DUNEDIN CENTRAL MISSION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7827, 21 June 1909, Page 4

DUNEDIN CENTRAL MISSION.

- The Rev. W. Slade, of the Central Mission, Dunedin, conducted the morning and evening services at the Baring Square Church yesterday. Before commencing his morning address, Mr Slade explained that the object of his visit to Ashburton was to lay before the congregation the requirements of the Central Mission at Dunedin, ivhich could • not be met without some outside assistance. The Mission had been started -some, twenty years ago, and at first the meetings were held m a small halj, The congregation increased, and about twelve or thirteen years ago the Garrison Hall was engaged, and the services have been held m that building up to the present time. This building was, however, quite unsuitable and Jacked many conveniences, and m addition to this it was not their own, and they had not, by the terms of the agreement with the trustees, full control over it. They were "^ving a rental of £4 a week, and this had proved a crushing burden. If they were paying this amount as interest on a loan they could attack the debt oeeaaiona]Jy and eventually remove it; but as matters npw stood the payment of this money mfght go pn for ever and they would be m no better position. Further, those who controlled the Qarrison Hall had subjected the Mission to' many humiliations. Frequently they were turned put p£ the hall, and last year this happened on three successive Sundays, with the result that the work was disorganised. The trustees of the hall were not exactly on the side of temperance reform —a work the Mission was very closely allied to, and last year a gentleman from Maine had been announced to speak m the hal}, and after the advertisement had appeared I,'and at about 7.30 pn the Saturday evening preceding the day of the lecture,' a message came from the trustees of the hn]l which amounted to this: that unless a promise were given the lecture could not be delivered, the doors of the hall would' be closed all day Sunday and the work of the Mission stopped, so far as that building was concerned, for the day. Mr Siade said that he had felt like using some very choice expletives, but had to submit quietly', The position had become very acute,_ by reason of the multiplied inconveniences and humiliations. He had felt at first that he woujld like to get a change when the 'next Conference s?at, but nacl decided that it would be better Jo face the position m Dunedin and remove the chief difficulty now confronting the Mission. A section upon which to erect a new building had been purchased for £,3PQO. The ground was worth considerably mono, and the trustees for the Mission would be atyle tp lease a'portion of it at a good rental, The site .question, had been settled and now they wanted sufficient money to build a' hall capable of holding from 1800 to 2000 people, and which would provide not only for the ordinary congregations, but for the needs of special occasions. They did not want merely an auditorium, but rooms also for all those branches of Christian work which the Mission concerned itself with. The cost of the building would _ be about £9000. His congregation did not include the rich, and was made'up chiefly of working people. They were just the class of men that the Mission wanted Ito get at. The wealthiest man m his congregation was a hairdresser, who gave him £10 towards the new building. In view of what he had told them, it was impossible to carry out the building scheme without some outside assistance. The Dunedin poopje were helping a good deal, and probably bocause of the value and urgency of' the cause, few had refused to help. The Presbyterians could hardly be expected to give them three figures as they did to their own institutions, yejj -f^Jiey were responding very well to his appeal, and sometimes gave sums represented by two figures. In coming to Ashburton he wanted to give all good and honest people a chance to have a few bricks m the new building, and with this end m view he would be calling upon them during his stay. • • • Mr Slade then delivered an address from the words "When Herod the King had hearcl these things he was troubled, and all Jerusalem, wjth Jiim" (Matthew, chapter 2, verse 8). The address was - largely historical, tho preacher dealing with those events which assisted Herod m gaining a throne to which he had no rightful claim, The means, which Herod took to secure the throne against any other claimant were recounted m the orjijer of sequence. Herod, thinking ho had removed every man who might endanger his reign, is filled witji fear when asked the question: ' 'Where is He that is born king of the Jews, for we have seen His star m the east and have come to worship Him?" His perturbation is easily understood j when the preceding history is remem- j berod. When Herod first went wrong he had no idea that he would have to rend his very heartstrings simply because of his one first sin. Sin followed sin, just as one link of a chain followed another. By way of application the preacher said that it is not the first sin merely, but the chain of consequences which has to bo considered. It was quite possible for men to pay too much for things. It would have h< en better for Herod to have been a her Isman than to have aspired to a throne. A man may make money and pay too dearly for it. He steals a little time; from his luncheon hour, then he goes back to business m the evenings. ir?e neglects homes, wife and children, who lose his influence; he gets the dollars, but he pays too much. Thf<n, h' w futile, all these efforts sometim-ia proved. Hero.d was going to establish a dynesty, but seventy years afterwards the Romans came and destroyed the Temple, and brought the Jpws into subjection. The (speaker concluded by urging his hearers to show obedience to God, who was ever ready to hplp those who wished to follow the r'giit course.