To Be or Not to Be.....?

"Crosslink" Apr 2001

To Be or Not to Be.....?
Presbyterian Journalism from 1862-2001

By Yvonne Wilkie, Archivist

Why do we have or want or even perceive the need for a Church paper? These questions have been confronted with regularity and not truly resolved in the 146 years of New Zealand Presbyterianism. Its story of journalism is a chequered and troublesome one. What can or cannot be written, size and format, regularity of publication, subscription rates, self- supporting or subsidised, denominational or ecumenical, editorial freedom, means of outreach, and debt are some of the common threads found in the manuscripts of the church papers. Overtures, petitions, heated debates, special review committees, barrier act decisions, sessional committees, conferences, letters to the editor, sales promotion, surveys and marketing strategies all reveal the sense of divergent opinion and indecision among the faithful.

The ‘Presbyterian' (Canterbury, 1866 – not known), ‘Canterbury Presbytery and Church News' (1873-74), ‘NZ Presbyterian News' (Auckland, 1872-1884), the ‘Evangelist' (Dunedin, 1869-79) and ‘The Presbyterian' (1879-1893) were papers begun and financed by individuals. Each depended upon the generosity of friends and their personal contacts with business people, thus each existed with difficulty and were in constant peril of folding up.

The first official paper of the national Church was the ‘Christian Outlook' (Dunedin - 1894-1986), edited by the Rev. Rutherford Waddell. The northern Church agreed to recognise it as their paper from the start. The financial support given by both branches of the church was little, and up to1922 the Otago Daily Times ‘wrote off a considerable sum that was lost in publishing.' The existence of the paper depended solely upon subscriptions and the publisher, who was just as responsible to ensure increased subscriptions as the Church, received the same harsh rebukes from the General Assembly.

Rutherford Waddell's evangelical and ecumenical enthusiasm resulted in a ‘curious literary event taking place' with the Methodist and Congregation Churches amalgamating their papers with the ‘Outlook' in 1901. Circulation increased to 8000 in 1902; however, by 1909 other avenues of funding were being sought. It was suggested that the Methodist and congregational Churches subscriptions were insufficient resulting in the loss of profit. The Methodist Conference of 1910 resolved to withdraw, acknowledging the cordial way the two editors had worked together, but also noting the ‘painful surprise to the great majority in the Conference to learn that the Methodist connection was regarded as a drag and the cause of all deficiencies.' The Congregational Union withdrew the same year noting their denominations
indifference ‘in the face of matters as they are it is simply a useless and unappreciated waste of time to endeavour to obtain a news service.'

Not until 1923 was a full time Editor appointed. A joint newspaper was considered again in 1930 but in 1932 the General Assembly considered it an unwise move. There was a 4/- profit in 1942, one of the few occasions, and subscriptions reached 13,536 in 1961. The editors offered widely varied styles and emphasis that tells much about who we were and wished to become.
‘The Outlook' struggled through until 1986 when a joint paper was once again taken seriously and ‘Crosslink' was born. It seems that history is repeating itself as the Presbyterian Church moves once more toward a denominational paper.

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