BAPTIST UNION.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16653, 14 October 1919, Page 10

BAPTIST UNION.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The Baptist Union Conference resumed yesterday morning. A thanksgiving servioo was held at 9 o'clock, and was conducted by the president, Pu-stor Lascelles. Tho Rev. H. G. Hcrcus, of Hamilton, addressed the meeting. "Exccpt tho Lord keep tho city, tho watchman vaitoth but in rain,"' was quoted by the speaker to emphasise the purposii of the meeting ti> 'acknowledge the overruling Proviioncc of God that worked in our behalf in tho early days of the great war, and in sultfvquent crises through the days o': strife* It was urged that in rendering thanks for peace now enjoyed all should ctvnsocratc themselves to tho winning 01V men to Jitsus Christ. Tho Unic/ji session eras presided over l.v the Rev. H. G. Hcrcus, Hamilton. The report of the Board of Advico and IntroductVon was presented by tho Ifev. C. Dallaston. Several speakers testified to the great value of the work of the Board. It was reported that, tho Rev. Mr Rsdford and the Rev. Mr J Whallcy, former iministeis of the church, were returning to work in tho Union. .Vs a result of tho Board's operations, oia;ht churches. were satisfactorily supplied with ministers. Tho report of tbe Students' Commi/.lee, which was presented by the Rtfr. W. S. Rollings, expressed the satisfaction of the commit-tee with the work of tlie students. Thaaiks were extended to the authorities of Knox College for according to the Ifaptist students the privileges of'a ministoriaj course in tho college. A very lengthy dificussion on the-mat-ter of training of students culmrnaited .in the following rebolntion, arrived at on the motion of the Rev. R. S. Gi !ay: —"That the Assembly commend to the Students' Committee the consideration *>)' (1) the advisability of providing, for our students having a preliminary course of training in actual homo jnisfcion, or other preaching work, u hder tho direct supervision of some exberio.nced minister; (2) tho wisdom of; arranging as far as pofesiblc that thf/ first ministerial chargo upon completi on of their couise should be in such a f/phero as would permit of definite and constant advice and help from some senior minister."

Tlio Sustantation Fund was rciported on i>y Pastor Lascelles, who mo*fod as follows: —"That a Sustentation Fund be established. with a view to augmenting the stipends -of ministers and hojae missionaries, and tfyat a committer be set un to draft mli s and obtain financial support." The rAotion was seconded by tho Rev. R. S. Gray, and adopted.' A discussion of Union policy was introduced by Mr A. f?. Adrems, who pointed out that the policy iiad been for the pnat 37 year? an aggressive one, and the home mission policy 'had been a groat success. AH credit was due to . the tacn <wlio voluntarily and rmgrudg•.inoh 1 ' performed the arduous v duti«s of the TJnion; Those men had placed the members of the church under a deep 'debt of gratitude. Before the war tho matter of the appofntment of a secretary. who would be. paid .a salary commenMirato with the'.work involved, was considered. The secretary of th® Union should not be expcieted to carry out. ministerial duties as well as those of the Union secretariat. Reference was jnodo to tho fitioends paid to home missionaries, and the speaker said that h<v •■wonild prefer to.curtail aggressive work rather-than send out men on salaries, that prevented.tliem living in ordinary, decency. It was wroncc for; a business man to do such a thing, and •it was! twenty times as wrong for a church. CENTRAL OFFICE. • Mr A. F. Carey moved:—"That tho establishment of a central office, a'nd the appointment of a! paid secretary g*r *1 "treasurer, to devotothewhole of his , time to the the busi?iess , of the Union ami Missionary Society, and other denominational interests/ are liighly desirable, and that the executive consider; the matter, at. one<?• and report'to'the present Conference.'' The motion was carried." • TEMPERANCE WORK. / Tho secretary' reported havhjig re-" ceived the following telegram from the Now. Zealand 'Alliance :• —' 'Tho Now Zealand. Alliance . greets the Baptist v «iid , congratulates the Church on its loyaltv to the Temper- • ' , ance'cause, and greatly appreciates the solf-aacrifice exercised in allowing. Pas- • tor, -Lascelles, Rera. Gray, Hinton, Dun* . cumbo, and Party, lo devote their time for so long to : this specific work.'' ' . INWRTOBATLON. The secretary introduced tho qUestiOn of. tho ; inporporation of tho Union, and moved' That :• the necessary, steps be , taken to incorporate tho Union under ' the "Incorporated Societies ; Act, 1908. That the Executive be instructed to take all necessary steps/ for that pur- • poso, and .to revise the constitution and submit ■ complete revisioiis to nest an- • ; • The motion -was. carried.. '' THE CONSTITUTION. Tho. secretary, presented the/report of 'the.. Spedal Committee set up to consider th 6 revision of the constitution, ■ and/ oh behalf of ; the Executive, moved tho following resolutions:— ■ 0) "That;,it is impossible constitutionally to jrevice this year.". ' (2)- That a committee be appointed to revise the* constitution ; and rules, aiid .that notice be given with a view to action at tho next Conference." , (3) "That it ia desirable to alter the/ ■ committee isystem as follows"That a,' committee of twenty-five, _ which _ include tho president, vico-president, smd general;secretary (ex-officio) ho filected by the Assembly., The corfi•miltee so elected shall divide itself iiyto

