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Minutes of the General Assembly 2012
passage of the motion through Assembly. Along with all this went participation in the
work and committees of Wellington Presbytery, notably the commission to restructure
the Presbyterian Social Services Association.
In 1959, he was called to the large parish of North Invercargill. From nine elders at
Naenae, he now had a session of 44 elders and a deacons’ court of 28. There were
two morning services and an evening service which he turned into a teaching occasion.
This proved popular with a packed church, and some country parishes transferring their
evenings to Invercargill North. Stewart served this parish for 17 years and again, in
addition to the usual presbytery commitments on committees and as moderator twice,
he became very active in community affairs: president of Southland Council of
Churches for nine years, welfare officer for Civil Defence, elected member of the
Southland Hospital Board for nine years, chair of the Ministers Fraternal (as it was then
called) for 12 years, and chairman of Lifeline, in addition to working on a number of
interchurch surveys, services and missions. He was a frequent radio broadcaster and
presenter for a TV series on favourite hymns with the parish choir, and an athletics
official and referee.
In 1972, he was granted overseas study leave and characteristically packed the year
with activity: study courses, interchurch meetings, a semester at Toronto University,
and visits to many places of interest which left him saying, “It was a totally heartwarming,
mind-blowing experience of learning, growth and development.”
Phyllis died in 1963. Stewart married Anne Hollister-Jones in 1968. They moved north
in 1976 to Kaeo-Kerikeri Parish where he retired from parish work in 1981. Orcharding
now took up his energy, and he became associate secretary of the Tamarillo Growers
Association for 13 years. He then moved to Tauranga to help his son Peter in his retail
business until he finally retired to Stokes Valley in 2004, at the age of 89 years. He still
had energy to travel widely around the country.
After a shaky start, Stewart’s life was packed with action in church, community and
sporting activities. Through it all, he had a deep concern for contemporising the Gospel
and pursued an interest in theological issues, starting as a 13 year old when he
responded to what he called “a fire and brimstone evangelist” with the reservation that
“I didn’t think it was fair of God but didn’t dare tell anyone.” To the end, he was
concerned to bring fresh insights into public worship and the teaching of the faith.
He died in the hospice preaching with humour to his extended family and sharing with
others the faith which had empowered his living.
Barton, Reverend Doctor Alexander Steven
31 May 1928 – 24 April 2012
Alex was born in 1928 in the Ponsonby manse. His father was Frazer Barton and his
mother was Jeannie Reid. Both his father and his Uncle Henry were Presbyterian
ministers and both were Moderators of General Assembly.
In 1935, the family moved to Gore where his father was to be minister for some 18
years. He often recounted the story of this road trip from Auckland to Gore on gravel
roads with 10 people on board the 1929 Chevy. The last person in was his father with
the luggage strapped to the running boards, so no one could get in or out of the car.
In 1949, his hard work to attain his BA and a holiday job working in a hospital led to his
contracting tuberculosis. He spent eight years at Waipiata and Cashmere sanatoriums.
8 Session 2