RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 253, 23 October 1909, Page 12

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

PHATEH.

(Bγ HEXRY I. COPE.) **3ui lion fl!»3 thoa prayest. pray to &y Father is in secret-—Hatt. ri. 6. Xo maft-er -what a man's theories csv b= abcur prayer, it is alnost certain to be toe case that at some time he wiil pray, and quite likely that he will pray almost habiiually. It al=o of~.<=ri happen; that ih'>se who protest IDOeC vigorously as to th-ir faith in prayer, trough often assuming the pos'ures and phrases of prayer, nevertteie=s actually pray least truly and enec:uaiiy. To many prayer is a habit surviving 6U-per?titinus practices. They themreally fear to go to sleep without praying, lest they should offend the Deity, and thus som» terrible calamity befall them. Perhaps from chiidhnod they have been taught with foolish forms of prayer to beseech the of heaven against a world of demons. So long as children are led to think of their w-,rld as peopled -with powers of evil, =pook=. goblins, and bogies, th=y readily and steadily pray to some good power to ward off such evil beings, especially during their sleeping bo-ors. Wh-en you etop to think about it, a great wrong is being done to childhood by sending the little ones to dreamland with their last words a petition in regard to dying before they Take.

Half <->f the petitions of the world grow out of fear. Men are afraid either oi the one they address or of some other super-human power or of impending disaster. Still other prayers grow out of sloth, men ask for a blessing on the crop they are too lazy to cultivate. or for the bread they -will not earn, or the virtues they will* not fight to win.

It i= a good thing that many prayers remain unanswered. Doubtless taost petitions fail to secure the specific thing requested. This would be an utterly immoral world if a few hasty or even tearful word? could put some of us at so STeat an advantage over the rest, if prayer might give us benefits unearned and undeserved.

There are higher levels of praying. They gTo-sr out of the conception of the friendship of the vaster -vorld of the spirit, out of the feeling that life lies beyond this clay-environed life of ours, thas spirit to spirit may speak. The infinite one loses awesome majesty in winning affection, and, where no voice is heard nor words are framed, the heart goes out in true prayer, in comHitmion and aspiration.

Prayer is friendsnip with the Infinite, the reaching out of the spirit of man after the life of the spirit beyond u=, the search for a sympathy deep and broad enough to feel witn all our needs, to pity and be patient and encouraging ■when we can hope for no such help from those who are limited by living on our present level.

Prayer U the heart's hunger for romffitrnion. the life that is in us. that life irhieh seems to feel 'hack before the cradle and reach out beyond the grave, feeking its own. calling for its companions, deep calling unto deep. It is aspiration. It- is as natural as breathIns. It cannot wait for times and seaFriendship would be a poor thing if it never got beyond the privilege of asking favours of the friend. Yet how many there are who talk of their affection for an infinite friend who never seek communion with the friend, except io recite some tale of woe, to pre*. cent some series of needs, or proffer conic requests. If you measure prayer as you measure business, by -what you get out of it. there i= nothing strange in its emptiness. If it is merely a superstitious ect. performed to placate an imaginary almighty adversary, the sooner your life is free from such a soul-paralysing habit the better.

No man ever pray? until praying rises from commercial petitioning to simple intercourse of soul. The world is a barren place, bounded by emptiness behind and darkness before, unless the deepest and best in us finds touch with the life that envelopes all our living, unless the soul within defies the limitations of science, and seeks its own atmosphere and intercourse of friendships.

CHTJKCH 3TEWS AND NOTES.

Sir Hnberi Perks. Bart., M.P., on his «return to England, ha-s been giving his impressions of Canadian Methodism. He ■aid that, wdth the exception of two Or three places, Methodism held premier position among the churches. He thought they would have been stronger still" U they had not given up lay preaching *nd the itinerancy, and made the circuit cyst-cm and the class meeting only traditions. He urged that if British Methodism wa« ;o live up to its great traditions it must strengthen its fine body of lay preachers, and adapt and not •bolish its itinerant, system.

The Mrttodists of New South Wales *re preparing to celebrate their centenarr in 1915, an-i it is intended to rai*e a centenary fund of £25,000 for churcii purposes. It, is expected that the new Archbishop of Sydney will be installed on Wednesday. November 17. The lay readers of the Manchester dioeeso have presented Archbishop Wright with an archi-episc-opal seal, in recognition of the work done by him on their behalf daring the past five years. The Methodist Home Mission anniversary is being celebrated in all tie churches of the Auckland circuits during nest week. Special sermons are to be preached to-morrow, and meetings will be held during the week in about a score of Methodist churches in the neighbourhood. Thp Pitt-street meeting, however, will not be held until the meeting of the District Synod, a month hence. Tae Archbishop of Toronto, who Is also Primate of Canada, has declared himself in favour oi the union of the Episcopalian with all the evangelical churches of the Dominion. Mr. G. W. That-cher, BJD., recently of Mansfield College, Oxford, has accepted the position of Warden of Camden College, and is ejected to reach Sydney eariy in the new year. Mr. Tluitcher, vrho is a Victorian by biroh and early education, is an eminent Hebrew scholar, and has for years been one of the lecturers at Mansfield College, under Principal lairbaira. Bishop Stunner (late of Guildford) and Mrs. Stunner celebrated the Oist anniversary of their wedding day a-t their Jxrase in The Gtose. ■Winchester. The jjsiwp's recipe ior old age is plenty of Esrd \rcik and a contented mind.

