This photo is of the Morrinsville Presbyterian Church built in 1910. Taken in 1916, it has many of the elements of the church in Ohakune. I’m still trying to track down early photographs of the church, so please contact me if you have any old photos I could copy.
One of my objectives for creating this blog is to preserve the history of the church. I also want to create a space for former parishioners to share their memories.
Background and church history
- 1895 – Ohakune settled by Europeans
- 1907 – Rev. Mr MacKenzie appointed to the Waimarino Parish Home Mission Station based in Ohakune – moved to Wellington January 1909
- 1912 – Presbyterian Church at Raetihi built
- 1916 – Decisions made to build the church at Ohakune made at meetings on 12 December.
The Clerk read a letter from Rev J C Mill on proposals laid on the table plans and specifications of a new Church building at Ohakune. The tendered price was £400. £100 was already collected of which amount £50 goes to pay off the site. The saw-millers had agreed to give substantial contributions in timber. Rev J D McKenzie moved that the plans and specifications be submitted to a committee consisting of Revs Doull, Fletcher and Mill to consider and report to the afternoon sederunt. Rev H J Fletcher reported on the plans for the new building at Ohakune and moved that the plans and specifications be approved. (Presbyterian Church Archives Minute Records.)
- 1917 – A contract for the building of the new Ohakune Church was let in August (Ohakune – Opening to a new world. A district history by Merrilyn George – p329)
- 1918 – 19-20 March Raetihi fire, Rev J Chalmers Mills selected by ballot in September to serve in the 2nd Division, resigned in October owing to the continued illness of his wife.
The recently completed Presbyterian Church in Miro Street took on a lean which shed all the tiles on both sides of the roof. Ohakune – Opening to a new world. A district history by Merrilyn George. (1990)
9 April 1918. The Rev J. C. Mills referred to the recent devastating fires in his parish of Raetihi and Ohakune. Although a large number of people are still homeless, relief had flowed in from all parts of New Zealand, the Salvation Army officers and the Y.M.C.A. doing splendid work to alleviate the distress. In Raetihi, the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches escaped, but numbers of families are still living in tents, receiving aid. In Ohakune the cyclone pushed over the church building, and removed part of the roof. This church was to have been opened by the Hon. J. G. W. Aitken last Sunday (Easter Sunday 31 March or 7 April?) and will cost £100 to replace. It was decided to authorise an appeal to the churches to replace the church building at Ohakune. Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 17259, 11 April 1918.
Rev J C Mill brought before the Presbytery a report of the results of the recent bush fires in his district of Raetihi-Ohakune. A new church at Ohakune was being completed and was about to be opened. It had been severely twisted by the cyclone and would require about £100 to put it right again. The building was not out of the hands of the contractor and the managers wanted to help the contractors. The district has suffered a great loss through fire, and he, therefore asked leave of Presbytery to make an appeal through the ‘Outlook’ to the whole church for financial help. Rev A Doull moved that the Presbytery expresses its sympathy with the Congregations of our church and with the people generally of the district of Raetihi-Ohakune in their loss and sufferings by the recent fires, and heartily agrees to the request of Rev J C Mill to appeal to the Church through the ‘Outlook’ for financial help. (Presbyterian Church Archives Minute Records 9 April 1918.)
The Presbytery notes the difficulty under which Ohukune labours by reason of the sinister influence of the Sunday evening picture shows; and the greater difficulty there in the temporary wreck of their hope to have a church of their own in which to worship God in whom they livest and whose Son has become their Redeemer. Bids them be of good cheer for the foundations are unmoved and the twist in the roof may be more easily straighten than at present seems possible. The Presbytery expresses profound sympathy with the general committee in the financial difficulty that has arisen; heartily commends the office-bearers on the generosity shown by their offer to meet the present deficit, express a hope that will not be recurring; and that the work of God may be carried on with increasing prayerfulness and diligence. (Presbyterian Church Archives Minute Records 8 October 1918.)
