The Trinity Fortune Affair

By Dave Mullan

In 1966 the congregation of Dunedin’s Trinity Methodist Church completed major renovations of the church. Its structure was strengthened and waterproofed, the organ was enlarged and overhauled and neatly installed, and the whole of the interior was renewed from the stonework out. Completely new furniture was commissioned to match the light rimu of the newly panelled walls and the fine sanctuary screen. The total cost was about $58,000 and the result was an attractive worship centre of dignity and beauty.
Less than twelve years later the fine pews were removed, the organ sold for parts, the panelling smashed apart and the whole interior was gutted once more. In fact, several thousand dollars of debt was still outstanding when the mother church of Otago Methodism stood once more an empty shell.
History may judge the Trinity people harshly but they are used to that. The congregation’s first home was badly designed and was wrecked by gales within one month of its opening in 1862. Other property transactions prompted criticism for bad judgment and short-sighted policies. Some people in 1977 claimed to see the same deficiencies of purpose and vision in the actions of that year.
When this book was written in 1981 it was too soon to pronounce with any certainty on the rights and wrongs of the horrendous month of discussion, negotiation and decision. However, during the tumultuous events of December 1977 the author had made careful notes of the events day by day. A couple of months later he wrote up an initial draft of the elements of this story. It offered some intimate observations of one who was unexpectedly thrust into the heart of the situation.
Three years later, after much misunderstanding about what happened, it was published, primarily for the friends who made the incredible decisions. For it was their story. And this re-issue in 2015 may yet inspire other small churches who wrestle with properties that are beginning to dictate their mission instead of serving it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dave Mullan
• Release date: Apr 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781877357213

Dave Mullan

Retired Presbyter of Methodist Church of New Zealand. Passionate pioneer in Local Shared Ministry, consultant in small churches, publisher of over 100 niche market books, producer of prosumer video, deviser of murder mystery dinners and former private pilot. I trained for the Methodist Ministry at Trinity Theological College and eventually completed MA, Dip Ed as well. Bev and I married just before my first appointment in Ngatea where our two children arrived. We went on to Panmure and Taumarunui. Longer terms followed at Dunedin Central Mission and the Theological College. During this time I was also involved as co-founder and second national President of Family Budgeting Services and adviser to the (government) Minister of Social Welfare. My final four years were part-time, developing the first Presbyterian or Methodist Local Shared Ministry unit in this country and promoting the concept overseas. Retirement has brought a whole lot more opportunities and challenges. We are now living in our own villa in Hibiscus Coast Residential Village.

Book preview

The

Trinity - Fortune

Affair

An account of the negotiations between Trinity Methodist Church and Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, December 1977.

Dave Mullan

ColCom Press

28/101 Red Beach Road,

Hibiscus Coast, Aotearoa-New Zealand 0932

[e-mail]

http://www.colcompress.com

http://dave-mullan.blogspot.co.nz

ISBN 978-1-877357-21-3

Copyright 2015 Dave Mullan

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

Introduction

PART I: THE CAST

1—The Minister:

2—The Central Mission:

3—The Dunedin Methodist Churches:

PART II: THE DRAMA

4.—Prelude

5.—First Thoughts

6.—Problems! Problems!

7.—A Bleak Christmas

8.—A New Beginning

PART III: THE REVIEW

9.—The Decision

10.—Other Learnings

Not for everyone

The Essential Ingredient

The Place of Property

Small is Good

Church and News Media

Death and Resurrection

Pain

Acted Parables

The Place of Preaching

Shared Pastoring

Summary

Postscript

About the Author

Dave’s other books on church and ministry

Dave’s other general books

Introduction

In 1966 the congregation and trustees of Dunedin’s Trinity Methodist Church completed major renovations of their building. The structure was strengthened and waterproofed, the former Central Mission organ was enlarged and overhauled and neatly installed, and the whole of the interior was renewed from the stonework out. The nave was narrowed to form new vestries and ancillary rooms. Completely new furniture was commissioned to match the light rimu of the newly panelled walls and the fine sanctuary screen.

The total cost was about $58,000 and the result was an attractive worship centre of dignity and beauty. Although the original sloping floor had been retained and the new pews were of necessity firmly screwed down in permanent positions the alterations commended themselves to all who knew the building previously.

Less than twelve years later the fine pews were removed, the organ sold for parts, the paneling smashed apart and the whole interior was gutted once more. In fact, a debt of several thousand dollars was still owing on the 1966 renovations when the mother church of Otago Methodism stood once more an empty shell.

History may judge the Trinity people harshly but they are used to that. The congregation’s first home was badly designed and was wrecked by gales within one month of its opening in 1862. Trinity, which replaced it, was built on an ambitious scale but took over thirty years to pay for. Other property transactions prompted criticism for bad judgment and short-sighted policies.

Some people in 1977 claimed to see the same deficiencies of purpose and vision in the actions of that year. They were making premature judgments. Even writing now in 1981 it is much too soon to pronounce with any certainty on the rights and wrongs of the events of Trinity in December 1977. It is still too soon to evaluate the factors which brought about the significant shift of policy in the people who were responsible for the life of Trinity congregation and for the fabric of its buildings at the time. This will be the work of those who can write from the benefit of hindsight. Their motives may be a little clearer than those of the people who were directly involved in the decisions which were so important and which had to be made under such pressure of time.

Nevertheless, historians sometimes lack adequate contemporary records on which to base their views. So, during the tumultuous events of December 1977 the writer made careful notes of the events day by day. A couple of months later he wrote up an initial draft of the elements of the story. It turned out to be of a much more personal character than had been envisaged. It offered some intimate observations of one who was unexpectedly thrust into the heart of the situation, and its very intimacy seemed to dictate that it should remain a private document.

