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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]
The United Methodist Free Church
The United Methodist Free Church, Courtenay Place, Wellington, occupies a really splendid position, and is an excellent property; but it cannot be said that the cause has flourished in a manner eminently satisfactory. It began well, and prospered for many years. The cause was inaugurated in Wellington in 1876 by the Rev. H. B. Redstone. For a few weeks the services were conducted in the old Foresters' Hall, and then for a longer period in the Oddfellows' Hall, Lambton Quay. Before the end of the first year, the results of Mr. Bedstone's efforts warranted the erection of a schoolroom sixty feet by thirty, and here the services were conducted until July, 1879, when the present really fine church was opened. The church property has a frontage to Courtenay Place of no less than 117 feet by a depth of 132 feet. That the cause was an important one in those days is evidenced by the fact that the members, with the assistance of friends raised the very large sum of £1800 towards the cost of the property. At the opening tea-meeting 550 persons paid two shillings each, and a very considerable proportion of that number were adherents of the Church. The church itself is eighty feet deep by a width of fifty feet, and will seat comfortably about 600 worshippers. On each side of it there is a passage about twelve feet wide, separating the church from the shops which form a part of the property. The income derivable from rents is about £200 per annum, sufficient to pay the interest of the mortgage. This was an exceptionally good position for a Church to occupy financially, and before Mr. Redstone left Wellington the first time he had the satisfaction of seeing the Church he had founded in a prosperous condition, with a school of about 200 scholars, a fine staff of teachers, and a good congregation contributing weekly offerings averaging between £5 and £6. In 1885 the pastor and preacher was asked to accept the management of the Christchurch Circuit; and, believing that the Wellington Church would continue on its prosperous course, he went to the City of the Plains, and remained there five years. From a variety of causes, his expectations regarding the continued prosperity of the Church at the Capital were not fulfilled. The congregations gradually became smaller until 1890, when Mr. Redstone was invited to return. By this time the falling away had become painfully noticeable, and Mr. Redstone found it much harder to stay the ebbing life of the cause than to build it up in the first place. After a trial of two years, he changed to Rangiora, in the hope that the minister who was to take his place might be more successful than himself. This was in February, 1892, and for the next three years the Wellington Church was the cause of much anxiety to the Standing Committee. The congregations had so diminished that the building was much too large, and though the Church property is so favourably situated, the income from its offertory had dwindled away to almost nothing. Many were of opinion that the church should be closed; but for the sake of the few who have remained true to it, and because of his original connection with it, Mr. Redstone consented to make another effort, unaided by grant. Though only a few months have elapsed since his return, the congregations have most noticeably increased. The Sunday school, too, is slowly recovering its lost position, and altogether the cause seems to have a fair prospect of usefulness.