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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

[introduction]

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The services of religion have been carried on in Auckland since its first foundation in 1840. A large amount of missionary work had, however, been done in the country before that time. The first in the field was the Church Missionary Society, whose pioneer was the Rev. Samuel Marsden, called the Apostle of the South Seas. He was Colonial Chaplain at Sydney, New South Wales, and arrived at the Bay of Islands on the 22nd of December, 1814. His headquarters were in Sydney, but he and his teachers did a great deal of hard and valuable work in New Zealand. He laboured with unflagging energy for his own church, but he seems to have had little, if any, desire for sectarian monopoly, for he induced the Rev. John Hobbs, a missionary of the Wesleyan Church, to settle at the Bay of Islands in 1823. It was also in 1823 that the Rev. Henry Williams, subsequently Archdeacon of Waimate, arrived in the Bay of Islands, and after that the staff of the Church Missionary Society steadily increased there, Paihia being at first the headquarters of the Mission. So successful, indeed, was the work begun by Marsden, who died at Sydney in 1837, that in 1841, Dr. George Augustus Selwyn was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the Bishop of New Zealand; and before the end of 1871 the province had six dioceses and six bishops—namely, those of Auckland, Waiapu, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, and Dunedin; and the Church of England in New Zealand had 313 clergy in 1900. Corresponding successes have grown out of the efforts begun in the early days of the colony by other churches. The Roman Catholic Bishop Pompallier settled at Hokianga in January, 1838, and removed to Auckland in 1847; the Presbyterians opened their cause at Auckland in 1843, the Primitive Methodists in 1844, the Congregationalists in 1851, and the Baptists in 1855. A Jewish congregation was founded in Auckland as far back as 1839. There are now within the city—in addition to St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Parnell—six Anglican Churches, namely, St. Paul's, St. Matthew's, All Saints', St. Sepulchre's, St. Thomas's, and the Epiphany. St. Andrew's, St. James', St. David's, and St. Stephen's are the four churches owned in the city by the Presbyterians. The Roman Catholics have St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Benedict's Church, and the Church of the Sacred Heart; and the Wesleyans possess three churches—Pitt Street, Grafton Road, and St. John's, in addition to the Hall of the Helping Hand Mission, at Freeman's Bay. Alexandra Street Church and the Upper Pitt Street Church are owned by the Primitive Methodist Connexion. The Congregationalists have the Beresford Street and Newton churches, and the Baptists possess the Tabernacle and a church in Jervois Road. West Street Church is owned by the members of the Church of Christ. A pretty synagogue accommodates the Jewish congregation. The Salvation Army has quarters in the Albert Street and Newton Barracks. This list does not include the suburban churches, several of which are situated near the city boundary.