1898: Methodist Chapel West Auckland
June 13, 2019
By AHNZ
Christmas Day 1898, Henderson, West Auckland: Wesleyan Methodist Chapel open for business. The first church building in Henderson district.You can count on a Methodist to build a church where others would have been content to get by with a barn or a community hall. The Wesleyan brand relied upon bright and shiny, temporal, things to attract a congregation. Religion for people with low attention spans; For the body not the soul, in my opinion.
Rightly so, then, Kiwi band ‘Head Like A Hole’ used this chapel in 2011 for the ‘Glory Glory (Hallelujah)’ music video. Booze hags, fat slags, fill me up on blow and skag
You like bottles in a bag, I like girly slice yeahGlory Glory, Hallelujah, just like knife, it cuts right through ya
Glory Glory, Hallelujah, just like a lie, I see right through ya
It’s a song about a trashy guy broken up with a trashy girl all under the mesmerism of religion’s facade. He sees right though the bullshit but is too shallow not to be pulled along by it like a puppet on a string. Likewise, the video shows a young woman being corrupted by ‘The undomesticated animal of NZ rock’ under the false-advertising and pretence of a Christian service.
I think that’s a taste of what the cultural and spiritual state of Henderson had come to by the late 1890s too. The Waitemata electorate shifted from electing K-selected men like Thomas Henderson and William Massey to within an inch of giving a majority to the Liberals. Like Thomas, Bill Massey wanted a locality named after himself too. When he came to power the old Lawsonville was re-named (1915) to Massey. However, with the 1890s Lefties getting a bit thick on the ground, Farmer Bill shot through to make South Auckland his electoral base. That worked out very well and he became Prime Minister, leaving West Auckland to the Lefties.Other posts about Methodists
- 1844: No shortage of Coquettish Wenches
- 1861: Hauhau
- 1883: Utakura
- 1930s: I’m envious of Uncle Scrim
- 1941: Riverside
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image ref. Chapel, Auckland Historical Society
image ref. Chapel in 2019, AHNZ archive
image ref. Clips from HALA music video
Update December 2019: Added image with the historical information sign
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Anarchist History of New Zealand: One of the functions of artists in a community is to provide a healthy and permanent element of rebellion; not to become a species of civil servant. - J.K.Baxter
I need a chapel for Sunday service. Please could you help. Thank you
Sure bud. Which god do you worship and what region will you be in on Sunday?