CHURCH ARMY MISSION.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20903, 10 July 1933, Page 10

CHURCH ARMY MISSION.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND | MOVEMENT. DOMINION-WIDE CAMPAIGN COMMENCED. i A noteworthy chapter in the history j of the Anglican Church in New Zealand was opened yesterday, when ninemembers of the Church Army, who j arrived in Christehureh from England ' on Saturday to conduct a mission for j probably three years, were comirus-: sioned in the cathedral by Bishop Weit-Watson at a special service. Although it lias been an important ana active section of the Church of England for more than half a century, the Church Army, founded ior mission and social work, lias not previously extended its activities to this countrv. This small missionary group intends to work in every Anglican parish m j New Zealand, starting with the Christehureh diocese, and in view of the .special place the Church Army has wuii for itself in the Church of England, its coming to the Dominion is regarded by the Anglican community as an event of real significance. Captain S. R. Banyard, of Ipswich. Suffolk, iead.s the group, which includes two women, and associated with him an:: Captain E. E. Beck, of Derby; Captain £. R. Roe, of Stafford; Captain T. S. Torrens, of Londonderry: Captain V. Kerrick, of Prescott. Liverpool: Captain D. Kee, of Winchester. Hants; Captain F. C. Pearce, of Malvern. Worcestershire: Sister M. K. North, of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire; and Sister R. A. Jutson, of Peterborough, "Northamptonshire. Special Services. Members of the group were ix-ceived by Bishop West-Watson and Mrs WestWatson at Bishopscourt on their arrival on Saturday morning, being entertained there over the week-end. Yesterday morning a special Church Army service was conducted at St. Barnabas' jChurch, Fendalton, m the afternoon the members of the group were officially commissioned by the bishop in the cathedral. Another service was conducted at St. Saviour s Chinch, Sydenham, last evenin™. To-day the group will leave for the Westland rural deanery, where the active work of the mission will start. The mission will be carried into the Malvern rural deanery between July 23 and August 6, the area worked in fhis period extending from Malvern to Halswell-Spreydon. The mission will be in Mid-Canterbury between August 7 and August 27, and in South Canterbury from August 29 to September 24. returning to North Canterbury between September 25 and October 13. Services and social work v/ill be carried out in Banks Peninsula between October 16 and November 5, and the mission will be conducted in the vicinity of Christehureh from November 5 until December 17, after which the group will work the seaside resorts for the holidays. At the conclusion of this work the group will rtart its activities in the Nelson diocese.

In Wcst.'and simultaneous missions wiil be conducted in the Hokitika, Ross, and Kumara (including Otira) parishes. Similarly between July 24 and July 30 simultaneous missions will be conducted at Malvern, Courtenay, Hororata, and Halswell. and during the following week at Prebbleton, Lincoln, Leeston, and Southbridgc. Origin of Movement. In an interview on Saturday morning Captain Banyard said it was now many years since the Archbishop of New Zealand had invited the Church Army to send a group to the Dominion to conduct a mission throughout the whole of the Anglican church area. However, owing to a shortage of men, it had been impossible to arrange for a mission until the present. The Church Army had been founded 51 years ago by Prebendary Wilson Carlile, now of St. Paul's Cathedral, as a mission to working people, and today there were 1100 captains and sisters working within the church.

The Church Army was definitely a Church of England movement, its members being known as lay evangelists, and at Home they did much of the church's social work, as well as conducting its mission activities. The organisation was an incoporated society, being governed by a central board and controlling its own finances. Its annual expenditure in England was about £250,000, and its accounts were published each year after certification by chartered accountants, so that it was possible to see exactly how the body spent its income. While the group was in New Zealand its finances would be handled as at Home, and a complete statement such as was made in England would be issued.

Apart from the conducting of mission tours, one of the main objects of the group was to lay the foundation of a Church Army movement in New Zealand, and it was expected that this would be accomplished. Archbishop Averill had expressed the hope that this would be possible, ancfthe general body of the clergy was also anxious that this step should be taken and that training colleges should be established, thus opening up a new field of work for those men and women who wished to help their church. Control in New Zealand. Were a Church Army established in the Dominion it would be an entirely separate and autonomous body, having control of its own finances and activities. The present mission was being conducted from London, but this would not be so with any branch of the work formed within the Dominion. The Anglican authorities realised that, with more than 50 years' experience behind it, the Church Army might be able to take over a certain amount of the social work now being done by the church, and this would be an important part of the work of a New Zealand Church Army if it were formed. During its stay in New Zealand the group would conduct its mission in scattered rural parishes as well as in the populated city areas, in relief camps and seaside resorts, as well as undertaking evangelical caravan work.

