THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13563, 26 October 1909, Page 8

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

MEETING OF THE GENERAL

ASSEMBLY.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand—the Parliament of the Presbyterian Church —will be formally constituted in Cbristchurch this evening, and opens the ecclesiastical session for 1909. The event is one of very considerable interest, as tho Presbyterian. Church is one of the strongest and most influential in thj> Dominion. The Assembly is composed of ministers and lay members, front all tKe presbyteries in New Zealami. so that it is thoroughly representative of the Church. Preparations for tho session have been made by an energetic local committee, and there is no reason why the week's programme, heavy though it is, should not be got through in the time allotted. 'lhe Assembly will open to-night in St. Andrew's Church, and on succeeding days and evenings the meetings will bo held in Si. Paul's Church. All tho meetings will be open to the public, but special interest should bo shown in the evening meetings, -when subjects ol large public importance will be discu;>sed. THE BUSINESS OF THE SESSIO. The business of the Assembly will consist largely of receiving and discussnig reports relating to various puases ot Cnuroii iile anu work. Tue establishment of a new misuon station in India is one ot the most important subjects. A district has been selected on tno borders ot the Punjaub, and Uγ. Porteous has left JNew Zealand with a view of commencing work tnere. In the particular district there as a population of 2,<XK),U(JU natives, who are not served by a missionary. During his snort visit to -Now Zealand Dr. Porteous raised .half the sum necessary for tho erection of an hospital in tho district. The Assembly will also have tile question ot the appointment of a professor for the Tneoiogical College in JJunedin bofore it. Two of the iiome candidates, Dr. Smith and Mr Law, have retired, and tho choico now lies between the Rev. J. Dickie, minister of Tarland, Aberdeeashire, and two New Zealand candidates, the Rev. F Dunloo, M.A., Ph.D., of Invercargill, and the Rev. A. Whyto, M.A., 8.D., B.Sc., F.L.S., Havelock. The subject of temperance will also bo discussed. Tho Temperance Committee recommend petitioning Parliament to the wholesale licenses recently granted in the King Country, and to make the locker system illegal. They also express gratification at the continued good results of No-license, and urge ministers and superintendents to use all opportunities "offered for temperance instruction and pledge-signing in Sunday schools. The subject of the decline in Sabbath observance will also claim attention, and a proposal will be brought forward that Presbyteries and ministers should make definite efforts to protest against the open violation of the Sabbath that is going on. Evangelism is also one of the subjects that is likely to cause some discussion. At the constitution of the Assembly this evening the Bormon will be preached by the retiring Moderator, the Rev. J. Chisibolin, and the Moderator, the Rev. I. Jolly, will give his inaugural address. Mr Cbisholm is one , of tho pioneer ministers of Otago, and has been in the service of the Church for over forty years. He recently intimated his .desire to retire from active- work at an early date. Mr Chisholm has literary leanings, and his book "Fifty Years Syne," published some years ago, at the time -of tho Jubilee of' Otago, created an immense amount of interest. Mr Jolly is one- of the beet known ministers in the Presbyterian Church. Hβ took part of his theological course at Home, but came out to New Zealand at a comparatively early ago. He has been in charge of churches at Lawrence and South Dunedin, and is now at Palmerston North. Mr Jolly is a man of erudition and seholarehio, a powerful preacher, and is regarded as as" one of the leading men in t3ie New Zealand Presbyterian Church. HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES. Presbyterianism in New Zealand has practically two histories, as it is only since- 1901 that the Church hei been ecclesiastically administered as a whcle. One naturally looks upon Otago and Southland ac the pidnepr home and stronghold of Presbyterianism in this country, but the honour of first unfurling the banner of the Church lies with Wellington. On the 31st of October, 1839, c party of 150 Scottish emigrants left for New Zealand on the sailing shy?, the Bengal Merchant, and after a long and tedious voyage of 113 days they touched the first New Zeelend land et d'Urville Island, on the 10th of February, 1840. They afterwards sailed into Port Nicholson, and , found a resting place at the month of the Hutt river. The first Sabbath service, conducted by the Rev. Mr Macfarlane, who accompanied the emigrants, was held in the open air on the beach the Sunday after the arrival of the Scottish settlers—it began with the grand old hymn, "0 God of Bethel, by Whose Hand." It, -wae in,1848 that this first settlers came vtov Dunedin, under Captain Cargill, Superintendent, and the Rev. Dr. Burn* (nephew of tho poet) was the first minister of the settlement. Both th-y northern and southern churches grew with the passing of years, and the question of union became a burning one. After many delays and difficulties a basis of ecclesiastical union was agreed to. The Syncd of Otago and Southland retained the administration of the endowments which had been > received at the beginning of the settlement in favour of the Church south of tho Waitaki. It is almost unnecessary to cay that the history and development of tho early churches makes enthralling reading, and it is impossible to* deal with it adequately in the course of, a brief article. However, an Canterbury has a special interest in this meeting of the Assembly, a few reniar'se on the beginnings of Presbyterianism in this province will not b>3 out of place. Though the Canterbury plains became the site of an extensive Church of England settlement in the middle of the last century, they were first occupied by Scotch Presbyterians from Ayrshire, whose descendants still reside at Riccarton. However, it was not until four years after the Canterbury Pilgrims landed at Lyttelton that the first movement was made towards inaugurating in this district a Presbyterian church. Learning tliat the Provincial Government •was granting free sites for places of wcTshtp and education, a committee of Presbyterians applied, for and obtained a grant of three acres close to the junction, of Lincoln road and Hagley Park. An application wag made to the Colonial Committee of the Free Church of Scotland for a minister, at a. stipend of £200 a year. The ministerial qualifications formulated seem rather amusing in the present day. They eet out "that none but a really clever minister should be sent; one who is not only fluent in speech, and a good extempore preacher, but capabk*, sh it eeem desirable, of giving an occaticnal week-evening lecture- on astronomy, geology, natural history, or other secular subject of popular and instructive interest" The committee eelected the Rev. Charles Fraser, who, with his wife, arrived in Christchurch in 1856. Hβ landed from tho ship Oriental on st Sunday morning, and the reracious journal of the day records that he "immediately afterwards preached to a fine congregation in tho Wesleyau Church, Lyttelton." The

