Restoring heritage is the genesis of Nelson Baptist Church’s quest for its primal pews. Around eight have been removed from the Bridge St place of worship since 1896 to clear space for an organ and a stage.
Pastor Arnie Hall says the church, with 36 current pews, is summoning the wider community to return the “treasured” intact, wooden curved seats.
“These pews are more than just seating, they are a piece of history,” he says.
“Our young boys have sat in these pews before going off to war, there have been weddings and funerals and decisions made in these pews that have changed the course of people’s lives.
“The curved pews mean you don’t feel like you are sitting in rows in church. Instead, you can see the people sitting on the other side of the church from you and it creates a real sense of togetherness.”
Arnie says its Sunday service attendance had also doubled in the past 12 months to around 280, and combined with the Nelson Chin Community, seating is near capacity. Its search for the original pews via word of mouth has been ongoing for up to nine months.
“The chances of finding the original ones are probably relatively slim, but I’ve learned Nelson has got a good network of people who know people and so if there’s any chance of finding them, that would be awesome. We’ve asked some of our people who’ve got some historic knowledge.”
Arnie says the second option is constructing new wooden curved pews.
“It’s probably a little bit specialised in terms of crafting something like that. A curved pew is not your average home handyman task,” he says.
“If we can find people who have got some of those skills and crafts that could make some pews for us, that would be equally as good for us.
“We want to retain the character of the original building while still allowing the church to step forward and look towards the future.”
Contact admin@nelsonbaptist.org if you have any information on the whereabouts of the original pews or to donate materials for new pews.
