Oihi Bay (Rangihoua Bay) at the time of the 150th anniversary of the first Christian service in 1964, where the Rev. R E Marsden (great-great-grandson of Samuel Marsden) conducted the service.

The Reverend Samuel Marsden (1765-1838) was the driving force behind the establishment of Anglican mission stations in New Zealand in the early 19th century. His work and that of his missionaries helped build a relationship of trust with Māori chiefs, paving the way for the acceptance of an official British Crown presence in New Zealand.

Born in England, Marsden was a member of the Church Missionary Society and remained formally based in New South Wales, but developed an interest in evangelizing New Zealand from the early 1800s onwards. Europeans had known of New Zealand since the 1640s and by the early 19th century there had been increasing contact between Māori and Europeans, mainly by the many whalers and sealers around the coast of New Zealand and especially in the Bay of Islands. A small community of Europeans had formed in the Bay of Islands, made up of explorers, flax traders, timber merchants, seamen, and ex-convicts who had served their sentences in Australia (and some who had escaped the Australian penal system). Marsden was concerned that they were corrupting the Māori way of life, and lobbied the Church Missionary Society successfully to send a mission to New Zealand.

Marsden also protested to the British authorities about the trade in Māori heads, the involvement of the British in tribal conflicts, and lawlessness in Kororāreka, a mixed-race settlement in the Bay of Islands. He helped convince the Governor of New South Wales to support the appointment of a British Resident in New Zealand, a crucial link in the chain of events that ultimately led to Britain seeking sovereignty over New Zealand.

Lay missionaries Thomas Kendall, John King and William Hall were chosen for the New Zealand mission in 1809, but it wasn’t until November 1814 that Marsden took his brig "Active" on an exploratory journey to the Bay of Islands with Kendall and Hall. Marsden conducted the first Christian service on New Zealand soil on Christmas Day 1814. The service was spoken in English but translated into Maori for the 400-strong Māori congregation. He led off with the Old Hundredth (Psalm 100) and then preached from Luke 2:10 – 'behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy'.

A mission station was founded with a base at Rangihoua Bay, later moved to Kerikeri, (where the mission house and stone store can still be seen), and ultimately a model farming village at Te Waimate.

Archives New Zealand Reference: AAQT 6539, A76870, R24459938