A Little Jem to discover in the Pacific
I love visiting Norfolk Island, its quaintness really appealed to me. And I really loved discovering this gem of a church and learning its history. My first full day on the island we were taken on a half day tour of some of the sights, a stop at this church was included in the tour. What made it even more personal was that our tour guide had been married in the church and her mother had as well.
The first Anglican bishop of New Zealand established the Melanesian mission on Norfolk Island in 1867, a college and church were built as a training facility for missionaries who would then go and work in the Melanesian Islands. Over the years hundreds of students came from the various islands to train at the college and then returned back to their communities. The Melanesian Mission remained on Norfolk Island until 1920, when it moved to the Solomon Islands. They left behind their beautiful church.
The chapel (it almost seems wrong to call it a chapel as that seems too modest a name for St Barnabas') was dedicated in 1880.The Mission was called St Barnabas (son of encouragement) after the missionary companion of St Paul.
It has hand carved pews with shell inlays, English black marble floors and the roof beams reflect the craft of the carpenters, they were ship builders. Over the years items had been donated or made by the parishioners as this was a community church. The pipe organ is a particularly fine one that had been shipped from England, it has been restored a few times, the last time being in 2002. The stain glass windows above the altar show the 4 Gospel writers.
The baptismal font is in the middle of the aisle, our guide explained that after a couple is married and they walk down the aisle together, the font is in their way so what they do is each walks one side of it and they hold hands over the font as they pass. The pews are facing the aisle as the chapel was a teaching chapel, the students would face their instructors and also could practise their preaching.
The beautiful rose window is a memorial to those who died serving the mission, the five glass panels beneath the window commemorate the five mission members who were killed. The windows were a gift from members of the Mission in memory of those who had died.
The chapel still holds services today and it's open every day so anyone can visit. I do suggest that visiting for the first time, come with a guide and the whole experience will be somewhat more interesting. But then visit again at your own leisure to really enjoy the artistry in the chapel.
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