Bishop Ingham, of the Church Missionary Society, has started on an eight months' missionary journey to the Far East.

The Church of England uses over 130 languages in her foreign missions, and is indebted entirely to the Bible Society for translations of the Scriptures in about six-seventhj of these, and very larselv for translations in the others.

For a considerable time past, efforts have been made by the Mount Eden Congregational Church to collect sufficient ;noney to improve and complete the orgin. In order to assist that fuud, a recital was given this week by Mr. Xeville Kecaud, a visitor to this city, and an organist of considerable ability.

On account of the rapid growth in the population of Canada through immigration, there is a scarcity of ministers in newly settled territory. The -Methodist Church of Canada has dispatched one of its ministers, Dr. Woods worth, t-o England, to engage 100 young men as candidates for the Methodist ministry. He will spend some time in England seeing applicants in different centres, from Cornwall to Newcastle.

The Rome correspondent of the "Pall Mall Gazette" says: "The Vatican is following with keen interest the reports coming from Engl.tad with regard to a possible appointment of an Irish representative to the Holy See, intended to act in reality as a diplomatic agent for tie whole British Empire."

It is pleasing, in these utilitarian days. to find there are still some people left with sentiment in their composition. During t-he sitting of the Anglican Synod the Rev. E. M. Cowie referred to the alterations that are being made at Bishopscourt, and expressed the hop? that whatever was done in the direction of disposing of the old building, out of consideration for its history, care would be taken that the old bishop's chapel would not be diverted for other uses. He said there were tender associations connected with that chapel for many in the diocese. Mr. J. H. Upton, speaking from n purely business point of view, .-aid it would be ridiculous to put in any proviso that interfered with the chapel building being utilised for any other purpose than that for which it was originally constructed. He suggested that the only way "was for those who had the tender associations with that chapel to purchase it and place it somewhere else.

While a congregation of 6000 people at Orchard, Maine, alternately prayed and sang, the Rev. A. B. Simpson collected from them the sum of £10,(300 on behalf of the Christian Missionary Alliance. The collection -was taken after a day's prayer, and followed immediately after a powerful semon by Mr. Simpson, the

"Mail" says. As the preacher announced the surprising amounts, varying from 2/ to £100, £200, and even £1200. the congregation sang loudly '"Tis Rolling In." Mr. Simpson expects in the course of the summer to raise £55,000.

At the Seattle Convention of the Christian Endeavour Union there wis reported a total enrolment of 69.138 societies, with a membership of 3.456,900. This great host has been still further increased by the addition of 2355 societies, with a membership of 94.210. making the pre sent net enrolment 71,499 societies, with 3-551,100 members. The Presbyterian* have the largest number of societies, followed by the Disciples, the Congregationalists, and the Baptists. Nearly fifty thousand persons have joined the Comrades of the Quiet Hour, and over 25,000 have enrolled in the Truth Legion as tithers.

The success that ha 3 attended the ministry of the Rev. 11. Steele Craik at Beresiord-street C-ongreg.itional Church was illustrated by the large attendance at his welcome home from Sydney with Mrs Craik. The gathering was held in the Berestord Hall, and the crowd that attended was so great that many were unable to get inside, and those who did were so tightly packed that many oi them would have been glad to get out again long before the meeting terminated In addressing the gathering, Mr Craik said that while he regretted the inconvenience experienced for want of a suitable hall, he was not altogether sorry, as it would emphasise the need there was for pulling down the old building, and putting in its place a larger one, fitted up with the requirements ior a modern up-to-date Sunday School, with class rooms, and a hall for the "Men's Own." Apparently Mr Craik has in view a big scheme of operations, involving considerable expenditure, for the purpose of making Beresiord-street an institutional church.

During the present month a gathering of considerable interest to Methodists is being held in Wesley's famous chapel in City-road, London. It is a general assembly of representatives from all sections of British Methodism. The idea originated with the Wesleyan Conference of 1905, when an influential committee of ministers and laymen was appointed to consider and report. Suggestions for a programme were agreed upon, and other Methodist bodies heartily responded. The Assembly consists of 500 elected representatives, being an equal number of ministers and laymen. The proportions are: Wesleyans 276, Primitive Methodists 112, United Methodists 100. Reform Union 6, and Independent Methodists 6. Questions of denominational policy and party politics i>.re. of course, being excluded, the object beins to take mutual counsel in regard to the pastoral and social tasks laid upon Methodism. It is a sort of MethodUt Parliament, but will have no legislative function. It is believed that, in addition to the gathering being a presentation of the fact of the unity of the Methodist Church, it will materially promote a spirit of practical friendliness between the different sections. Among xhe subjects for consideration are the following:—'"Personal Holiness in Modern Life," '-The Evidential Value of Christian Experience,"' '"The Mission of Methodism in the Twentieth Century."' "Methodism and Social Problems."' '"Methodism and Evangelism." Two great public meetings are beins held, to be presided over by Sir W. P."Hartley and Sir Robert Perks respectively.