Knox Church at 453 George St has been registered since 1987 under the Historic Places Act of 1980[1]. It is a landmark on the northern outskirts of Dunedin’s main business district, and its 50 metre-high spire is visible along much of the length of George St. Its site is a cutting into a hillside at the rear of the church that Pitt St climbs.
Early years edit
It opened for worship on Sunday 5 November 1876[2], and was the second church its congregation occupied. They had outgrown a 600-seat church at the corner of Great King St and Frederick St and commissioned Robert Lawson to design another. His building has seating both in its ground floor and in an upper gallery. Its current official capacity is 900 people, though 1000 was acceptable in the Victorian era[3].
The organ of Knox was installed in 1884, and was built by Thomas Lewis and Son of London[4]. Lewis was an outstanding practitioner of his craft in the United Kingdom at that time[5].
Knox is of similar size and style to Scots’ Church, Melbourne -the showcase church of Presbyterianism in the State of Victoria, Australia. It gives some context to the achievement of erecting Knox to note that in the mid 1870s, the population of Dunedin and its surrounding province, Otago, was around 84,000[6]. The population of the State of Victoria was around 780,000[7].
Links to University edit
Knox has tended to observe a relatively liberal Presbyterianism and has also had long-standing close relations with the nearby University of Otago. The first Minister of Knox, Donald M. Stuart was Chancellor of the University for fifteen years[8], and the second Minister William Hewitson helped found Knox College[9]. Hewitson was its first Master[10].
Ministers edit
In the 148 years that the Knox congregation has had a church of its own, there have been eleven Ministers. They are as follows
Rev. Dr. Donald M. Stuart
Minister from 1860 to 1894. He was active on education issues; serving on the Council of Otago Boys’ High School, Otago Girls’ High School and the University of Otago. [11]
Very Rev Professor William Hewitson
Hewitson held office from 1895 to 1908. Beyond parish life he worked extensively in support of the Presbyterian Church’s Foreign Mission.[12]
Rev Robert E. Davies
Minister from 1910 to 1919. Previously he had lectured at St Andrew’s College, Sydney. He became Professor of New Testament at Knox College in 1920.[13]
Rev A. Tulloch R. Yuille
Was Minister from 1920 to 1929.[14]
Very Rev David C. Herron
Minister from 1930 to 1950. He had been Chaplain in WWI to the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He was Chancellor of Otago University for 10 years.[15]
Very Rev Dr James G. Matheson
Served at Knox from 1951 to 1960. Had served in WWII as an Army Chaplain. He worked on giving/stewardship in NZ and afterwards in Scotland.[16]
Rev Douglas W. Storkey
Was Minister from 1961 to 1970. He was a well-known writer, broadcaster, and was influential in the beginnings of NZ’s anti-apartheid movement.[17]
Rev D. Iain MacMillan
Minister from 1972 to 1983.[18]
Very Rev Neil G. Churcher
Served as Minister from 1984 to 1993.[19]
Rev David R. Grant
Held office from 1995 to 2003.[20]
Rev Dr Sarah A. P. Mitchell
Minister since 2005[21]
Boyofthemanse (talk) 06:24, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
- ^ http://www.historic.org.nz/Register/ListingDetail.asp?RID=4372&rm=Full&sm=
- ^ Ross, Angus, They Built in Faith: A short history of Knox Church (1860 to 1976) published to mark the centenary of the opening of the present Knox Church on 5 November 1876, Crown Print 1976 (seen at http://opac.dml.vic.edu.au/ 23 Aug 2008)
- ^ http://www.knoxchurch.net/Tour.html seen at 23 Aug 2008, see also Footnote 1)
- ^ Knox Church, Dunedin, Jubilee Souvenir 1860 to 1910, published by R J Stark 1910, page 24
- ^ Thistlethwaite, Nicholas, The Making of the Victorian Organ, Cambridge University Press 1999, p305 (seen at http://books.google.com.au 18 August 2008)
- ^ http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/O/OtagoProvinceOrProvincialDistrict/ChangingPattern/en (seen 23 August 2008)
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Historical Population Statistics (catalogue number 3105.0.65.001) (seen at http://www.abs.gov.au/ 20 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page201.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://www.knoxcollege.ac.nz/History1.html (seen at 24 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page169.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page201.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page169.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page157.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page212.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page169.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page182.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page201.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page181.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page154.htm (seen at 23 August 2008)
- ^ http://archives.presbyterian.org.nz/page165.htm seen at 23 August 2008
- ^ http://www.knoxchurch.net/ seen at 24 August 2008