Our Story – Wesley Church Fitzgerald Ave. Christchurch by W.A.Chambers 1966 Our Story – Wesley Church Fitzgerald Ave. Christchurch by W.A.Chambers 1966 Our Story Wesley Methodist Church Fitzgerald Avenue, Christchurch 1866 - 1966 Contents Foreword A Conducted Tour of Holy Ground Travail 1866-1889 Young, Strong, and Free, 1890-1912 Head of the Family, 1913-1963 Keyhole Glimpses Devoted Families Visiting the Poor at Christmas, 1906 Bible Class, 1912 Rider of the Black Horse, 1918 The Source of all Evil, 1915 Scouting Turning Tide Some Church Officers Ministers Deaconesses Organists and Choirmasters Sunday School Superintendents and Secretaries Ladies' Guild Presidents and Secretaries. Our Story – Wesley Church Fitzgerald Ave. Christchurch by W.A.Chambers 1966 FOREWORD The purpose of this little book is to help old members of Wesley Church to recall the cherished days of the past and to introduce new members and friends to the goodly heritage which they have received from those who have gone before them. The book does not set out to be an official history, duly audited and found correct; rather its aim is more modest. To give a read-able outline of 100 years of congregational life, and to highlight some of the 'good times', is all it seeks to achieve. Many people, ministers included, who have laboured faithfully at Wesley may not be mentioned. This is no mark of disrespect. There are some big gaps in the records, which up to the time of publication have not been filled. It may be that lack of records has led to such an omission. On the other hand, it is my desire to present the achievements of the congregation rather than of particular individuals—for the congregation is the people of God. I am indebted to friends who have located old Minute Books and put them into my hands. I am also grateful to the Connexional Office for access to the early Church papers, and to the unknown reporters who, prior to 1913, kept the Connexional paper supplied with lively accounts of a vigorous church growing to its full strength. Special thanks are due to the Rev E. P. Blamires whose helpful correspondence has largely contributed to the sections entitled "Rider of the Black Horse" and "The Source of all Evil." To Miss Gilling who has typed most of the manuscript and to Mr R. J. Fowler who has corrected it for publication, thanks are also due for painstaking services. In the course of its history Wesley Church has gone by several names, viz. Avonside Wesleyan, Worcester Street, East Belt, Fitzgerald Avenue Methodist and Wesley. Do not be dismayed. All refer to the same congregation, and if this is kept in mind when reading the booklet, confusion, if not irritation, will be avoided. Our Story – Wesley Church Fitzgerald Ave. Christchurch by W.A.Chambers 1966 A Conducted Tour on Holy Ground If succeeding generations have eyes that understand, buildings and monuments are a treasured heritage from the past. It is fitting then, that upon such an occasion as the centennial of a Church we should go on a conducted tour of the property and let it speak to us of the story that is written into its walls. The site of the Church and the cottages behind them were bought in 1879, for £700. Three years previously the adjoining section on Fitzgerald Avenue (where the brick Sunday School hall and the Kensington Courts stand) had been purchased for £600, but because a Church must have visibility the corner section was deemed most desirable for the Church. To-day with noisy traffic going along both Fitzgerald Avenue and Worcester Street the choice may have been made otherwise, yet the Church itself is clearly visible, and the size of the building speaks of the vision and enterprise of the people who undertook its erection. The shell of the building with pulpit and pews and possibly the choir stalls was opened on January 22, 1882 at a cost of £2800, of which £1000 had been raised by subscriptions, and £980 by a bazaar. There was a debt of £820 at the time of the opening. This was owed to the Church Building and Loan Fund, so that behind this ambitious venture the Connexion as a whole stood giving blessing and financial support. Before we go inside, let us look at the stonework on the outside of the Church. Right beside the entrance is the foundation stone laid in 1881. Usually a foundation stone tells us much more, but this one gives the bare date. Actually the foundation stone was laid on the 19th July. 1881, by J. Gapes. Esq., Mayor of Christchurch, and the builder was James Goss. In a cavity behind the stone is a sealed bottle containing