Bicentenary Celebrations of the Gospel arriving in New Zealand 2014. 25 December 2014 marked the 200th anniversary of the Gospel being preached in New Zealand by the Reverend Samuel Marsden. Two hundred years of the Gospel in New Zealand will be commemorated in 2014. Marsden Cross Trust chairman Richard Randerson convened a meeting mid-2009 to bring together some of the groups who have an interest in this significant event. The main focus of the planning group will be the organisation of events on and around 25 December 2014, which marks the 200th anniversary of the Gospel being preached in New Zealand by the Reverend Samuel Marsden on 25 December 2014...
The Reverend Samuel Marsden, Chaplain to New South Wales, (1765-1838) was the driving force behind the establishment of Anglican mission stations in New Zealand in the early nineteenth century. He was born in England and based in New South Wales, and he was a member of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). His work and that of his missionaries helped build up a relationship of trust with Maori chiefs, paving the way for the acceptance of an official Crown presence in New Zealand. Marsden protested to the British authorities about the trade in Maori heads, the involvement of the British in tribal conflicts, and lawlessness in Kororareka, a settlement in the Bay of Islands. He had some involvement in convincing the New South Wales Governor to support the appointment of a British Resident in New Zealand to deal with perceived anarchy in British settlements, a crucial link in the chain of events that ultimately led to Britain deciding to seek sovereignty over New Zealand.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/
samuel-marsden-painting
Like many things at the time, Christianity - in the form of the Church Missionary Society - came to New Zealand via Australia. Historian James Belich described the Christian missionaries as the 'agents of virtue in a world of vice' - a world the British Resident, Jame Busby, described as 'frontier chaos'. Although not immune to moral blemish themselves, these men and women went to extraordinary lengths to bring Christianity and 'civilisation' to Maori. The early years were largely unsuccessful for missionaries in terms of saving souls; as points of contact for trade as well as a source of new ideas, missionaries had a profound impact on many Maori communities. Their introduction of the written word and the development of a written Maori language represented a massive change.
Evangelical Revivals in New Zealand by Robert Evans and Roy McKenzie
http://revivalsresearch.net/docs/
EvangelicalRevivalsInNewZealand.pdf
Gospel Arrives in NZ
200 years ago the Gospel arrived on the shores of New Zealand.
