Centenary Service

100 Years Of Worship At Matawhero

One hundred years of worship at the historic Matawhero Presbyterian Church was celebrated with a special service on Saturday, May 13. The service was conducted by the Moderator of the Presbytery of Gisborne, the Reverend Murray Hall. The preacher was the Rt. Reverend Luke Jenkins, B.D. Assisting were the Minister of the Matawhero Parish, the Reverend Markley, and the Reverend Hay, B.A., of the Presbytery of Hawkes Bay.

The church is the oldest in Poverty Bay and has strong ties with this area's history. It was reputedly erected as a storehouse by Captain Read, later being acquired by Archdeacon Williams, who had it converted into a church. In the late 1860s it became the centre of a small military settlement, a garrison established by Major Newton Briggs in the troubled days of the Hauhau Wars. It was also the only building in the area to escape the violations of Te Kooti on November 10,1868. On May 6,1872, it passed into the hands of the Presbyterian Church to mark the beginning of the Presbyterian cause in Poverty Bay.

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In front of the historic church after the service are, from left, the Reverends Markley, Hay, Hall and Jenkins.

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The Rev. Markley with the chairman of the centenary committee, Mr A. H. McDiarmid.

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Mr and Mrs A. Hall. Mrs Hall's grandfather, the Rev. Robert Gardner, was minister at Matawhero from 1901-1908.