Ōrawia District History - New Presbyterian Church and 75th Jubilee

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Ōrawia District History - New Presbyterian Church and 75th Jubilee: IMAGES: Photo 1 - Sign with brown background and white writing, reads "1904-1979 Jubilee Celebrations 75th Feb 1, 2, 3, 1980. Mrs H Fowle, Sec. Merrivale-Waiau Presbyterian Church." Photo taken outside of the Ōrawia Church. Photo 2 - Sign with white background and brown writing, which reads: "Presbyterian Church New Zealand, Merrivale-Waiau Parish, Orawia Church. Minister, Rev T Hawea. Order of Services: Orawia 9.30am, **UNREADABLE Clifden **UNREADABLE Final line/entry **UNREADABLE due to photo clarity. Photo is of a medium size group of people in mostly dresses and suits, and including some children, gather in a crowd, outside the Ōrawia Church. NOTE: these two photos were donated by the Mouat Family of Braeview, Eastern Bush. Lincoln Moffat also donated reports of historical information. We are unsure who the photographer was, so copyright is officially unknown. The family who donated them however, has said these can all go under CC BY. Photo 3 - News Article entitled, "Celebrations at Orawia" was donated to the archives by our first Patron, Margaret Thomas, and can be seen in our records, it is also typed out below for anyone online to read about this history/event. (Please NOTE: this newspaper article will still be under Copyright, but as we do not know who published it, we cannot contact them or put their name up. This article published here is made as a Preservation Copy under exceptions in the NZ Copyright Act, please do not copy or share further, this is not allowed. If anyone can identify the newspaper this came from, please do let us know.) THE 75th JUBILEE EVENT A news article on the above event was gifted to the CWA Community Archive by our recently departed Patron, Margaret Thomas and a copy is attached. It says the following about the 75th Jubilee gathering (quoted): "Celebrations at Orawia. The population of the Orawia area in Western Southland swelled at the weekend as former Merrivale-Waiau Presbyterian Church parishoners returned to celebrate the parish's 75th jubilee. About 600 people are thought to have attended the jubilee, centered on Orawia and Clifden at various stages of the weekend. the celebrations started with a ball, attended by about 250 people at Clifden on Friday night. A lunch-time hangi at the Orawia Manse property started Saturday's programme, and this was followed by a sports picnic in the afternoon. In the evening there was a community concert at the Clifden Hall. Church services at 9.30am and 2pm yesterday completed the weekend's official activities. Biggest Ever. the chairman of the jubilee organizing committee, Mr Alex Froude of Pukemaori, said he believed the celebrations would have been the biggest ever event in the district. Orawia, Eastern Bush, Clifden and Blackmount have separate churches within the Waiau-Merrivate Parish. The minister is the Rev Tom Hawea, who has been there nearly a year. Merrivale-Waiau started out with a home mission station in 1904, and retained a home missionary until 1952 when the parish was made a fully-sanctioned charge. The first ordained parish minister, the Rev EJE Allison, died just recently, however the second minister, the Rev Dallas Clark, who was there from 1958 to 1965, came from Auckland to attend the celebrations. Apart from Mr Hawea, the only other permanent parish ministers have been the Rev JG Jones (1967 to 1969) and the Rev Bruce Murray (1971 to 1977). A jubilee publication, entitled, "The Ploughing and the Sowing", was released in conjunction with the weekend's celebrations. It was compiled by a local person, Alison Mouat." (END). - Archivists Note: This book mentioned here has been of huge help to our being able to portray the history of this Parish. We have several copies of it at the CWA Community Archives, it is a rich resource of local family history and community events, come and check it out. EARLY ŌRAWIA CHURCH HISTORY: Interestingly, Ōrawia's history with the Presbyterian Church pre-dates it even having its own church. In February 1908, the papers of the day carried the news that the Presbyterian Mission in charge of the Waiau district, was to be getting a cottage Manse built at Ōrawia, in the very near future. In an address by Rev Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald, the first minister of the district for the 25th Jubilee in 1917, he tells how difficult this was, as all the land in the Ōrawia