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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

[introduction]

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The colonisation of Canterbury is inseparably bound up with religious principles. The first document published by the Canterbury Association states that the object of the founders of the province was “to set an example of a colonial settlement, in which, from the first, all the elements, including the very highest, of a good and right state of society should find their proper place, and their active operation.” The founders explained that the idea set forth in this sentence was based on the principle that “adequate provision for man's moral and religious wants in the new country contained the primary element of successful colonisation.” They believed that concentration of resources was necessary to carry out this idea, and that unity of religion was the first essential to successful concentration. They desired to form a settlement composed entirely of members of the Anglican Church. Time gave rise to conditions which modified developments in this connection, but the original conception of the founders led to many distinctive effects in the character and history of the province. The Right Rev. Dr Harper, the first Bishop of Christchurch, was consecrated at Lambeth Chapel on the 10th of August, 1856, arrived in Christchurch on the 24th of December in the same year, and was enthroned on Christmas Day at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, which was the pro-cathedral until the splendid edifice in Cathedral Square was erected. The organisation of the Presbyterian Church in Canterbury began about 1853, and the first Roman Catholic missionary was at work in Christchurch also in the fifties. The present pro-cathedral in Manchester Street, which is now (1902) being replaced by a large and stately cathedral in stone, was the first Catholic Church in Canterbury, and was originally built in 1860, while Father Charegre was in charge of the mission. Trinity Church, Worcester Street, was the first Congregational Church in the province, and was established about 1863. The history of the Primitive Methodist Church in Canterbury may be said to have begun in 1860; and that of the Baptist Church about 1862. Methodism, however, came out with the first four ships; and in 1860 Free Methodist Church services were commenced in Rangiora. Since then various other churches have been established in the province. The Salvation Army, established in Christchurch in 1885, has grown with the population, and has, in its own way, carried on the war against evil and poverty, with earnestness and vigour.