LEADER'S ADDRESS.

SERVICE AT ST. BARNABAS'S CHURCH. "Christ mixed freely with the publicans and sinners, and therefore the Church Army Column makes it a special duty to carry the word of the Lord to all people, for all are sinners," said Captain Banyard, in the course of an address at St. Barnabas' Church. Fendalton, yesterday morning. "I was brought up on a farm in England," he continued, "where sheep, not having the vast pasture lands available in New Zealand, arc kept in folds. Occasionally one or two strayed, and so it is with the young persons of to-day. Some get'away from the fold, drawn by the world and its attractions, in spite of all advice and warning. They drift away from God and from the churches. There are no regular Bible lessons or religious instruction in the ordinary schools of New Zealand, and we have all the more reason to be just as selfassertive in religious matters as in commercial life. A Message of Revival. "We wrestle with evil, and many of us do not realise the power for good that can be drawn from God. The message of the Church Army

Column is one of revival of the desire to worship God in His own house. The lost sheep must be recovered and the backsliders regained. Our plans and methods may seem a little erratic to those accustomed to complete regularity in church services, but we hope that the plan behind them will awake the consciences and the hearts of all who stray. We feel that to live with God is a great thing. Very humbly we feel that Christ can fill life with happiness and joy, and our special business is to hand on that feeling to our fellow-men and women." An Unusual Work. Before the sermon special prayers were said for the success of the Oxford movement. The members of the Church Army, who have come to Christehureh from Great Britain, gathered at the chancel steps, where each spoke a few words on his or her work in England, and the feelings that prompted them to join the caravan mission scheme. Captain Banyard explained that the work was distinctly unusual. It was the desire of the army, he said, to establish an intimate touch with persons unused to the ordinary church services. The campaign would be conducted throughout New Zealand at the wish of the clergy. The army had been able to extend far overseas, and the work in the Christehureh diocese would occupy up to December. The bishop and the clergy were anxious to form a church army caravan movement in the Christehureh diocese. In England, for instance, several caravans had been given as memorials to men killed in the war, and a more suitable memorial would be difficult to find. During the service the members of the column sang special hymns, and the congregation followed the words by means of a printed sheet which was displayed on the pulpit. COMMISSIONED BY BISHOP. DOMINION EVANGELISTIC CAMPAIGN. On the eve of commencing its Dominion Evangelistic campaign the Church Army Column, headed by Captain S. R. Banyard, was solemnly blessed and commissioned by Bishop West-Watson at the Christehureh Catral yesterday aiternoon. in giving his blessing the Bishop said that all tunds subscribed by the members of the various dioceses in New Zealand would be duly accounted for and audited. The missioners came from the Mother Country in friendship and loyalty, and they bound the Dominion closely to the church at Home. New Zealand was a country that stood for the greatest loyalty. During the Great War it sent many sons overseas to fight and its adhesion to all things standing for the good of the Empire was notable. In 1850 the four pilgrim ships arrived in New Zealand, and in 1856 came Bishop Harper to a fair land with great promise. In 1881 the first part of the Cathedral was consecrated after a marvellous wave of enthusiasm, said the Bishop, who traced the history of the cathedral from its early days until the present. Addressing the members oi the column his Lordship said: "We welcome you to our country to help, sustain, and inspire. In 1883 Wilson Carlile was shouted down in the Church Congress in England, but to-day the Church Army is a spearhead in our work. The movement has spread vastly and most of us will not be satisfied until we have such an army established in Christehureh. We are celebrating a great spiritual movement which has lasted for more than 100 years in the Church of England. I am sure that all the members of tho church are desirous of helping this movement and advancing Christ's kingdom. You are young men and women full of the joy of the Lord, and you are kindling fires in the hearts of your hearers. There is enough sadness in the earth to-day, and what we require is more of the joy and happiness that is to be found in the word of God. We want not imprisonment, but release, not gloom but glory. Youth is too apt to be depressed by economic conditions and a lack of faith "To-day we receive good tidings for all, and liberty for those who seek it. May God bless you in all your work. Be of good cheer, help the afflicted, honour all men and love and serve the Lord." During the singing of a hvmn the members of the column knelt at the communion rail and received the blessing