Show tells story of first New Zealand's first missionaries

Laurel Gregory and Rev Amanda Neil, descendants of the Kendalls, one of the first missionary families to New Zealand, will be performing at Christ Church on Friday. Photo/ Supplied

The story of some of the first settlers to arrive in New Zealand will be told at Christ Church on Friday night.

The Church Missionary Society of New Zealand is celebrating its 125th anniversary and the Wanganui branch is presenting Our Courageous Forbears - the story of the life of the first missionaries.

Chairman of the Whanganui branch, Allan Anderson, said Christianity was introduced to New Zealand on Christmas Day 1814 in the Bay of Island by the four families who had come to New Zealand from Britain as the original missionaries.

The descendants of one of the families - the Kendalls - will be performing a re-enactment of that day.

Mr Anderson said the New Zealand society was still active across the globe.

"We've got about 30 missionary partners overseas and we've been instrumental in the establishment of the church in East Africa," he said.

"It does a lot of development. It's No 1 job is to spread the gospel to wherever but it does a lot of social work too."

It is not too different to the work of the missionaries two centuries ago.

"These first ones, they were carpenters. They built the first European houses. It was the first time a steel plough had broken the soil here," Mr Anderson said.

"And of course they were six months from home. They lived in pretty atrocious conditions."

The celebration will be held at Christ Church on Friday, October 27 at 7pm.

Ticket are $10 for adults (students free) and are available at the parish office on Wicksteed St.