district (previously Merrivale Estate) was Leasehold and in Government hands. The rules of the Church said that a Grant could not be made unless the land was Freehold. Due to an Act of Parliament about that time, they were thankfully able to secure 6 acres of the original Dairy Factory Reserve (at the other end of the township to where the Dairy Factory ended up) as Leasehold and to make it Freehold. This is how the Manse Glebe ended up there, but it was by no means easy and took around 3 years of hard work by those involved. However, the difficulty of obtaining the land for a Grant to build a Manse ended up being nowhere near the end of the Parish's problems. Apparently the builder originally contracted to construct the Manse, did not finish the job and neither did the second building arranged to take their place! It was not until the third builder arrived that the Manse was actually completed. It was some time after this, that the new Church at Ōrawia was erected. Alison Mouat's history of the Merrivale-Waiau Presbyterian Church, called "The Ploughing and the Sowing", contains a great history on this and other district churches. With the splitting up of the original Parish and the new Tūātapere Parish being formed on 1 July 1911, this covered Clifden, Papatotara, Lillburn and the town of Tūātapere. At the new Parish's very first meeting, it was reported in a lovely piece from the Western Wanderer years ago, donated by Ruth & Allan Dudfield of Orepuki, that during Rev RD McEwan's time, the committee was oft caught up with issues from providing the Home Missionary with a suitable horse, as that was the only form of transport at that time. It is recorded that a deal was made between the two parishes, and a bargain struck between Orawia and Clifden, who were part of the Merrivale Parish originally. Now that Clifden was to join the newly formed Tūātapere Parish, they all agreed that Orawia would receive 3 pounds and retain a harness and Clifden would get the horse. Of course the horse needed to be outfitted as well. This was paid for by profits from work for sale organised by the Clifden Church Ladies group. To carry on the saga of the horse, by the second Parish meeting, the horse taken over from the Merrivale-Orawia Parish had gone lame, so another horse was then obtained for 17 pounds, but had proved unsuitable, so yet another was being looked for. It seems from the history recorded that the 'unsuitable' horse, being an ex racer, was a bit fast for the Missionary to handle. All quite a laugh these days for sure, but back then it was a very serious matter to get the Missionary a horse they could use to keep the flock provided with religion. It was later on in 1942, when Rev MJ McFadgen had been in charge at the Tūātapere Parish for 4 years, that the Presbytery then arranged for Clifden to rejoin with Orawia and put Tūātapere with Orepuki. Yet while Orepuki and Tūātapere shared the same minister they had separate meetings until 1958 when they truly became one parish, as the two parts agreed to become one. Reading through records and reports, it is clear that the Parishes had their boundaries changed from time to time and this muddies history somewhat. Ōrawia Church is recorded as having it's opening on 28 January 1912. The designer of the building was Invercargill Architect Mr WA McCaw and James Wilson of Ōrawia was to build the Church. The first wedding held in the newly constructed chapel was that of Leslie Broomhall to Ethel King, which took place on 18 June 1913. But this church as a place of local worship, was only used for not much more than 50 years. Local Central Western newspaper the OSWCC (Ōtautau Standard & Wallace County Chronicle) had this to say on 30 Jan 1912, about the opening event: "An important development in the progress of the church life of the district has just taken place this week. On Sunday, the Presbyterian Church at Orawia was opened... the hustling Presbyterian Settlers of the Waiau some time ago had determined to remove from their district the reproach of having no consecrated church building within which to worship. Mr Johnston, their missionary, pondering over ways and means was inspired with reading the words of Scripture, "Rise up and build," and got straight to business. The district liberally responded to the appeal, as did also friends in Otautau, Invercargill, and further afield. The combined efforts of those who, led by their missionary, had been collecting for the building, culminated with the successful opening of the church on Sunday, by the Rev John