three committees, to be charged: /reflectively .with'the management of /ihe - Home .Mission, Foreign Mission, /and student work of tlio Union. Thftt a special sub-committee, both of: I the and the ITnion/Committee be appointed by the Executive for, administrative purposes. ; Each shall consist of four > members, j Tepre- -' s'onting the four auxiliaries, and shall meet at frequent intervals. CJhainppeS as.'suggested to be made at on«» as far os ran bo done constitutionally/" The motion was carried. / WOMEN'S MISSIONARY 'ONION. The. annual'business meotirjg of tho Baptist AVomen's Missionary, Union was held in Oxford terrace Chifirch xe&ter•day. . .The'president, Sister Grace, was in the chair. ' V ■ The report was adopted/ - The- treasurer, Mrs Chas. Collins, presented tho annual , financial state'inent,' which showed tl/at during the year £833 Is lid had been contributed. The election of officers resulted as follows:—President, -Mrs "W. LamI bourne (Auckland);/ vice-presidents, Mrs R. Bailey (Central Auxiliary), Mrs ..Tenkin (Wanganiii)i Mrs Hoby (WelJington), Mrs GoriiVg (Canterbury), Mrs ; Adams (Otago); /dominion secretary, Mrs. It-vlanda Brofirn; Dominion treasurer. Mrs Chas. .Collins.

"CHRISTIANITY AND THE INDUSTRIAL CRISIS."

F. The evening sossion_ was devoted to £ conference on "Christianity and the , Ipdnstriar Crisis;" ; Pastor, M. "\V. P. Lascelles, who pre- ' sjded,: 6aiJ that tlio war had brought .rtbout nuuiy changes and amongst; these iio/L the least was an increased aWakening apiongst the industrial classes..' Ho.believed that good would • result ftrom. thiß. .-The war had ro•voaled, many 'thincs wliicli made their * blood/ boil' sjiame.j One t of, these 1 \rds profiteering. AVnen ui I/onaon doing .Y.M.C.A. worE'lie-had been indignant ht the'way iu'wTiich certain business people had endeavoured to tak®

