RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 171, 21 July 1928, Page 2 (Supplement)

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

PRESENT-DAY OUTLOOK. ! CHURCH AND DRAMA. • v -'" i n i. it.\v >t\r;t:r> in M'lll:!>].' VI. : A it. piVuuliy ' j •' - < lie '1.1 V V\ Ili'Tl ( hi; •' ''i•'! I • agl !II till' | ,o\\ ' ! I:r | lea n l.f f"tl H t l",'l HIT V . ' 1 'i r.« •. gave permission fur performance of Mr. Ma field':11 ' ••''' i-riiiiry ( athpdr.il, w here it l- '.V! IMI "-I'd by I'IMjO people OH a hot 1 i ' x 11' ■'i'iay .1 f t•■rrii'on. > ' ' ' •' !i"'e "I high solemnity was struck i I•• -lti liui nix. Mr. Mascfield, greatly ! : -'i r> has >~j ins prologue in heaven, i •nd introducinl ■ ,i~ play" with blasts ' >iuwn by the long. gleaming trumpets i the angcli-' ho-t-. The trumpeter, j ,;ress.>d h\ Mr. ('haries Kieketts, with; • .lie fantasy ran;* hi- gulden ea.ll through : •he gulden navt.- and departed."' writes! 'ho special corre-pondent of tho '""Man-' ' h'jatcr Guardian." in a notable description of the rendering of Mr. Masefield's j J day. '"Three angels. 'The I'ower,' 'The > Sword.' and 'Tile Mercy," clad in some ! ••shining golden stuff, now appear, and 1 soon follows a, figure all in white—the J '"hri.-.t "i popular art, crowned and hieratic. With Him the angels converse: .a simple verse. counselling Him—! • he Spirit of Chri-f —of the perils that, ■ '.wait, the nigh adventure of taking on •' •*«ah. do these high presences . nter the! -aapes of Peter and of Paul with pro- • "onetie speeches, and the argument pro- j ■f 'h- •I'-": the Spirit of, " •-•'■>•• : '•■ my glory and j 't>j ' ' mhood.' The »nir« ■ host, for whom Mr .... •••>';•• ritten soaring! mn >ii . . • - S igers. - ' ; r. h.dden in the gal- i .•'i-y over the ehoir screen. They plav the j part of the chorus in a Greek play, and j after the wraith of Christ has gone i a ith wi«tful words on his lips thev sins?! a joyful lyric calling <.n all created i thing- :o 'a- thrushes in the winter j lift their ce.-ta.-y aloft among black J ' "-nigh-.' I ••Th" action now shifts to earth. From ' ' let ran sept, which may be supposed to j • j. pity the world, is the choir the heavens. I llii* Three Kings tnanh on the stage j gaily attired as in a Renaissance picture, j with a retinue of mail-clad warriors ] carrying lance-. "Kadi splendid king declares his creed and his faltering faith in it, now that Christ is coming, iu wistful lyrical mea--ures. Then follows what in the mediae\.il mystery was otten an interlude of -iieer fooling-—the rustic humours of the -hepherds. Here Mr. Mascfield has • iarcd to be human, and with the happiest results. The talk of 'Rocky,' " Sandy.' and 'Earlhy' was perhaps tho best thing in the play. ''The ['oet handles bis rustics tenderly, as if he was glad of a, respite from the -train of finding words for inexpressible, unspeakable things. He is on his own ground in telling tho 'cruel, hard shame' of the world's slaves. '"After this the solemn pageant of the Nativity is unfolded. There is a beautiful chorus for the angels singing the praises of God 'Who brings into the dark of human life this shining spark'; the clear voices till the whole amplitude <>f the nave with cheerful lilting strains. The kings return and tell of the weariness of the search for the Saviour-King who is to change 'the world's old way.' From angels clad in robes of exquisite blue they hear the glad tidings. ""The climax of tho play came in «ilenee. The curtain was drawn aside, and in the Gothic arch leading into the ehoir was seen the mother of Jesus seated in a litter with the Child on her knee. Tho blue-clad angels attended upon her. This was the finest pictorial effect in the mystery —the immobile figure enthroned at the top of the long flight of steps and around and below the of gold-clad 'Powers.' picturesque kings and russet shepherds. Into this chorus of solemn presences the poet in the ode that was sung by the angels brought in voices of the fields and woods. 'The Blackbird's First Cry' and 'The Crying of Cocks a3 the Thorps \waken' all combined in a hymn of welcome to the light. "The kings make their offerings in '■ er-es whn-e easy tripping motion 13 meant to express the happiness of discovery. The simple lines put into the rnou'hs of the shepherds as they bring their gifts are exquisite, to my mind the best poetry in the play. This scene of adoration is such as has not been seen n an Engli-h cathedral in modern times, perhaps never before. I'oeK artist, musi- ■ ian, and actors vcere co-operating in an '<!mosr. unprecedented act of worship. 1 All Was Hinnonious. j A false note would have been lor- j ■ ■ bin. Happily all was harmonious, all I •Tas and austere. The set scene' j ■_Touped at the top of the steps broke up and a rich pageant closed the play. The | -nepherri-, took up the litter and carried j 'he statue iiko figure down to the level! •■i the nave, and the hierarchy of kings i and spiritual beings followed after. The' audience was invited to join in the i -inging of the final choru-> of short-lined ( •rinmphant .-.tanzas proclaiming the J Redemption, but few had the courage to ■ d '> -o. "After Cue bright-hued throng had i disappeared. still -inging, the last words j were -poken by the mysterious 'Power-;' j as they str/#r] high and solitary on the j e'noir rteps. These strange conceptions i are Mr. MasefiMd's chief addition t, ; the dramatis per.-onae of the mystery play. Last of all the 'Power of God,' a tall figure all gold, was left alone fo say the • Words: — j new i low u tl li'l Worship «,i,r , ; -vl a!t i)nr Father fur this tbin^. <- The trumpeter advanced, and, raising j his long trumpet, sent a lively shower • of notes down the nave. The. play was ' over. } •T should add that this my-tery was l ,l communal effort of Canterbury, and J therefore in the true mediaeval tradi- j t ion. With the exception of some, • ingera from London all who took part— ; 'heir names are not announced —were j | folk.*' | An nii< renting announcement was made to the Christchurch Cathedral Chapter recently—-f hat, Ihe Bisliop was arranging for a University la-rvico shortly, on the lines cJf those in the Kn#!. ''-iversities ■which are famous for Iheli ..o.sociation Btill more "I uher.-il v St- * VP" that eiU - ,) >*K in ftn tU "" K ' I aLhL ' r " dents anl professora, etuQ >r j J|^c of the University in

