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A Dunedin parish is preparing to celebrate a major milestone and a long history of community service.
Mornington Methodist Church will mark 150 years next month with a weekend of events acknowledging its long history as a congregation of the people.
Parishioner Richard Cannon said the first wooden building opened across the road in 1876.
“Then that got too small and they built a big stone building,” Mr Cannon said.
The new brick structure on the corner of Galloway St and Whitby St was designed by architect James Salmond and opened in 1905.
It could seat 350 as well as 50 in the choir.
By the 1980s maintaining the older building became costly and the parish decided to demolish it and rebuild.
The current church opened on the same site in September 1984.
Mr Cannon said the early founders placed a strong emphasis on education.
“There was a huge Sunday school here.
“They had hundreds of pupils and 20 or 30 Sunday school teachers.”
“I think it would be the church of the people really,” Mr Cannon said.
Mornington Methodist Church minister Rev Adam Baker, who recently moved to Dunedin from the United States, said the modern congregation carried on those early values.
“It is a smaller but vibrant and passionately committed group of people who really have a deep heart for the gospel,” Mr Baker said.
The parish operates as a reconciling community, meaning it made a conscious choice to be deeply inclusive.
“It is a space that we earnestly always seek to be safe and welcoming for rainbow community people, but to truly be a place where anybody can come.”
The anniversary celebrations begin with a concert on Friday, September 11, followed by a gala dinner on Saturday, September 12.
The concert will feature a new hymn by musician John Gibson, the son of highly regarded composer Colin Gibson who died in 2022.
The new hymn is called God In Your Face, Mr Cannon said.
“It’s about seeing God in everybody.
“So we see God in other people’s faces.”
The parish will hold a celebratory service open to everyone on Sunday, September 13.
“I would love to meet anybody who would love to come,” Mr Baker said.
People can visit dunedinmethodist.org.nz to book for the concert and dinner.
Funds raised will go towards a project to install solar panels as part of an effort to be more sustainable.
