St Pauls on the hill Church

Location: Kaikōura
Denomination: Presbyterian
Built: 1879

The first minister for St Paul’s Church in Kaikoura was a student evangelist called William McAra. William was from Scotland and initially felt he was called to serve as a missionary in Africa. When he was deemed “medically unfit” to serve in such a tropical environment, William was made aware of the need for more ministers in New Zealand. In Kaikoura, the few but faithful presbyterian settlers had already attempted to secure a Presbyterian minister in Kaikoura three times before they decided that receiving a student evangelist as their minister could be a solution to the shortage of fully ordained presbyterian ministers.

William McAra arrived in Kaikoura at the end of 1877 with his wife and three children. With no house of their own, it had been arranged that they would temporarily stay at the house of a local man, George Rorrison, who upon their arrival said, “Well, I’ve been down to the township, and have seen a few people, and there is nobody here [who] wants you.” This disheartening remark was reiterated again when William gave his first service, and only 13 persons attended. Nevertheless, St Paul’s church in Kaikoura grew, and in 1879 (two years after William arrived) the church building was finally finished.

A year later, William had finished his studies and became a fully ordained minister (meaning that he was now able to ordain elders and serve communion to the church congregation). William ended up ministering to the Kaikoura church for many years, eventually retiring from the role in 1919 at 72 years old.

Reference: St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Kaikoura. (n.d.). St Paul's Kaikoura. https://kaikourastpauls.weebly.com/uploads/8/5/7/8/85783520/st_pauls_kaikoura_jubilee_souvenir_1952.pdf