Baptist Church

The Baptist Church in Gisborne was officially established on 4 March, 1908, by the Rev. W. Lamb (formerly of London). Five deacons—Captain W. Cumming and H. East, N. Lambert, G. Minnis and O. Crafts—were appointed. There had previously been an unaffiliated Baptist communion in the town under the Rev. D. Parry. Its adherents built the Baptist Tabernacle, which was opened in June, 1906. When difficulty arose over the debt on the building the movement subsided. In November, 1907, the Auckland Auxiliary took steps to redeem the building.

Pastors: W. Lamb (1908–11), T. Keith Ewen (1911–13), P. J. Wainwright (1914–15), H. G. Goring (1915–16), J. Carlisle (1916–20), A. W. Stuart (1920–22), F. A. Crawshaw (1923–26), G. N. Garlick and L. C. M. Donaldson (supply, 1927), O. Allwright (1928–31), L. C. M. Donaldson (1931–34), E. W. Batts (1934–40), F. A. Parry (1940–43), E. M. Enwright (1943–47), A. Silcock (1947—).

Ex-scholars of the Sunday School include three ordained ministers: Rev. E. P. Gill, B.A., B.D., Rev. A. L. Day and Rev. Rex Goldsmith, M.A.

Miss Jean Thomson, B.A., of Te Hapara, became a Baptist missionary in East Bengal in 1941, and was recommissioned for a second term of five years in 1946.