Speakers:- Karn Cleary, Ann Blyth, Chris Childs, David Fougère.
Worship Leader:- Karn Cleary
Video to come
Audio to come
Read below, or download the PDF – to come
In this service, long-time members of the church share memories from the 1950s, 60s, 70s & 80s, and what keeps them coming back.
Karn Cleary, Ann Blyth, Chris Childs, David Fougère © 1 December 2024
From Karn Cleary:-
I am very happy to be acknowledging the 123rd anniversary of this building. I am here because of the strong ties that my family has had with Unitarianism since before the church’s construction; without this family tradition I suspect I would never have arrived here or indeed at any church, so I’m going to start with a very brief piece of genealogy.
My mother’s paternal grandfather and maternal great-grandfather were brothers who immigrated to New Zealand in 1862, as part of the planned non-conformist settlement at Port Albert. They were both staunch Unitarians from a family that had been Unitarian in England since the late 1700s. Although they decided not to settle in Port Albert, they remained connected to the New Zealand Unitarian community. When the Auckland congregation decided to build the church, my mother’s grandfather helped with the building, and the bricks in the foundation were made in her other great-grandfather’s brickyard in Arch Hill.
My grandparents moved to Northland in the 1920s, but my grandfather’s sisters and many of their children, Leeches and Howletts, continued to attend services here. When she returned to Auckland in 1946 my grand-mother, Dorothy Smith, joined the congregation as did her sister Gwen Harwood a few years later. My mother. then Dorothy Muller and later Dorothy Lazenby, started coming to services in the mid-1950s when we came to live in Ponsonby.
My earliest memories of this building are from 1957 until about 1963, when I was coming to church with my mother. Dr Maurice Wilsie, a psychiatrist, led the services. My best memories from childhood of the church are of the older children’s Sunday school sessions. They were taken by Neville Houston, who like the Wilsies was an American expat.
In winter, we used the gallery for our activities, which meant we got the benefit of any heat coming from downstairs. We explored evolution by making clay models of dinosaurs. Neville taught us astronomy, and we took turns to grind the glass lens for a telescope by hand. In summer, we had activities in Western Park, or Takapuna Beach, where he lived.
We also made a movie. I don’t remember the details 50 years later, but looking back, I’m guessing it relied heavily on a plot by Enid Blyton. The scene I recall most vividly involved several of us edging along one of the ledges on the outside of the Museum, looking as though we were hundreds of feet above the ground. I regret that this black and white masterpiece has been lost completely. It was shown in the big room downstairs, which was often used for showing films then.
Apart from Sunday services, Sunday school and social activities for members, the church building was regularly used by the wider community in the 50s and 60s. Gwen Harwood founded the Civilian Maimed Association in Auckland in about 1961. They met here every week for many years, and expanded to other locations throughout Auckland. CMA is now known as Communicare or Centres of Mutual Aid. An Auckland Baha’i group helped run homework groups after school in the church for local children with no-where to study. Rafters folk music club began in the 1960s, using the gallery. The annual fairs attracted big crowds and helped sustain the church financially.
I started secondary school in 1963 and stopped coming to church. My grand-mother died in 1971 and her funeral was celebrated here. Her sister Gwen and my mother Dorothy were joined by Gwen’s daughter Rae Purdy. Rae’s children attended Sunday school in the later 60s and 70s. Gwen encouraged many of the people she came in contact with to come to services and discussion groups. Gwen died in 1995 and her funeral was the first time I had entered this building in many years. Rae’s memorial service was celebrated in 2007.
My mother stopped attending when Rev Douglas Webster, who was the minister from 1971 to 1983 left, but came back in 1990 after Max & Linda Landau Moss arrived. Mum moved to Whangarei in 1995, but made regular visits to Auckland and always came to church. I started coming with her occasionally. In 1999 Paul & I decided to get married, and for the sake of his Catholic family to have a non- Catholic church wedding, so this building was our obvious choice. We both became members and I have remained one ever since. Mum returned to Auckland in 2007, and coming to services and socialising on Sundays was very important to her, until 3 months before her death in 2011.
With my mother’s death, I’m the last of her family still connected to the church. Even when I haven’t been attending, I’ve always felt an affection and sense of belonging whenever I passed the building, and I feel sad that most of the descendants of those pioneering Unitarian ancestors are unaware of what a special place this is.
