of 75 congregations, 61 charges, 66 preachers (six of whom are retired) and about 8,500 members. In spite of limited resources and the hard-ships incident to the war, our Norwegian Methodists have sent out 10 missionaries—one to India, four to Africa, three to Rhodesia, and two new recruits soon to leave for Africa." This recent historical note gives a background to the incidents to be recorded in this brief account of an early personal missionary venture of a Norwegian Methodist Minister. Before telling this however, we must touch another event. Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #13 (1) 1955 Page 4 The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of NZ by G. I. Laurenson THE SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRATION OF 1870-1890 TO NEW ZEALAND Two books give details of the entry into this country of some thousands of Scandinavian settlers under Sir Julius Vogel's Public Works Policy of 1870. One is: "The History of Hawkes Bay" by J. G. Wilson and others. The other is "The Scandinavians in Australia, New Zealand and the Western Pacific" by J. Lyng (Melbourne University). From these sources the following information has been gathered. The Hawkes Bay Settlement Act of 1872 provided that blocks of land from 40 to 200 acres would be allotted to selected immigrants at from 10/- to i2 per acre, on deferred payment. The superintendent of the Wellington Province in 1866 had already commissioned Bishop Monrad (ex-head of the Danish Government who had settled practically as a political refugee in this country after the war with Germany in 1864) to return to Denmark and select a number of Danish families as settlers. In 1871 a party of 120 under this scheme arrived at Wellington in the "Hooding" (or "Hovding") and settled in the Manawatu, and another settled at Mauriceville in the Wairarapa. In 1869 Dr. Featherston and Francis Dillon Bell had been commissioned by the N.Z. Government to visit Norway, Sweden and Denmark to negotiate for suitable immigrants. Later a Mr. Bror Eric Friberg, a Norwegian resident of several years in N.Z. was commissioned to proceed to Scandinavia and personally select immigrants. On May 20, 1872, the Hooding sailed from Christiania with 74 married couples, 280 children and the rest single men and girls, altogether 475. A fortnight later the Ballarat from London embarked 80 Danish immigrants. Both ships set sail for Napier. On the Hooding all the immigrants were Norwegians except for 11 Swedes. After a voyage of 118 days, Napier was reached by the Hooding on Sept. 15th, 1872. The Ballarat arrived the same day. Her passengers included a number of English, Scottish and Irish immigrants. These folk were all accommodated in Immigration Barracks. Four days later the men and boys left Napier on foot and reached Te Aute that night. Next night they reached Waipukurau, and the third night reached what was called Te Whiti clearing near Norsewood. A number found the conditions so intolerable that they went straight on to Dannevirke. Within a fortnight the women and girls and smaller children began their journey in drays. Their stay in Napier had been very irksome, as they had been a gazing stock for a number of thoughtless folk who had crowded round the barracks to gape at these folk speaking a strange tongue from a Far Foreign Land. To the immigrants the Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #13 (1) 1955 Page 5 The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of NZ by G. I. Laurenson attentions of these people -had been exceedingly distasteful. The women joined the men after their tedious dray ride, and many found nothing ready for them. Some had shelter only under branches spread across the fallen trunks of two trees. Most lived m rough slab huts'. The ground was ready for cultivation. With high hopes they had come, but bitter disillusionment followed when they found the actual conditions. The Government advanced seed and potatoes to the settlers, and with the consent of the Provincial Government, stores were purchased on credit. The Hooding returned in 1874 with a second batch of immigrants, Norwegians and Swedes, most of whom settled in Makaretu. Altogether 4,000 Scandinavians came to N.Z. between 1872 and 1882. A group of Danes settled near Ormondville, and the Makotuku Road was also settled by Danes and Germans. While trying to clear enough land for their own immediate use most of the men spent their time on contracts for making roads, sawmilling and cutting railway sleepers which were required in great quantities by the Public Works Department. It was hard, low paid work and only the rugged stolid natural characteristics of these people enabled them to battle through. They had long wet winters in the bush and occasionally periods of drought when the menace of bush fires endangered everything they had built up. The story of the immigration is dominated by an atmosphere of poverty, loneliness, disillusionment, but hard gradual upward toil. A stream of excellent citizens has flowed into our national life from the Scandinavian Settlements of that period and their names' today are found in every city and town of the Dominion. Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #13 (1) 1955 Page 6 The Scandinavian Mission of the Methodist Church of NZ by G. I. Laurenson THE COMING OF PASTOR EDWARD NIELSEN A reference again in the printed Home Mission Report for 1879 in quaint phraseology reflecting the theological attitudes of the day, paints a picture that is best given in full.