Kilpatrick, of Green Island, convenor of the Home Mission work of the church in the South Island. Both services were largely attended, and there was also a considerable number forward at the communion service celebrated in the afternoon. The Orawia Hall last night was filled to the door when a social to celebrate the opening of the church was held. A lengthly programme had been prepared, and the chair was occupied by Rev A [Sandy] Macdonald, MA, Moderator of the Parish.... in his opening address he gave some interesting historical facts connected with the early church work in the district, as below: 'Originally all the county of Wallace west of the Aparima [River] belonged to the Riverton Parish [originally Aparima], and 40 years ago the pioneer minister, Rev James Clark, sen., penetrated into the Waiau district and conducted services; then immediately after him was the Rev Charles Stewart Ross, who still survives. [this territory now covers 5-6 different charges]. Limestone Plains Parish was subsequently severed from Riverton, and the Rev Robert Ewan [from there] became the Gospel overseer of the severed part, including Limestone Plains [often also called Isla Bank or even Calcium], Otautau, Nightcaps and the Waiau, away out to Blackmount... 21 years past Mr Ewan handed the reigns over to him [Rev Alex or Sandy Macdonald]... recalling he had 11 preaching stations, subsequently with the cutting off of the Wairio-Nightcaps portion and the forming of a separate charge, now under Mr McDowall - who would be succeeding him as Moderator of the Waiau - he [Rev A Macdonald] had prior inaugurated fortnightly services throughout the Waiau. Before the location of a Home Missionary of their own, services here were conducted weekly, his usual routine being three services each Sabbath in Waiau, and the evening service in his own church in Otautau. No regular place of meeting existed... At Orawia, the blacksmith's shop was the church, and the anvil formed a solid background to his remarks. Then a new order of things arose. Schools were erected, and they [church services] were promoted to these... with his own church requiring more attention and more frequent services, and the Waiau being created a Home Mission charge, of which he was the moderator - with the exception of a short period under the Rev R Tait of Nighcaps - they had gone on and prospered, and now the Waiau was divided into two Mission Charges. His toughest problem had been the erection of the Merrivale Manse [described in detail elsewhere], and even that had been accomplished. For much help in the building thereof he was indebted to Mr Falconer, who had worked heroically in collecting funds for the erection. On Mr Johnston, their present missionary, agitating for a church, he had gladly left the matter in his hands as he knew success would follow the efforts Mr Johnston would put forth. They met tonight to rejoice at the fulfilment of their hopes and he handed over to Mr McDowall, the supervision of a charge equipped and strong, and wished them all success and God's richest blessing... A strong choir, with Mrs King as organist and Mr Johnston as leader, rendered some fine anthems [named]... Mr Glen of Otautau played an organ solo, and solos and duets were acceptably given by Miss Clapp, Miss Lawrie, Miss Findlay, Miss Ina and Gladys Johnston, and Mr Nicholas. The financial position was explained by Mr Young, the treasurer. The contract price for the church was 300 pounds; carting to the value of 20 pounds had been done by the settlers; subscriptions to the extent of 160 pounds had been received and they were to receive a grant of 100 pounds from the Assembly. This left a deficit of 20 pounds, which they hoped to wipe off in the course of a year. The 100 pounds from the Assembly, however, would not be received for probably 5 years, so that in the meantime they had to borrow that money and pay interest on it. In addition there would be other expenses for fencing, etc., so that they could not rest on their oars... the memorable gathering broke up at midnight." (END of Article) FURTHER HISTORY Once local Church-goer, Lincoln Moffat kindly donated the CWA Community Archives copies of old photos, records, news articles & more on the church. One of the newspaper reports from 12 Aug 1926, has this to say (in brief): The Annual Congregational Meeting was held at the Ōrawia Presbyterian Church on Thursday evening of 5th August, with the Rev M Gow, Waianiwa presiding. Apologies were received from Rev J Fordyce of Riverton. So this makes it look like the Annual