The Baptist Church, Vivian Street, Wellington, which was opened on Sunday, the 5th of May, 1895, is the crowning effort of a successsul organisation. Eighteen years ago invitations were issued to all who were desirous of forming a Baptist Church in the Capital City of New Zealand, requesting them to assemble at the Polytechnic Hall in Featherston Street. The Rev. L. B. Brown, from Yorkshire, who was on a visit to the Colony, officiated, with the result that the Church was formed. The members urged Mr. Brown to remain and minister in Wellington, but that gentleman was compelled to decline owing to the precarious state of his health, which necessitated his removal to Australia. The young Church fortunately secured the services of one of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon's students, in the person of the Rev. Thomas Harrington, the Church being constituted formally on the 20th of January, 1878, with a membership of nineteen. At the end of this year Mr. Harrington retired, having witnessed a considerable growth in the cause. The Rev. J. T. Hinton was his successor, the services being conducted in hired halls till December, 1879, when the first Baptist page 401 Church in Wellington, having seating accommodation for 260 was opened. The cost of site and building was £1650. At this time the number of members had increased to sixty-six. For six years and a half Mr. Hinton continued in Wellington, being succeeded by the Rev. H. H. Driver, from the Pastor's College, London. The ministry of this gentleman was a successful one, the cause continued to prosper, and the debt was wiped out. Retiring owing to ill-health, the present pastor, the Rev. Charles Dallaston, took charge of the Church. The old building which had done duty for so many years, was at last declared to be altogether too small; it was therefore removed to the back of the allotment, the present handsome structure replacing it. The following description of the new Baptist Church is taken from the New Zealand Graphic of the 8th of June:—“The new church, which was designed by Mr. W. Crichton, architeet, has seating accommodation for 450 persons, and has been constructed so as to allow of the erection of a gallery when further accommodation may be found necessary. The building is octagonal in form, about sixty feet at its greatest width, with a circular, dome-shaped roof. The rostrum is arranged in front of an elliptical cove at the back of the building, where is also situated the baptistry, constructed of concrete (and first used at the close of Sunday evening service, May 19th, on which occasion seven adult ladies received the ordinance of believers' baptism). The seats are arranged in semi-circle on a sloping floor. The apex of the ceiling is some thirty-three feet from the floor. The building is well provided with vestibules, porches, vestries, and other conveniences. It is constructed of wood, roofed with iron, the walls inside being plastered with tinted rough stucco. The building is well page 402 lighted by means of stained glass windows, whilst at night it is illuminated by electric light. The choir stalls are arranged at the entrance end of the building, opposite the rostrum, and enclosed at the sides by ornamental wooden screens. Both the acoustic properties and ventilation of the church are good, and altogether it is a very comfortable building. The contract price for the erection of the new church and the removal of the old was £1675.”