- 1919 – July Rev and Mrs William Morton came from Hunterville to fill the position (Ohakune – Opening to a new world. A district history by Merrilyn George – p330) 12 August Ivy Horne married Ivan Croad by Rev. Mr W Morton (first wedding in the new church), Rev Morton officiated at a wedding held at the church on 16 December – Ella Margaret Parkes to Maurice McGregor Gorrie
- 1922 – Rev William Henry Nicholas
- 1927 – Rev Thomas Gibson Shilton
- 1929 – Rev Thomas William Hartley Nightingale
- 1932 – Rev Edward Charles Farr
- 1935 – Rev Arthur Clement Lane
- 1938 – Rev George Little Nummy
- 1941 – Rev William Hetherington
- 1946 – Rev Robert Patton Steele
- 1948 – Rev James Campbell Howat
- 1952 – Raetihi and Ohakune parishes merged to form Waimarino Parish
- 1953 – Waimarino Parish became an aid-receiving Charge – Rev Dr Collin Bedford Sherriff appointed minister 5 Mar
- 1955 – Waimarino Parish self-sustaining – 150 members, four Sunday Schools and four Bible Classes
- 1959 – Visitation Committee report – Dr Sherriff minister. Rev David Charles Spencer appointed 5 Oct
- 1960 – Rev David Lambert McIntyre appointed 3 Feb (until Mar 1965?)
- 1962-3 – Ohakune Church painted
- 1967 – Rev Peter Walmer appointed 2 Feb (resigned 8 Sep 1970)
- 1969 – Visitation Committee recommends the parish investigate the replacement of the Manse at 50 Miro Street. Concrete provided for Ohakune Church – footpaths?
- 1970 – Rev. Peter Walker departed his ministry in August
- 1971 – Rev. R T Dodds Stated Supply minister Jan-Mar, Rev. W A Swales appointed minister 25 Nov 1971 to 31 Dec 1974
- 1974 – Visitation Committee recommended repairs to the church including re-piling and painting. Noted that the other religions operating in the area were Roman Catholic, Church of England, Brethren, Baptist, Salvation Army, Ratana, and Jehovah’s Witness
- 1975 – 66 members. Rev Ivan Gilbert Graham Ross Stated Supply appointed 1 Apr – resigned 31 Jan 1976 to return to Brazil
- 1976 – Rev. Charles Thomas Parsons appointed minister 2 Jun (also skilled in ‘carpentering’), new vestibule erected to the memory of the late Ian Horne, sanctuary furniture obtained from St David’s in Marton (Apr),
- 1977 – new vestibule dedicated on 11 December, electrical work completed and nave platform installed
- 1978 – Ohakune church re-piled at a cost of $603.00 ($4,100.74 in today’s money!)
- 1979 – 46 members, Rev. C T Parson retired 7 Jul – last full-time minister
- 1980 – Rev. D C Spencer – Stated Supply, Visitation Committee noted that part of the church site was sectioned off and leased for grazing
- 1981 – Rev Mautofu Fuima’ono Stated Supply appointed 1 May (until Feb 1983?)
- 1983 – Rev Dr Kerry Matthew Enright Stated Supply appointed 4 Mar – resigned 6 Sep
- 1985 – Rev Don W Baxter Stated Supply appointed 31 Jan – resigned 20 Jun 1986
- 1987 – Amalgamation of Taihape and Waimarino parishes
- 1994 – Terry Cowland Stated Supply intern, Ohakune church vestry re-lined in Oct assisted by Taihape-Waimarino minister Rev. Talosaga Matautia Titi (Terry) Su’a – appointed 3 May
- 1995 – Gary Davis Stated Supply intern, Ohakune Church painted
- 2000 – Raetihi Church sold for removal
- 2002 – Rev John Cromarty appointed minister Taihape-Waimarino Parish 25 Jul
- 2005 – Presbytery agree to closing the church and selling all the properties
- 2006 – back section (54b) sold to Justice and Mrs Bollard
- 2007 – Rev Brian A Thom Stated Suppy appointed Taihape-Waimarion Dec
- 2018 – church (54) and hall (54a) sold to Ian Scott in May, and re-sold in August to separate purchasers
Thanksgiving and De-commissioning Service held Sunday 29 April 2018
Address given by Session Clerk Colin Beard – A Review of the Ministry at Ohakune
It has fallen upon me as session clerk of the Taihape-Waimarino Parish to put together some of the past history of this Church. I have looked through some of the old records of the Parish and have learnt a lot about some of the commitment and witness of some of the faithful people that have been involved in this Parish in the past. Some of you may be better informed than me so if you feel the information I have is not correct then I am wide open to correction.
The first Presbyterian involvement in this area was the establishment of a home mission station here in Ohakune in 1907. Ohakune was a pretty rough town in those days. The main occupation was bush-felling and working on the completion of the North Island main trunk railway which was completed by the driving of The Last Spike just north of the town in 1905. Amongst all of these workers there must have been a good number of faithful, witnessing, God-fearing people to recognise the need to build a church and have a place of worship in this area.
The first church to be built in the Waimarino was the Presbyterian Church in Raetihi in 1912, and the Raetihi Parish was established. This was, I understand, the only church in the area at this time. The World War then intervened, but directly after the war in 1918 this present-day church was built here on this site in Ohakune and the Ohakune Parish was established.
