Wanganui East Baptist Church - 2012 Centenary
Easter 2012
We're excited about the upcoming centenary - below is some information about our church and the beginnings, and there is a form underneath that where you can register your interest in regards to attending the centenary in Easter 2012.
A History of WEBC
In the years before World War One, the settlement of Sedgebrook, Wanganui East was growing rapidly.
By 1909 it had grown to around 3000.
The only access across the river was the Town Bridge.
The only access road was along the river bank underneath Shakespeare Cliffs which was notorious for being a narrow dangerous stretch of road. Read More
A number of families in the Sedgebrook settlement were members of the Central Baptist church in Ingestre Street. At times their journey to church was verging on perilous.
Most times it was a challenging journey as as a result some of the families were also associated with the Methodist church.
By 1911, a plan was put to the Central Church to purchase the Methodist hall as a satellite church for Sedgebrook residents. This was duly actioned, the building was repainted and on 24th March 1911 opened with 16 families as a branch church of Wanganui Central.
Mr HE Edridge was engaged by Central Church to work as a home missionary.
Twelve Months later the roll had grown to 48, The Sunday school had 30 children and the church was formally accepted as an independent Baptist Church in it’s own right.
Mid week prayer meetings formed a most important part of church life from its inception.
Average weekly offerings in 1915 were £2.17.51/2
The first full time pastor, Rev R J Ambury, was appointed in 1915.
He then joined the armed forces but sadly was killed in action in 1916.
Register Your Interest
Please fill in the form below and click "Send" to register your interest with us. If you have something you'd like to share for the Centenary feel free to note it in the affiliation comments area.