# History of Knox Church Dunedin/Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV.
AT the very commencement of his ministry in Dunedin Mr Stuart started his Sabbath morning Dible Class, which has ever since been continued with most encouraging success, and with an increasing attendance. It meets in the class-room of the Old Church at 10 o'clock a.m. The minister and his office-bearers have ever attached the utmost importance to the Bible Class, regarding it as the connecting link between the Sabbath School and full communion with the church, and as calculated under the blessing of God to be a powerful means of preserving the young of both sexes from yielding to the temptations and snares of the world on which they are just entering, besides training them for future usefulness both in the church and in the community. Dr Stuart has stated that this class has a place in his heart next to that of the pulpit itself. A considerable number of the most active and useful men and women of the congregation—some as office-bearers, and many as Christian workers—have been members of the class. There can be no doubt that very many of those who have passed through it have had their knowledge and their love of Divine things greatly enlarged by the lessons they have received.
In the beginning of the present year (1891) Dr Stuart was prevailed upon, though with difficulty, to resign his beloved Bible Class into the hands of his colleague, Mr Davidson, whose work in connection with it promises to be attended with much success. The number at present on the roll is 148 (58 young men and 90 young women), the average attendance l)eing 115.
About the beginning of 1877 Mr John Reith opened a Bible Class for senior boys drafted mainly from the Sabbath School. The class met in one of the side rooms of the new church. It was conducted ​by Mr Reith for about four years with much abihty and with satisfactory results, and on his retirement in 1881 it was transferred to Mr Robert Chisholm, who had been for many years an earnest and successful teacher in the Sabbath School. This Bible Class has ever since been conducted by Mr Chisholm with the utmost enthusiasm and success, very much on the same lines as those of the Minister's Bible Class. It has been well attended and greatly prized from the outset, and there is good reason for believing that Mr Chisholm's devoted labours have been eminently blessed of God. For some years past the class has supported two native teachers in the mission field of the church. A large proportion of the members of the class, in common with those of the Minister's Bible Class, are led to join the fellowship of the church from time to time, and the teaching staff of the Sabbath School is largely recruited from the same sources.
In February 1878, shortly after the Colonial Education Act of 1877 came into operation, the Session made the following appeal to the congregation:—"The Session, in view of the exclusion of all religious instruction from the day schools, seek earnestly to impress upon the members of the congregation the increasing importance of this agency of the church [the Sabbath School], and while thanking the present teachers for the assistance they have already rendered, they would urge upon them the necessity of being regular and punctual in their attendance, and they would solicit the aid of others who are willing to take part in this good work. They are convinced that if more men and women of piety and intelligence, and who are at the same time gifted with the power of teaching, would come forward to assist in this work, they would greatly encourage those who are doing their best to impart religious instruction to the young of the congregation, while at the same time they would render great service in building up the Church in our land. The Session would call attention to the fact that there are yet two rooms in the new church which might be utilised for senior classes of the same nature as that conducted by Mr Reith. They are anxious to see this important part of the field occupied by earnest labourers."
In response to this appeal Mrs Burn, of the High School, conducted for a time an experimental Saturday morning class for Biblical instruction. The time of meeting was unfavourable, but the Session ​felt assured that the study of the Life of Christ had proved a permanent gain to the thirty young women who were able to attend. About the same time Miss Fitzgerald, of the Normal School, formed an advanced class for girls, with a view to their preparation for the work of Sabbath School teaching, but the state of her health compelled her to discontinue her useful work in 1879. This class was then conducted for a time by Miss Jardine (now Mrs Will, of the Manse, East Taieri) with most gratifying success. The class is now merged in Mr Chisholm's.
The Congregational Weekly Prayer Meeting, conducted by the minister with the assistance of the office-bearers and friends, has been held without intermission since the very outset. It meets in the classroom of the Old Church every Thursday evening, at half-past 7 o'clock, and lasts for about an hour. Special attention is given at the meetings to all matters affecting church work, and to the operations of benevolent and philanthropic institutions.
Subject to occasional interruptions, a special week of prayer has been set apart annually for a number of years, and has proved a season of spiritual profit and enjoyment to many. Meetings are held from Monday to Friday inclusive, and besides praise, prayer, and the reading and exposition of portions of Scripture, short addresses have usually been given on these occasions on such subjects as the following:—"Christ our Prophet," "Christ our Redeemer," "Christ our Intercessor," "Christ our King," "Christ, the Church's King," "The Lord's Supper," "Our Young Communicants," "Religious Decision," "Personal Responsibility," "Christian Work," "The Christian Race," &c. For several years prayer meetings, usually conducted by office-bearers of Knox Church, or the congregational missionary, were held at Pelichet Bay, N.E. Valley, Wakari, Pine Hill, and Mr Simpson's house, near the Water of Leith.