a parchment on which is inscribed the names of the Mayor, the ladies who laid the three memorial stones, the names of the Circuit ministers, the trustees, architect, builder, copies of the Wesleyan, the Press, and the Lyttelton Times, a plan of the Circuit, and specimens of the current coins of the realm. Quite a bottle! The "memorial stones" are to be found at the base of the first three buttresses on the Worcester Street frontage. Like the foundation stone, the memorial stones are cryptic to the point of being mysterious. For a long time the incised letters "MS" have been an enigma to all. These three stones were laid by Mesdames Ritchie on behalf of the congregation (Mrs Ritchie was on one of the first Four Ships); Mouldy, on behalf of the Trust; Miss Martin on behalf of the Sunday School. The Rev. Wm. Baumber presented each of these ladies with an elegantly bound copy of the Bible and Wesleyan Hymnbook as a memorial of the occasion. At least 500 people were present, among those taking part were the Revs. W. Baumber (minister of East Belt), J. Gillam (Assistant at Durham Street), J. Aldred (first Methodist minister appointed to Canterbury), J. Taylor (Chairman of the District). James Buller (Supernumerary), J. Crewes (Bible Christian Church). and Charles Dalleston (Oxford Terrace Baptist Church). Miss Danks presided at the harmonium. Our Story – Wesley Church Fitzgerald Ave. Christchurch by W.A.Chambers 1966 If you look up the walls of the building there are pieces of ornamental stonework which are in marked contrast to the plainness of the stones laid on the 19th July. To the eye of faith there is really a sermon in stone here. See the rose? It symbolizes the birth of Christ. See the rose just on the right above the doorway? It symbolizes the birth of Christ. And the daisy just to the left of it? It means innocence. And the grapes at the sides of the Avenue windows? They stand for the wine of the new covenant. See the pomegranate at the lower ends of the arch above the doorway? They stand for fertility, the hope of resurrection to eternal life, and because it has many seeds in one fruit, it is said to resemble the Church. You see the oak leaf and acorns? It represents faith and endurance. In all there is the story of our salvation by Jesus Christ who called into being the Church which lives by faith in Him and is required to endure to the end. Perhaps that is rather fanciful for I am assured by a good architect friend that there is no intentional symbolism in the stone-work! On each side of the door are two pillars, like the two that stood at the entrance of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The right hand one was called 'Jachin' (which means 'He shall establish') and the left hand one was named 'Boaz' (which means 'In it is strength'). So these twin pillars stand at the door of Wesley Church. They remind us that we too, are entering a holy place; that in God is our strength; that He will establish His Kingdom. At the top of each pillar is some ornamental stonework representing, my architect friend says, the acanthus plant which in classical architecture symbolizes the heavenly gardens. And who in worship has not like our first parent, walked with God in the garden in the cool of the evening? Before we go inside we may as well glance at the foundation stone of the Sunday School. It is much more concerned with people. The names of all the notables at the laying of this foundation stone are well inscribed upon it. Behind the stone also lies a bottle containing the following records: The names of the ministers in the Circuit, the names of the Trustees and the Sunday School Teachers of the Church, a copy of the year's Annual Conference Minutes and copies of that morning's Press and Times, together with an account of the ceremony. The architects were Messrs England Brothers, and the builder Mr Henry Green. Over the previous five years the Sunday School roll had increased by 100 to a total of 415 children, with an average attendance of 323! Imagine it!—no wonder the gallery was used for the Infants and the vestry between the two entrance porches of the Church for the Beginners, and the Bible Class met in the Stewards vestry! But let us go inside the Church. The general layout of the Church is that of a 'preaching place' with a central pulpit overshadowing the Communion table and clearly visible from even the remotest part of the gallery. At the time Wesley was built, Methodism had not quite come to see Preaching and Sacrament in balance, so we get the impression of an auditorium.