Congregational Meeting was one that was to be attended by officials of the Church, from across surrounding districts. It is of note that the balance sheet was presented by Mr D Young, with the finances in a "healthy state". Meanwhile, Mrs J King read the report of the PWMW. It was recorded that during the year a Girls Guild was set up, but we don't know who was in that. Another report was given by Pukemāori Bible Class, which was made by Mr GR Reid. They had a membership of 15. The evening progressed with talks by Rev Gow, Mr Waddell - Tūātapere & Rev G Budd, the Superintendent of the Home Missions. Music was provided by Mrs Lindsay, Miss M Findlay and Messrs (Mr) G Muir, G Findlay and Mesdames (Mrs) King and Battersby. Later news excerpts will be added. On 18 February 1952, a letter was received from the Presbytery of Southland, that the Ōrawia Home Mission Station was to have its status raised to that of a fully sanctioned charge, with "right of call", but we don't know what that means! There was a request to read the extract of the enclosed minute, at a meeting of the congregation. Rev HG Bartlett was to be appointed as the Interim Moderator of this vacancy due to rise of status. With the arrival of the Ōrawia Cement Works in 1957, this bought more souls to the church, and more children to the Sunday School services. It seemed that the Ōrawia Church was set to grow and expand and it soon became apparent more room was needed. So a new church was planned. By the time the Ōrawia Cement Works were to close in 1968, which led to the loss of the session elder along with most of the families in the township, the facilities and buildings which were transported out of the area, the already actioned plans for the long awaited newly built and much larger church building to be opened, carried on in spite of all these community losses. It was noted that after the cramped conditions of the old church, the new church with its spacious and light space, was a vast improvement. The opening ceremony was held on Saturday 15 July 1968 and Rev H McLean of Winton was to officiate at the proceedings. At the first service the next day, Sunday, there were a number of baptisms recorded, being: Shelley Anne and Peter Wiliam - twins of Mr & Mrs R Guise, Lillburn Valley Penelope Ellen, daughter of Mr & Mrs N Watson, Merrivale Estate Robyn Anne, daughter of Mr & Mrs D Sturgess, Feldwick Shirley Moira, daughter of Mr and Mrs D McLean, Eastern Bush After a string of Congregational Leaders, - including Home Missionaries, Ministers who were Reverends in charge, Bible College Students, Session Leaders and interim Leaders from other local districts and out of town appointments, there was a new minister appointed and in April 1979 they arrived and were inducted, which set the whole small settlement abuzz. Rev Tom Hawea had been accepted as the new Congregational Charge and he and his family were to move to Ōrawia. What was new for the village was the surrounding support that this Māori Minister had from his whānau and iwi. Two minivans full of the Rev Tom's relatives and friends had driven non-stop from Whakatane to be there at his official welcome in the south. There was not even room in the church for everyone! After the official service, the Māori welcome ceremony outside the church was a wonder to behold for most of the community residents. The Waiau Māori Cultural Group, Murihiku Marae and Te Rongopai (Gospel or Good News) with Mr Sonny Keepa, originally also from Whakatane, all gave traditional welcomes, with the Sunday School choir singing songs in both Māori and English. It was commented on in the district churches history, that there were not any "words to describe this occasion, one in which two cultures in the united in the cause of Christ." It appears that with the change in status awarded in 1952, by 1953, the Ōrawia Congregation finally had its own Minister appointed. These were: 12.3.1953 - 15.5.1955, the Rev EJE Allison 12.2.1958 - ?.11.1956, Rev DR Clark 2.3.1967 - 28.9.1969, Rev JG Jones 4.2.1971 - 28.11.1977, Rev Bruce Murray 8.4.1979 (Induction) - ? Unsure, Rev Tom Hawea Were their more Ministers after this, and when did the Church close? Hopefully this entry will be added to as more information comes to hand. If you or anyone you know has any more information or photos to share or accounts of the Ōrawia Parish, Merrivale Mission, the Manse or either of the two churches built there over the years, please do share this with us in the comments section. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page.