That makes this church 100 years old this year, and today is a sad day to see the closing of the church in it’s centennial year. But we can also celebrate and rejoice in the faith and witness of those who have had the foresight to build this church and all those who have worshiped here over the last 100 years. We have had 100 years of Presbyterian presence. Several Ministers served here in the early years and the last full-time Minister here was The Rev. Charlie Parsons from 1976-79.
Both the Raetihi and Ohakune parishes struggled to support a minister, and in 1952 the two individual parishes merged to become the Waimarino Parish. The church and the manse in Raetihi eventually became surplus to the requirements of the parish and have both subsequently been sold off.
In 1986-7 Graham Robertson (an elder in Taihape) was appointed as Moderator of the Wanganui Presbytery. He took it upon his shoulders to push for an amalgamated parish of Taihape and Waimarino. I can remember what seemed like endless Boards of Nomination, Presbytery, and Session meetings being held to work out a compatible agreement between the two parishes, and eventually on Sunday 13th December 1987 an amalgamation service was held and it all became official – we had become the Taihape-Waimarino Parish.
Ces and Lola Goodwin were a vital link in this amalgamation process. They had agreed to come to Ohakune as Parish Assistants / Came Ministers and minister to the parish on a permanent basis which they did for the next six years. There was a problem though – at that time the Church did not acknowledge the administration of the sacraments by anyone who was not an ordained minister. We had to get around this problem.
Graham Robertson was a very determined man and he and Rev. Don Ransome took a resolution to the General Assembly of the Church in Christchurch, and got approval for Ces to administer the sacraments of Communion and Baptism for one year. This was history-making stuff at the time. The one year was subsequently extended out and I think the Waimarino issue has had a prolonged effect on the theological thinking of the Presbyterian Church.
Ces and Lola were a great team and they did a wonderful job in building up the parish here for the next six years until they left on Christmas Day in 1993. Two Stated Supply interns followed – Terry Cowland for one year and Garry Davis.
Since the amalgamation with Taihape in 1987 the parish has very much been in Taihape’s hands. While we had a resident minister in Taihape it was not too difficult to shuffle services around so as some services could be held up here. The Rev.’s Don Ransome, Terry Sua, John Cromarty and Brian Thom as well as respected elders from Taihape, myself include, all came up at time and conducted services here but nothing seemed to happen on a regular pattern and attendances at these services slipped away.
At a combined Session meeting held in Bernice Cockrane’s home on July 18th 2005 and attended by John Cromarty, Ray Goodfellow, and myself from Taihape, a decision was made that if there was no objection from the Ohakune folk we would apply to Presbytery to close the church and sell all the property. Presbytery approved this action being taken but Taihape Parish tried to explore all possibilities of turning the buildings into a church campsite or using it for some Christian purpose but nothing eventuated.
In 2006 neighbours at the back the Bollards made us an offer for the back section of vacant land and we sold it to them. At the time of this sale we surveyed the whole property into three separate sections in preparation for the eventual sale of the property which has now happened. I now want to finish by reading to you part of a report on the Waimarino Parish which Rev. Eric Chapman, who was the Presbytery Clerk, gave to the Presbytery at the end of 1989.
To close a church and de-commission a parish is not an easy decision to make and Taihape Parish has not made it lightly.
In fact it has taken us 13 years since Presbytery gave us the okay to go ahead. Maintaining the buildings and property has been a financial drain on our Parish. The inevitable has finally happened. Over the years there has been an amazing band of dedicated, fine Christian folk who have carried on regardless in keeping God’s word before the folk in Ohakune. I know it is dangerous to mention names because there is always someone that gets missed out but I would like to pay a tribute to the ones that I have been associated with.
Firstly, the late Ian Horne and Margaret Horne. Ian served here as Session Clerk for 16 years till he was tragically taken from us. Bernice Cockrane, what a character, upright, forthright, and always for The Lord. Catherine Ellis, quietly working away behind the scenes. Phillip Sutton who has maintained our buildings and mowed the lawns and always kept the place looking tidy. And finally Ces and Lola Goodwin. What can I say about this couple. Ces always has a joke, Lola keeps him in line and straightens him up. They both have a very deep love in their hearts for The Lord and the people around them.
I want to close with a verse from First Thessalonians chapter one, verses 2-3:
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.
Amen.
Taihape-Waimarino Presbyterian Parish
St David’s, Huia Street, Taihape
Pastor – Lew King
Session Clerk – Colin Baird
Presbyterian Church Property Trustees
P O Box 9049, Wellington 6141
Executive Officer – Kos van Wer
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