WORLD'S STUDENT CHRISTIAN* MOVEMENT. !

I iho Speaker of the House of ( „u,moi; s . London, speaking on an important occa- : 1 >ion, said of a certain movement, "1 look ! to it to give the League of Nations its J spiiit?- humanity because of Christianity! —without which there can be no life/ • Tho movement referred to was the | H orld a Student Christian Federation, not yet 3-3 years old, and embracing over ' :h.H 1,000 students in forty-three countries, including Russian mystics, practicalminded Anglo-Saxons, students of black races, yellow races, brown ruces, white! races. What unites so heterogeneous a I fellowship? An idea—one idea, that \ • le-us Christ l>e!ieved something ideally j ri'Jit and practically possible, and demonstrated the truth of His belief in ■ Hi- own life when He said that we werei all sous of one Father, and could onlv' live together in co-operation, that dividid' ,we must perish. In Jesus Christ the} ,-Indent Christian movements of the : world find ""the Way, the Truth, the 1 ! Life"; in Him they realise their motto; ; j"L't. omnes unum sint." ! A thorough study of racial and inter-j i national relations is part of the pro-i j gramme of the movement. As a practicH | j method of promoting good will, visits of i students from one country to another •are encouraged and organised. Here is jan illuminating instance. The Japanese 1 students in America have granted, out of gratitude for the welco" e received in the j Cnited States, a scholarship of 1500 i dollars for an American student in 'Japan. j The missionary cause has always been! i ecui ra 1 in the work of the movemer't.) : which can proudly and gratefully claim! I that over eleven thousand men a:,di i women student volunteers have gone as j ! missionaries from the universities and i ; colleges of Christendom. Within this world confederation Newi Zealand has its own student Christian movement, and in each University eol- ! lege there are strong Christian unions. ■ The Dominion headquarters, it may be ; mentioned, are situated in Christchurch. 1 Sunday, July 29, has been fixed as the day of prayer for New Zealand students, i The movement has before it many tasks ; and problems. To help in realising its j ideals some men and women are willing j and able to contribute to its work h ? j material gifts; some are unable to dot j this; but many can, and should, join in! i this day of intercessior —that all Christ's | j followers may be one. '

