RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 61, 11 March 1916, Page 14

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

"TO HIM THAT OVEBCOMETH." O <6od of light, iHow long the nightt How slow Thy grinding mills! ;The everlasting hills ■Hear and despise Our doubting cries. •Hemenrber then. Ye sons of men, "Not peace," so spoke the 'Lord, "I bring you hut a sword. After the strife 'liy crown of life: • (Beneath no prale My years shall fail, My promise still is enre, To him that shall endure sUnto the. end. My peace I send.""

SEEK OB UNSEEN.

(Hen cay that they saw angela. Some may doubt iAnd others may explain; But, when strong foemea gather round about, 'Who says that ifaith is vain? That which a man has sown. his' hands mnst reap, Tine choice may be his own: Their watch the host of heaven still shall keep When <we seem most alone. Some dpiiTly see, some wonder if they saw, Not trusting human sight, Clinging more closely to the common law, Dazed !by the sudden light Bnt In those hours of peril and of prayer— Vision or sight or dream. Seen or unseen, the.ansEl hosts are there. And •God is still supreme.

CHURCH NEWS AND NOTES.

A. b-iwiitg grace of humour is an advontagßi even to a.president of a Methodist conference. During the session of that body in Auckland it was decided to nominate this year the president for ■1917, and, aa leiial, when any change is suggested,.all sorts of objections were (raised in the shape of que&ti-one as to (what would happen if something occurred to the- candidate. Wihen this had become wearisome, the discussion ended in a buret of laughter wihen the President (Rev. A. C. Lawry) asked "What •would 'happen if a brother dropped dead on account of the shook at finding himBelf chosen for that office?

In the conjee of . a eennon at St. ■Matthew's Church last Sunday night, the Rev. W. E. Gillam, spealring of probable conditions after the wax, referred to Dr. Horton's remariss as published recently in the religious ooformna of the ♦ supplement in the Auckland. "Star," and read the article to the congregation.

Oommiseioner and Mia. Cadman, "two of the oldest officens in. the Salvation ■Army, fawe just celebrated their golden wedding.

The general prosperity of the rubber and other industries at Singapore ha* greatly assisted the income of the Presbyterian Mission to the Chinese at that place, The total amount given last year was £836.

•Father Bernard Vanghan, preaching at St. Mary's Church, kast London, said the present war was a terrible comment on the uprooting of Christianity in their midst, but God would draw gre*t and lasting good out of it, provided they would give Him a chance to do so. They must push on with thjs Ssjirt as"crttsaders in a holy warfare, -that thing should shake them from their grip of the enemy till they could plant upon his soil the flag which, wherever it floated in the breeze, meant freedom, justice and civilisation. •-

Dr. W. T, Manning, of Trinity Church, New York, speaking of happenings when the present war is over, stated: "It seems clear that the world will be a new place, and that the Church will have the greatest opportunity she has ever yet known. It seems certain that out of this war will come a mighty impulse toward democracy. With all its horrors the struggle is making toward worldbrotherhood."

The Rev. S. J. Serpel, of Masterton, who has been transferred by the Methodist Conference to Thames, had charge of that church twenty years ago. The Rev. Donald and Mrs. Haultain have left for Sydney, en route to British East Africa, where they are to work under- the aegis of the Church Missionary Society-.

The Bishop of Liverpool has sent a letter to the clergy of his diocese urgin<* them to promote the cause of temper' ance hy personal example and by propaganda. He points out that during the siymonths from January to June, 1915, the amount spent by the nation in strong drink was eight millions more than during the corresponding months of 1914, and calls attention to the fact that this vast increase has taken place at a time when almost everything depends on discipline and self-denial.

The Rev. Frank Edwards, a Wesleyan minister, by his promotion to the rank of captain in the Royal Fusiliers, has completed a remarkable record of service. Failing, after repeated appeals, to obtain nomination to a chaplaincy, Mr. Edwards enKsted as a private in the Royal Fnsiliers on January 4, 1915. He had previous knowledge of .eoldiering, tnd, passing rapidly through the various grades of promotion from lance-corporal to platoon sergeant, he was commissioned in March as second lieutenant. He was then sent to the Hythe' School of Musketry, and heading the list was appointed musketry officer to the battalion with the rank of lieutenant, and was responsible for training the battalion in marksmanship, fire discipline, Bniping, etc. Hie work in this capacity gained the commendation of the officer commanding, and 'he was thereupon promoted captain and was at once placed in command of C Company—the "West Country Regiment"—one of the finest in the brigade.

It -would almost seem as if a great war was required to bring about the long talked of union of the churches. Statements made 'by cT&plains who have returned -from the front all point to the absence of creed in' the trenches. One minister recently related in Auckland hovv he and an Anglican took turns with a Eoman Catholic and ix Presbyterian chaplain in tratebing beside a dyin* soldier lad. He belonged to the Presbyterian church, but it chanced that he died with his "head supported .by . the Catholic priest, ivhp*-also stood by later when the burial- Service was read.

From /Wellington comes the information that in order to organise spiritual forces in this time of crisis, an endeavour is being made to band together Christian people of all churces throughout the Dominion to pray daily, that a wave of national repentance may sweep through the land: and, second, that God ivill bring us safely through- our time of trial and testing. A representative committee has been formed to further this movement, which has the approval, among others, of the Primate, Bishop Kevill, Commissioner Hodder (Salvation Army), and Mr. C. Cathie (chairman of the Baptist Union).