Port Albert Methodist Church 1862-1967 Port Albert Methodist Church 1862-1967 PREFACE This booklet is prepared as a Memorial to those who carried on the work of the Methodist Church in the Port Albert Circuit. Ministers, Home Missionaries and their wives; Students and Local Preachers, Youth Workers and all who have helped construct and maintain the buildings. Many whose names are not mentioned in this short history have contributed to and shared the Faith. Our especial thanks to Rev. E. W. Hames for preparing and writing this brief account. H. Neal and L. W. Bennett for Church Trust. "THE BEST OF ALL IS GOD IS WITH US." To give and give and give again What God has given thee To spend thyself nor count the cost To serve right gloriously The God who gave all worlds that are And all that are to be. (Studdart Kennedy) Port Albert Methodist Church 1862-1967 Methodism in Port Albert It should not be necessary to tell again at length the 'story of the Albertland settlements. This has been done fully and ably in THE ALBERTLANDERS by Sir Henry Brett and Henry Hook, published 1927, and in the Albertland Centennial Booklet, 1962. The founders of the district planned to do on a smaller scale on behalf of English Nonconformists what had already been accomplished by the Scottish Free Church in Otago and by the Anglicans in Canterbury. It must not be forgotten that at this date the Nonconformists were still second-class citizens in England. Those who joined the Association were fired by the ambition to acquire broad acres in a country where they might hope to be free from the disabilities that still attached to them in the land of their birth. It was a very idealistic project which attracted a number of land- hungry Anglicans and non-churchmen of various kinds, though the leadership and the great majority of the members were sturdy Non-conformists. Several thousand people came to New Zealand under the scheme. It was a high-minded muddle, impossible from the start. The promoters planned for Port Albert a township with a community church, a newspaper and an enlightened and broad-minded democracy. All that survived was a handful of people obstinate enough to cling to their land and tough enough to survive, who slowly adapted to the environment and built a modest country settlement of a type familiar in the North. The scheme was doomed from the beginning. In the first place, while the great denominational settlements in the South had the backing and status of national ventures and of men accustomed to administration, the Albertland scheme was dreamed up by enthusiasts who quite literally did not know what they were doing. High-mindedness does not make up for ignorance and inexperience. Secondly, the Canterbury and Otago settlements attracted numbers of settlers with capital and with experience on the land, whereas the Albertlanders were largely recruited from the artisan class. (It is said of Paparoa in the very early days there was not one practical farmer in the settlement). Finally, the areas selected by their agent contained little good land suitable for immediate development, and it was difficult of access and too far from existing markets. It was during the depressing times that followed the failure of the original scheme that the Methodists became the most important religious force in Port Albert. Port Albert Methodist Church 1862-1967 EARLY CHURCH SERVICES Rev. William Gittos The first group of settlers to arrive in Port Albert were met by the Rev. William Gittos, who lived some two miles away on the Waingohe, an arm of the Oruawharo River. Since 1856 Gittos had been in charge of the Kaipara Circuit of the Wesleyan Maori Mission, which extended from Kaihu and Tangiteroria in the North to Helensville, and included all the Albertland territory, serving both Maori and pakeha. Services on the first Sunday were shared by the Rev. S. Edger and Mr Gittos. Edger had been chosen as minister of the projected unsectarian church. He was an able man. He ministered under great difficulties for three years or so, after which he moved to Auckland. His services were held in a small building erected in the township, and he visited neighbouring settlements as he was able. True to the unsectarian principle of the founders, the Anglican liturgy was read on two Sunday mornings of the month. But within a very short time it was evident that there would be no town at Port Albert. Some of the original subscribers did not leave Auckland. Others came, and tried, and retired defeated. Who is to blame them? A few remained, determined to hold and develop their land. They were the real founders. During the next twenty years or so, everything was on a very modest