AUCKLAND STAKE CREATED The year 1958 was a time of significant change for the Church in New Zealand. The temple and Church College were put into operation and the country's first stake, the Auckland Stake, was created in May. Since the presidency of Gordon C. Young, district organizations had been readied for the time when stakes would be created in New Zealand. President Ariel S. Ballif spent much of his time as mission president training leaders all over the country for the mantle of leadership that soon would be theirs. On May 18, 1958, less than one month after the dedication of the temple, President Marion G. Romney presided over the creation of the Auckland Stake from the Auckland and Waikato Districts. The new stake was the first stake organized outside North America and Hawaii. George R. Biesinger, who was instrumental in the building of the temple and school, was called to serve as Stake President with William Roberts and Stanford W. Bird as counselors. Two years later, the Auckland Stake was divided. Brother William Roberts was called to serve as the president of the Auckland Stake, becoming the first New Zealander to serve as such in his homeland. (In 1998, members from the 13 stakes covering the same area as the original Auckland Stake were invited to a fireside to commemorate the anniversary of the stake's creation. A member who attended the 1958 meeting when the stake was created said of the commemorative fireside: "It was a wonderful opportunity to renew friendships and to appreciate the service of those who worked to prepare the way for the stake.") Church leadership in New Zealand became more localized after the creation of stakes. With stakes came quarterly and then semiannual conferences, and the end of the countrywide church conferences known as "Hui Taus." NEW ZEALAND MISSION DIVIDED Besides the creation of the country's first stake, 1958 saw the creation of the country's second mission. For more than 60 years the country had been served by a single mission with much of the Church leadership responsibility falling on the mission president. The creation of a stake and the splitting of the mission signified a point of development and maturity of the Church in New Zealand. Robert L. Simpson replaced President Ballif in Auckland as president in the North (Auckland) Mission. President Simpson later would serve as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He was the third New Zealand mission president to serve as a general authority. Alexander P. Anderson became the first president of the South (Wellington) Mission. The new mission was headquartered in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Since that time the Church has sent greater and greater numbers of missionaries to New Zealand. SEMINARY AND INSTITUTE IN NEW ZEALAND In 1968, seminary and institute leaders in Salt Lake City decided to implement the seminary program in New Zealand. Under the direction of Rhett S. James, a Church Education System employee who had served a mission in New Zealand, a corps of local teachers was trained. By February 1970, the first seminary classes were being taught in New Zealand. During 1971, four full-time and three part-time teachers were employed, and by the end of that year, 1,187 students were enrolled. In 1972, New Zealander Rex Kennerley replaced Brother James. The following year, the first four-year seminary graduation in New Zealand was held. By the end of 1974, 2,300 students were enrolled in seminary and institute courses. The benefits of the program were apparent in the increased activity among the young people and a rising percentage of temple marriages. AREA CONFERENCE HELD In the years following these events, the Church in New Zealand continued to grow and progress. Due to the worldwide growth of the Church, the practice of holding area conferences in different areas of the world was instigated. In 1976, the first area conference of the Church was held in New Zealand. The conference was the first church-wide gathering of the members of the Church in New Zealand since the discontinuance of the "Hui Taus" in the late 1950s. Many called the first area conference "the great Hui Tau." More than 16,000 people crowded into the stadium at the Church College of New Zealand to participate in an evening of cultural entertainment and more than 12,000 members attended the regular sessions of the conference. Visiting authorities, including President Spencer W. Kimball, spoke to those assembled. The meetings had a binding and strengthening effect for months and years to come. NEXT WEEK: Part 8: Faith Brings President Kimball to Area Conference Gathering ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CultureGrams, a division of MSTAR.NET, sponsors GEMS Worldwide Saints messages. Material related to this and upcoming Worldwide Saints series can be sent to worldwidesaints@culturegrams.com CultureGrams publishes concise, reliable cultural reports on more than 175 countries. For more information on CultureGrams, visit http://www.culturegrams.com An article titled "Roots of Faith," written by R. Lanier Britsch and found in the September 1989 Ensign, was used as a resource in compiling this message. The article is available to read and print online at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org in the Gospel Library section. GEMS is grateful to R. Lanier Britsch for his support of this series. Brother Britsch's book "Unto the Islands of the Sea, A History of the Latter-day Saints in the Pacific" (Deseret Book, 1986) is included in Deseret Book's electronic reference library, "GospeLink 2001." You can buy "GospeLink 2001" online at http://deseretbook.com/ldsworld.tcl?sku=4028853
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