Ann Blyth – Memories and why I returned.
Kia ora koutou
My name is Ann Blyth. First, I am going to talk about some of my of memories of the Auckland Unitarian Church in the 1960’s. To finish I will touch on why I returned in 2017.
I was born in 1953. My family did not attend any church. In 1963 when I was 10, in my last year at primary school, some kids asked me where I went to church. I simply answered the truth – I didn’t go to church. They then called me a heathen. I asked my Dad, Noel Blyth, “what does heathen mean”?
This was the start of my father looking for somewhere liberal for us to attend. By some means he came across the Auckland Unitarian Church in Ponsonby. Hoping for a liberal Sunday School, and similar church services, Dad made a Sunday visit. He found no Sunday School, no church service, just a very small group of elders having a prolonged deep theological discussion.
I think my first memory of coming into this beautiful building was coming into a very dark foyer. There was a really large picture of Albert Schweitzer the humanitarian on the wall. I was impressed. I had read about Albert Schweitzer – I wondered why this church had his picture on the wall.
There must have been some members who were hoping for something a bit more exciting. Suddenly my father Noel, and mother Thelma started leading a lively family service once a month, in 1964. My parents had a background in running large scale dances for young people and family groups.
Aime Sikkema, Anton’s Dad, found a second-hand stage and installed it over where the piano now lives. No heritage building rules to follow in the 1960’s!
The pulpit wasn’t used at all – everything took place on the stage. Sometimes a talk by Noel, but often a back and forth conversation between Noel and Thelma focused on a current controversial topic. Lots of civil rights protest songs from the USA, and folk songs led by my mother Thelma, and other guests.
I remember the adults I met in the church being kind, and talking with me. One person gave me a book on comparative religions, which I did tackle reading. These were thinking and questioning people. Looking back, I think I was inspired to try to understand difference in the world
Along with the monthly family service, Thelma and Noel and some other members started Rafters Folk Club on Friday evenings. This was upstairs under the rafters of the mezzanine floor, the staircase was where the kitchen is now. They set about to create an ambient – that equals dimly-lit – coffee lounge-like environment of that era. A big hot-water urn, water, and cups, were carted up the stairs every time. Instant coffee was the beverage of choice.
The hope was to attract young people into the building and provide a safe and friendly local activity for them. I remember high school students from Seddon High School (now called Western Springs College) coming. I don’t think any of them joined the church, but it was good to give them somewhere to go.
My parents withdrew from leading the family service after about 2 years. They had built the attendance to about 100 people, from the 5-7 people when Dad first attended. They continued with Rafters Folk Club for about another year, before passing it over to others to run. My parents stopped attending and that finished my time at Auckland Unitarians in the 1960’s.
Over the years, I was kept up to date about what was happening at Auckland Unitarians by Dad, who continued to get the News and Views monthly newsletter until we went digital.
After my Mum Thelma died in 2005, Wayne Facer, a member from the 1960’s, started bringing Dad to Auckland Unitarians from time to time. Clay delivered a tribute service for my Dad Noel’s 100th birthday early in 2016 – at that point Noel was our oldest Unitarian. That was the first service I had been to since the 1960’s. Dad died in June 2016 at 100 years of age.
In 2017 I decided I needed to make my own independent exploration of Unitarianism. I hadn’t chosen to go to Auckland Unitarians as a child, I simply went because my parents took me there. But I’d been hearing about this church for much of my life.
I returned to find again a kind, tolerant, thinking, and questioning community in this beautiful Unitarian Church. Now presenting as Unitarian Universalists, there were 7 principles on a banner on the wall, as well as a chalice and candle lighting as part of the service. Classical piano music had replaced the guitar accompanied folk-singing. Services were delivered much more formally, from the pulpit.
I do find it a bit quiet compared to the liveliness of the mid-1960’s. But the caring heart continues, and that’s a big part of what keeps me coming back.
To finish, and to join the 1960’s to the present, I invite you to stand and sing a well known civil rights song – sung many times in this Church – it is in our Song Book. Some of us know it well – WE SHALL OVERCOME – SONG NUMBER 169.