scale, including the efforts of the church to cope with a scattered flock who could do little to help themselves. The Church of Christ people were early in the field with denominational effort but soon concentrated on North Albertland and Te Arai. The Wesleyans survived partly because Mr Gittos was at hand, partly because there was a retired Wesleyan minister, the Rev. William Worker, at Wellsford, who helped them considerably, but basically because they had been trained to help themselves. It was the local preacher's who kept the flag flying. They were not seeking denominational advantage. One of the original objects of the scheme was to escape sectarian bigotry. But in a humble way they tried to provide Christian ordinance where otherwise there would be none. So they met in a cottage for worship and Sunday School. For the most part they provided the preachers from among themselves, under the guidance and discipline of the missionary, who might visit them once a quarter. Port Albert Methodist Church 1862-1967 Those were the days of poverty and sometimes of hunger. There could be a famine if the supply of flour was held up, as sometimes happened. On one occasion a bag of flour was carried from Mangawhai over the hills on a man's back. There was very little money. Fortunately the fish were plentiful in the harbour. At times wages could be earned at public works. Landowners sometimes worked at road building in lieu of paying rates. Nicholson's timber mill gave employment to a few. Before the days of lime and fertiliser, and the transport to bring them to the farms, the return to the man on the land was pitiful, especially on the scrub country. Gradually they made a little headway. At the centre of the little Methodist community were John Shepherd and his wife. Shepherd was a Free Methodist from Lincolnshire, who, with his wife exercised the kind of lay ministry which led men and women to 'speak about "the Shepherd heart." (The story is told about Mrs Shepherd that when she was near her end and wandering in mind, she was heard to say "but give the children something to eat. What are we giving them today? Have they had the right food to build Christian lives?" Mr and Mrs John Legge were a similar couple. Robert Nicholson was another preacher. A little later Alfred Neal, J. M. French and J. Grant were added to the list. From the cottage they moved their meetings to the hall, the Cyprus Lodge, the school. Three sections had been allotted to the Methodists in the original survey of the township, but these were never built on. The first trustees were John Shepherd, Robert Nicholson, John Legge and William Gittos. Because William Gittos was in constant touch with the settlement, the little society was a part of the Connexion from the beginning. He had the assistance of a Maori colleague, Hoani Waiti, for most of the period under review, and John Smith was attached to the Circuit in a moment of optimism in 1863, only to be withdrawn a year later. In 1877 James Redfern, one of the Paparoa Local Preachers, "a faithful, meek and loveable man," in Morley's words, was appointed Home Missionary to assist with the European work. Others similarly employed in the North at this time were J. H. Hudson in Mahurangi, and T. J. Jagger at Kaukapakapa. These men were not given stipends, as Home Missionaries were at a later date. They were devoted lay preachers, who lived off their land or their families, but were given a small retainer mainly to cover the cost of travelling, and some status as a representative of the Connexion. Redfern visited Port Albert occasionally, as did T. G. Brooke, who was the first regular Agent stationed at Paparoa, 1879. He was followed by A. C. Caughey in 1880 and Christopher Abernethy in 1881. Among old circuit plans preserved at Trinity College, Auckland, there is a handwritten one headed THE WESLEYAN CHURCH, KAIPARA. Preachers' Plan of Appointments 1879. Quarter ending Dec. 31st. Port Albert Methodist Church 1862-1967 (Unfortunately the ink is too faded for reproduction). The preaching places were as follows: Paparoa, 11 and 6.30 each Sunday; Matakohe, weekly at 3; Pahi, fortnightly; Paparoa East, fortnightly; Maungaturoto, left blank; Kaiwaka and Hakaru, monthly; Wharehine, fortnightly, alternating with W which may stand for Worker who ministered there from Wellsford for a time. Port Albert, which had a weekly service at 2.30. The preachers named were: 1.—Gittos; 2.—Brooke; 3.—H. Waiti; 4.—Redfern; 5.—Shepherd; 6.—Legge; 7— Hames; 8—Oldham; 9.—A. Karaka 10.— 13—Wilson; 14.—Nicholson; 15—Trounson; 16.—Sykes; 17—Hames; 18.—Mawer; 21.—Wilcoxen; 22.—Pheasants. Gittos is planned once a quarter at Port Albert, Redfern once a month.