advantage pf the position, even in connexion with such work as that carried on by the Y.M.C.A. The soldiers' eyes had been -opened in this matter, and this had ,helped to arouse the industrial clashes to see if' a better state of things could not lie brought about. • That evgning's conference was • being - held at tin opportune time. Soon the country would be in the throes of an .. election, r>nd although the meeting was not a political one, the Baptists claim- " ed free/loin of speech, and speaking as . an individual and not as president of 5' the U/iion, he wished to say that the j ; pJatfo/m submitted by the various partjes should receive their earnest considera.tion. ' Men and women to-day 1 were, looking for reality, and the peo- ! I'le iphom they would support would be - thos/j who would carry out what they f professed. t The Rev. W. S. Rollings, of Brooks lvni. or>ened the subject. He said that ■ wifh the end of the war the world had I nrrt dropped back into its old ways. uces were generating which made the horizon bla'j, and many could not ■ s/;e how the sHal atmosphere could clear itself exceDt by storm. Modern 1 fiociety was a colossal structure, but it ) 'u'.'tfi out .of plumb with God's stand- ( ards of justice. There must be revolution. Would it be red and | Would the new order come through anarchy, or would the now world be built 011 intellectual daring and moral oouragc? What used to be called the Eurpoean crisis had now been omiue ously supplanted by the "Industrial Crisis." The speaker proceeded to take the parable of Dives and " Lazarus, who, although contiguous geographically, racially, and in religion, " were yet in social conditions as far apart an heaven and hell. For genera--1 tions society had been constructed on this pattern, and Dives and Lazarus had • been content to hav> it so. But Lazarus > had now had enough of this state of affairs, and if it could not be mended ■ it must be ended. • It was easy to frame an indictment against Lazarus, as well > as against Dives. Class consciousness and covetousness obtained in the Labour 1 ranks as wpll as amongst the capital- • ists: but democracy must bo judged by its ideals and its leadership. Many of tliose who were leading the movement of democracy and who were up against the present order of Society were fighting for juster conditions of social betterment and moral improvement. The three things which made the industrial crisis so acute and perilous were war, money, and land. Banish war, the abuse of money, and land monopoly with its speculation for profit, apd the main channels of social discontent would be cleansed: The League of nations was a big step towards the abolition of war —it was the noblest attempt vet made to create off a world neighbourhood a world brotherhood. Where the statesmen failed at Versailles was in not ■trying to cut out money, the root of all evil. They damned Kaiser Wilhelm, but they spared Kaiser Mammon. Capitalism threatened with abortion the League of Nations. Industry, trade, and commerce had hitherto been organised for profit, henceforward it should he dedicated to human welfare. Modern. G-ermaiiity, which provided the silver bullets without which there could be no war. was an enlarged edition of England, without the tempering influences of. British idealism, sentiment, and philanthropy. Without the • accumulation of money under tho prevent capitalistic system" the war would' not have been possible. The evil of to-day was that money was becoming concentrated into the hands of a few—it should be more widely distributed. If the State could eliminate the prucariousness of existence and provide an adequate national pension scheme tPe root of covetMisness would be cut. .The substitution ,of service for profit would do men no wrong, and would benefit the rich as well aa.tl.io poor, anil mien would find that "they wore mad'(> more happy by «altiing the bread of toil ?ind living simply. The speaker ascribed much of" the increase in; tho cost of living to tho inflation of land ralues. Christianity did not formulate laws for the proper us© of the soil; but St proclaimed* a -great principle, /statesmanship should sec that the land of God was tho only freeholder wias used not to pander to tho vanity., pride, or. greed of the few. But to min/ster to the needs and the comfort of »'ll- The Church should strive for a refturn to something approaching the Condition of the Church after Pentecos/j, to creato a. zone of perfect brothe/rhood, where the Bpirit was "all for each, and, each for all." Then would t"he world he prepared to listen •to its evangel. An animated discussion followed, the speakers fbeijig.the Reys. J. J. North, It. S. Gray, J. F. Jones, L. B. Busfield, H.. K , Kerupton, and C. Ihineumb, and! Messrs A. S. Adams and A. B. Emmatto. Tho majority of the speakers points out that the Church should endeavoi/r to get closer to Labour, buib" that Lalbour should also come nearer tc tho CJhurch, that the" spirit of caste should eliminated, and the spirit of Christ instituted into the hearts of men. > -•■ ■ The , of the series of the Baptist union Conference meetings 1 rill be the Home Mission meet-

The ; of the series of the Baptist Union Conference meetings 1 rill be the Home Mission meeting in. the Oxford Terrace Church tonight/. Tho princiTKtl speaker will be the Jlev. R. S. Gray, whose subject will be "An Unevangelised New Zealand.'* The public are invited. There will 7 be also a conference public tea at six o'clock, and an organ/ recital by Me Arthur Lilly, A.R.C.0., from 6.30 to j 7.30. •