ECCLESIASTICAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 158, 6 July 1899, Page 3

ECCLESIASTICAL.

A cable message from Sydney announces that the Eev. R. Scott West, of St. David's, Auckland, has been called to the Burwood (Sydney) Presbyterian Church. Burwood is a suburb of Sydney, and the Presbyterian Church there enjoys the reputation of being- one of the most influential in New South Wales. The invitation to Mr West was, we understand, a unanimous one. Should it result in his leaving New Zealand to ta,ke up work on the other side, the ministry here will lose one o£ its most eloquent and broad-minded members, and the city a gentleman who has identified himself with every worthy movement, and has exercised a widely beneficial influence in literary circles.

The Wellington Opera House was crammed on June 29 on the occasion of a welcome being tendered to the Eev. L. M. Isitt, upon 'his return to the colony. The Eev. J. Dawson occupied the chair, in the absence of the Mayor, owing to a, prior engagement. Short addresses were given by Mrs Harrison Lee, 'Miss Kirk, Mr Bull, of Auckland, and Mr T. E. Taylor, M.H.E. Mr Isitt, who received a very enthusiastic reception, spoke at some length. . He related some of his experiences in the Old Country, where, he said, it seemed a hopeless task to make any 'headway in temperance reform. The liquor trade there was bolstered up by the churches and by the leading people to such an extent that all efforts in the direction of decreasing the traffic had very little effect. With regard to the temperance movement in New Zealand he said the Prohibitionists were very confident that the next local option poll would see prohibition carried in several districts.

At the request of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, the Bey. William Gillies, of Timaru, one of the most popular clergymen in the colony, has undertaken the task of placing1 before the churches throughout the colony the scheme of the Assembly for celebrating the end of the century. Afc Wellington on June 13, Mr Gillies addressed the congregations of St. John's tin the morning) and St. Andrew's (evening) on the- subject, explaining that the Assembly had decided to vote the sum raised to the reduction of the debts on churches, the building of churches in newly-settled districts, and rendering help to struggling congregations. The Wellington Elders' Association, which had suggested the scheme, and which is to have the direction of the furld, had recommended that the Assembly should aim at the raising of £200,000, but the amount had been reduced by about half. Mr Gillies was sanguine that the first amount would be the sum totalled before the mission closed. Although he had only been at work for four days in advocating the Century Fund, he had been much encouraged, and £1,000 had been contributed up to that evening. This sum has since been added to. Mr Gillies makes Napier his next place of call, Auckland to follow.