CURRENT NOTES. | — |

j Miss Mary Harkness. who died at j Highbury, hud a record of 41 years' serI vice as a missionary of the W.M.A. at . 1 Swatow. I ____ I The Year Book for 1927 shows .".j4S I Congregational Churches in the United States of America, with 928,(jo 6 communicants. and a total attendance of 2,500,000. The C'ongreeationalists founded Harvard, j Yale, and fifty other colleges. , ! The American members of lhi- Chris-; tian J'.ndeavour Ui.ion have decided to' hold their jubilee convention at San 1 Francisco in 1931. It will l*e "Tlie Golden ' Anniversary in the ColdeM Stat'-, I<y i!i>Golden Gate." An illustration of imw the times j change is given in a paragraph appearing ; in the "War Cry."' This states that -lot years ago some Salvationists were j released from Briiton gaol. Laving undergone a. month's imprisonment for form- j ing part of a musical procession through j the streets of Torquay. Splitting hairs seems t'> have been uj tendency in the, churches in bygone day-. ; For instance, in 1000 in England, bu*- j tons were regarded as things of or.na- 1 meat, rather than use, and at one time j in America the Hook and Eye Baptists i founded separate churches,, in order to! protest against the Use of buttons. j Dr n. K. Carroll's statistics of the American churches -how ;ui inerea-e in! church membership during 1927 of j 573,000. The Catholic group (including the Roman, Polish and Old Catholics), made the greatest gain, then the Methodists, followed by the Lutherans and the Disciples of Christ. Presbyterians ar.d j Friends show a net loss. Tlie? Duke and DiicVsr- of York en- , rolled as the first members of a society : named "The Friends of York Minster.'' : The object of the society is to maintain j worthily the service.? which are inevi- j tably costly, and the fabric, which i- j making abnormally heavy demands at j the present time in respect to its stone i work, its roofs and especially its unique j heritage of stained windows. I Bishop Ilensley Henson. addressing the. Durham Discharged Prisoners' Aid j Society, said: "The connection between! crime and gambling is probably fa" I closer than is generally recognised. Both . the gambler and the criminal exhibit thej same disposition to take ri-ks in the pur-; suit of gain. Both belong to that sini-lcr, I description of men who prefer excite- i j ment to the prosaic experience of steady! [work. The gambler is at home in the: I atmosphere of dishonesty."' i | "Them were services at Banana on! I March 22 and 23. iind at Camboon on ; the 2iith, the first, J understand, for' | twelve years at this latter place. The;, t whole population of the township came. |to church. So that when, in the middle: | of service, a car with hungry travellers , drove into the town, and tooted enough j |to wake the dead t here was no ojiq, to. j attend to them."—(Queensland parish. | P ;t I»- r - i, I "The spiritual interpretation which I! give to the univer.-e leads me to a belief^ .in the permanence ol spiiitual values.'. to a conviction thai human personality;. iri which those values are manifested . | will tii.t be destroyed. When we :i-k her ' verdict on such speculations, science is i silent. She can answer none of the uiti-j j mate quf -tions that we pur, to her. Tin yI ■ . are not in her province. She deals with; the world of sense-observation, tells t:si }of sequences in physical and biological j ( 1 phenomena, and leaves us -peculating as i ito the Reality which binds them to-! . ! '/ether.''- i;i-hor> Harney. • i 1 ! For seventy-three years u private! chapel has formed part of the warehouse} of Thomas Adams. Ltd., in the Nottingham lace market, and daily services are held each morning for the staff. It is the custom each new year to hold a service for friends of the firm, and this year the Bishop of Leicester, who has local connections in the city, preached. The late Thomas Adams, who established [ this valuable practice, was a devout man | and the witness to Christianity which is] here to be found in the midst of a busy commercial world unceasingly points to the fact that there are higher things than the mere making of money. % i