MISSIONARY MEETING.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 250, 19 October 1907, Page 7

MISSIONARY MEETING.

The missionary meeting in connection. TTith'" ffie ISocesah Synod,' held in the i Choral-FaJLTaftt.,night, vas -Very; hxrge- " ly attended. - J' The , 'Bisfidp*(Br. Neligan) in opening the proceediiigs, referred feelingly to the comradeship arid high: tone of t&e previous meetings. He trusted the same spirit would actuate them that night. THE CLAIM OP MELANESIA. The Rev. P. T. Williams, in urging "the claims of Melanesia,'' said that the l •work of missions was an Imperial work of the church; without missions no great Empire such as the British could have been built- up. (Applause.) The Bishop of Melanesia had, during the past two years, spent practically the whole of his time away from his family, working in the uttermost parts of Jthe ;Islands: There Vers other missionaries who practically took their lives in their hands in order to spread the GospeL He did not under estimate the requirementsof the Maori and Home Missions, but he felt that the more they did for Melanesia, the more they did for the missions in New Zealand. The more missionary enthusiasm was inspired the Setter would it be for. the Maori, the peopie in the backblocks, and for the spiritual life of each individual present that night. (Applause.) CLAIM OF THE SKIT I/ETR. The! Bey.. H. Beeve eloquently championed the; shunts; of the settler.',' There was - no-Cli home in Zealand throughout, the-district where-home missionaries worked where a cordial welcome was not extended. One: of.his (the speakers) colleagues had a-district extending over 200 .miles, in. which there were four churches, but so scattered were his charges that he had never seen many of them. So rapidly was the ( country opening up that the need for 1 more men for backblock work was becoming imperative. More men were .wanted for the North, and one was wanted in Taranafci. He urged upon to put it to their boys whether they would not take a share in the great and glorious work by going to St. John's College and studying for that vocation. CLAIM 0E THE MAORI. In urging the claim of the Maori, the Rev. Taimona Hapimana briefly ;ontlined his own experiences in striving to bring natives to the Cross. At first they would not listen, but he was glad to say that a greater tendency to do so was now being shown. The" natives in the Waikatp and elsewhere Were setting aside sites for ministers' residences. 'The secret sate of spirituous-liquors was onething that had hampered progress in- his district, but he was glad .to say that it had now practically ceased. (Applauae.). The Maoris were beginning to become one people, and he hoped the. pakeba •would pray that the hearts---of Jbhe,: Maoris would be turned to the Lord Jesu3 Christ. (Applause.) ■ ■ --.-■—' THE BISHOP'S. ADDRESS. . The subject of the Bishop's address Was '"The Claim of the Lord." Could anything make this claim more, clear, he asked, than the threefold claim spoken of by tho previous speakers. There was an absolute necessity for mission -work if the Christian life was to be lived at all. The claim of tho Lord on Christian people was to go forth arid let other people know themselves—to .know that they were God's children. He did not ask them all to go out and be missionaries, because tha.t would be? nonsense, but the way in which they: could acknowledge the claim of the Lord was by saying, "I must send or be sent." Men and women were needed "in the mission field, and that need had got to be met by those on whom, the responsibility was east—ron the men and women of the church of the. Province of Ifew Zealand.