New Hastings Baptist Church Opens Tomorrow

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New Hastings Baptist Church Opens Tomorrow - 1964

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune - 26 June, 1964

The new Hastings Baptist Church will be opened and dedicated at 2.15 pm tomorrow by the president of the Baptist Union of New Zealand, the Rev. Frank Reddell, Kaikohe, assisted by the minister of the church, the Rev. Derek Rogers.

The opening of the church will be held outside the church at 2.15 and at 2.30 the congregation will go inside for the dedication. After this afternoon tea will be served.

In the evening a choral festival will be held in which choirs of the church will take part.

Baptists from Wellington will take solo parts. The soloists will be Mr Ian Crawshaw, baritone, and Miss Denise Wilson, soprano. This festival will be open to the public.

The Sunday morning service will be taken by the Rev. Rogers, and the former minister of the church, the Rev. C. B. Boggis.

An interior view of the new Hastings Baptist, looking toward the raised baptistry.

Raised Baptistry Striking Feature of New Church

The striking feature of the new Hastings Baptist church is one that is almost unique in New Zealand. This feature is the raised baptistery which is situated behind the communion table and pulpit, at mezzanine level. Raised baptistries are quite common in the United States but not in New Zealand. Although the Southern Baptist Union of the United States prepared a plan showing how the Hastings church could best utilise its section the raised baptistry was solely the conception of the architect, Mr M. Patience, Wellington. The Southern Baptist Union of the United States gives this service free of charge to churches throughout the world.

But the story of the building of the new church started well before the plan was prepared. The question of building a new church was first raised in 1954. About this time the church organ was sold and the proceeds from the sale, £125, were the start of the New Church Building Fund. To raise funds a new church finance committee was set up.

One fund-raising scheme made £1100. Going under the name of a Talent Scheme from a well known parable 110 people were given £1. With this £1 they raised money by such means as cooking, gardening, cutting hair, painting and baby-sitting. When all proceeds had been collected on an average everyone had made £10. In another scheme four acres of land were sown in potatoes for two years and the crops sold. This netted just under £1000. Other schemes were tithing of each church member for three or four months, jumble sales, and sales of work. The majority of the money was raised by direct giving. Several gifts of £1000 were received, and one of £2000.

While the money raising was going on the Southern Baptist Union was asked to submit a plan of how the section could be utilised best. After this had been done the Wellington architect produced a sketch that was approved by a church meeting. The church has been planned around the idea of throwing attention forward. To bring this about, a cross is placed half-way up the front wall. The next feature below that is the raised baptistry. Then lower again is the pulpit, and then the communion table. The saw-tooth effect in the walls was also incorporated to throw attention forward. It also provides lighting behind as well as at the side of the congregation.

The church was built to hold 550. This includes gallery seating of 120. A "crying-room" at the back of the church can be converted, into a studio for radio broadcasts at night. The building is constructed of poured concrete with a brick veneer, a wooden floor and stone frontage.

A short service to dedicate the site of the new church was held on July 28 of last year and the following day the builders, T. G. Wrightson Ltd, began work on the foundations. On Wednesday the final major part of the programme was completed when the spire was put in place. This spire was added to the church to give it an appearance of height.