However, three years later, after a great deal of misunderstanding about what happened, it has been unearthed. It is now offered to the friends who made those incredible decisions. For it is their story. For them it deserves to be told.

To them it is affectionately dedicated.

Dave Mullan, Dunedin.

August 1981.

Part I

The Cast

1

The Minister

Backdrop to Dunedin

Inevitably, the Trinity Church closure of December 1977 will come to be associated with the name of the minister of the time. If Isaac Harding’s name goes with the hard and discouraging work involved in the establishment of the ill-fated Bell Hill church in the 1860s, Dave Mullan’s will tend to link Trinity and Fortune Theatre in the minds of church historians to come.

The year 1977 marked the 18th year of my ministry. I had offered as a candidate in 1956 from the background of two years in the bush. Certainly I had the significant advantage of deep involvement in a very lively congregation for the whole of my life prior to joining the Forest Service. But, for me, the ministerial vocation arose out of the latter rather than the former so I have never had a profound commitment to many of the Church’s traditional expectations.

At the same time I could never quite lay aside the Church’s normal life and, in fact, had become quite heavily involved in it at a large number of points. So, in a period in which many ministers found much difficulty in staying in the service of the Church I felt that changes would be brought about from the inside rather than from outside. I remained in a state of mild tension but I remained.

The result was that most of my convictions were under some form of strain. I disliked most of the structure of the local church. I had the gravest, misgivings about the role of trained ministry. I worried about the church’s stewardship of vast properties in a hungry world. And I was always personally vulnerable to any criticism of the financial and theological justification for much of that which I was required to do as part of my job.

A significant interest in experimental worship became coupled with the desire to link such experiments into the everyday life of the Christian congregation. Extensive reading in the area of the church and its ministry led me to judge the activities of the present day church by such standards as I could find in the New Testament. This can be an easy way out of grappling with the present reality, of course, but it didn’t make the parish role any easier to perform.

Appointed to Taumarunui in 1969 I had to wrestle more than ever with the role and relevance of stipendiary ministry. Whereas my previous congregation had seen less of me in a situation where heavy extra-mural demands took up about two-thirds of my working time, the new appointment offered only a modest sized pastorate. It became a significant challenge for me to identify the essential and vital elements of professional ministry in ways which made the most of lively and imaginative lay leadership.

Here was the problem: there seemed to be plenty of lay people capable of doing almost every task that ordained ministry might perform. Yet the economics of the situation might well suggest that the role of the laity should be to raise the funds so that the minister could continue to do the work of ministry. Even in those days the real cost of stipendiary ministry was raising dramatically and the people were becoming more and more preoccupied with raising the budget.

Further, in this small congregation, where communication was effective, the structures of Leaders’ and Quarterly Meetings seemed cumbersome and unnecessary. In a town with many social needs the small core of Christian leaders seemed to devote an appalling amount of energy to maintaining the shape of their little denominational projects and their ministers were expected to conspire in what I saw to be a squandering of expensive resources.

Considerable personal investigation into methodology and criteria for ministerial selection led me into looking at the ministerial profession from a theoretical as well as a purely practical standpoint. I came out in favor of a much reduced role for ordained ministers and more than once offered the opinion—rashly, no doubt—that all the Methodist communities of the central North Island area could be served by one full-time minister with a plane! (it may be superfluous to note that a spare-time activity taken up at Taumarunui was the gaining of a Private Pilot License...) I envisaged the appointment of local para-ministers in every community, no matter how small.

Anyway, interminable discussions with visitors to the Taumarunui parsonage shaped up a vision of the local congregation of the future. It would sustain all the essential elements for adequate worship and witness on the barest minimum of ordained ministry. It would become more vigorous and outreaching. It would be more active and participatory. It would be transformed.

It is perhaps of interest to note that the fulfilment of much of this dream came about not only in Dunedin some years later. It happened in Taumarunui almost immediately after I left. My successor, Ashley Corlett, served one full-time year in that circuit. He then obtained a position as a Probation Officer with the Justice Department while continuing as a part-time unpaid minister in the circuit. The people experienced some relief from the pressures of viability for full-time ministry and the parish developed in some interesting ways. For some years it provided a significant model for the Connexion to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the concept.

Developing Thinking

When A. Everil Orr of the Auckland Central Mission was coming up to retirement the Connexion took the necessary steps to designate his replacement. Bruce Gordon of the Dunedin Mission accepted an invitation and it was proving difficult to find a replacement him in Dunedin. The Otago-Southland District shared its difficulty with a meeting of District Chairmen and my name was offered by my own chairman. A tentative proposal had been shaped up for a joint transfer in 1973 when Mr Orr’s sudden death made it desirable to simply advance both moves by a year. So I found myself thrust quickly into a totally unfamiliar part of New Zealand Methodism in February 1972.

I accepted the new task with a mixture of eager anticipation and very real trepidation. For a small-church minister (which I was, and, I think, always have been) it was a very large job. For a somewhat non-traditional minister it could turn out to be a devastating challenge.

There would be some very different opportunities in this appointment. It would seem likely to take up a number of my particular aptitudes in administration. There would also be a firm link with a worshipping congregation. There would be some involvement in the life of a parish community. Certainly my primary role would be administrative and the associate minister, Stan West, would become responsible for the life of the congregation. There was, none the less, a balance of activities that I found satisfying.

The first term of six years provided much confirmation of intuitive convictions gained in earlier circuit work. It was good not to be on the payroll of a local congregation and yet to have some significant involvement in its life and witness. There were opportunities for experimenting with new forms of worship within traditional settings and times. There was also ample opportunity for maintaining what I considered to be a fundamental link between worship and service, between declaration of the word and the administration of the church’s caring work of social service.

My interest in more relevant (a question-begging word if ever there were one!) worship