I new church, which wae to cost £900, was opened in February, 1557, and the minister's sermon was followed by the baptism of a child which received the Christian name of Charles Fraser. The name given to the church -was "St. Andrew's," after the patron saint of Scotland. The church was twice enlarged during the time of Mr Fraser, and rather ■ curiously, after each enlargement there was a hiving-off of members to form a new congregation. First there was St. Paul's, ana then, at a later period, Sydenham and the North Belt. It is "unnecessary to detail the history of churoh extension in the early days. Suffice to say that the Presbytery of Canterbury was formed , for the first tim© in St. Andrew's Church on the 16th of January, 1864, the members present being:—Revs. Charles Frasex, Georgo Grant, William Kirton, and William Hogg, minsters, and Messrs Duncan, Gillespie, and McMillan, elders. The history of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand has been ono of progress and sure growth. The last census gavo the numorv> in the Dominion as £03,597 —second only to the Church of kngJand in numerical strength. The Church'has every reason to be proud °f its record of the past and to look forward to the future with confidence. FRATERNAL GREETINGS FROM THE DIOCESAN SYNOD. At the Diocesan Synod last night Biehop Julius moved as follows:—"That the Synod of the Diocese of Christchurc'h now in session desires to convey fraternal greetings to the Presbyterian General Assembly upon its meeting in Christchurch. The Synod recognises tho important work that *fche Presbyterian Church is doing in the Dominion of New Zealand, and prays that the blessing of Almighty God may rest on its present deliberations." Tho motion was agreed to unanimously.