NOTES IN PASSING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 126, 30 May 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

NOTES IN PASSING.

Dr. Kitson has, on account of illhealth, resigned the *»»s*?*%* the British and Foreign Bible a position he has occupied for the last 32 years.

In his address at the opening of the Vatican radio station, the Pope spoke for ten minutes, and in that brief time, quotations' from the Scriptures.

It is proof of the progress of Christian Science that the board of directors of the Mother Church in Boston are planning to build a new publishing house at a cost of three million dollars This will be the new home of the "Christian Science Monitor," besides other publications of the Church.

For some time preparations have been in progress to commemorate to-morrow, at Rouen, France, the fifth centenary of the death of Joan of Arc. A number of Roman Catholic prelates and other persons of distinction from many nations are expected to be present. An unpretentious book giving a statement of the authentic events of the peasant girl who believed it was her mission to save France, has just been published by the Religious Tract Society. The writer is Mabel Dodge Holmes.

A number of Scottish women have petitioned the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is now sitfcin» in Edinburgh, for the removal of th« barriers which prevent women from ordination to the diaconate, the eldership, and the ministry. The signatures include those of the Marchioness _ of Aberdeen, Lady Balfour of Burleigh, and the late Lady Frances Balfour. The Marquis of Aberdeen, like Lord Balfour of Burleigh, who died some years ago, is one of the leading laymen in the church. A thanksgiving service is to be held to-morrow in St. Andrew's Church, Waiuku, in connection with the jubilee celebration of the building of the church. The preacher will be the Rev. W. J. Comrie. Other meetings of a commemorative and social nature will be held on Monday, at which the Presbytery of Auckland will be represented. In "the event of the General Assembly, which meets nest week in Wellington, approving of the petition to create a South Auckland Presbytery, from Papatoetoe southward, Waiuku will henceforth be in the new Presbytery. There seems to be no end to the output of books about the fourth gospel and its authorship. One of the latest, and, certainly, one of the most fantastic, is by E. S. Hoernle, and published by Blackwell. The writer is .of opinion that it is, in part, Johns written account of what he had seen ot our Lord and had heard Him say, a miracle of art, "so sure, so subtle, so supreme. But, only in part. The elders of Ephesus got a scholarly writer to combine with John's account another book, by Philip the Evangelist. This he did, but took liberties with both accounts, and added spurious statements of his own; the result is the fourth gospel as it appears in the Bible.

The London Youth Evangelistic Campaign, which began in October, was >rought to a close two months ago. No fewer than 335 meetings were held in different parts of London, attended by over' 300,000 persons. No less than 417 London churches, embracing all denominations, co-operated in the misv°^T? I ; k ' as well as a number of Y.M.C.A.S and other kindred societies. The expectations of the leaders of the campaign have been more than realised. Thousands of young men and women in

London crowded the meetings, and large numbers of them responded to the forceful and stirring appeals of the miasioners. The Rev. Lionel B. Fletcher, ■who is expected back in Auckland in the middle of July, was one of the missioners. He was accompanied by Mrs. Fletcher, who was of great help in dealing with inquirers.