Order Of St. John, Holds Annual Church Parade

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27387, 28 June 1954, Page 10

Order Of St. John, Holds Annual Church Parade

“It is not news when a servant washes his master’s feet, but when a master washes the feet of his servants that is news of the first importance,” said the Rev. A. K. Fetch, minister of the Durham Street Methodist Church, preaching at the annual church parade of the Christchurch Corps of the Canterbury and West Coast district of the St. John Ambulance Brigade yesterday afternoon, Mr Fetch drew his text from the story of Jesus washing His disciples* feet, and spoke on what he called the “towel and basin approach to life.”

About 300 members of the brigade took part in the parade. They were met at the church by a detachment of about 20 members of the Red Cross Society. The parade assembled at the order’s headquarters in Peterborough street, and marched by way of Victoria street, Oxford terrace and Armagh street to the church in Durham street. Sir R. Heatoh Rhodes, Grand Bailiff of the Order of St. John and president of the association in Christchurch, took the salute at a base on the Victoria street bridge. He was accompanied oy Mr John H. Rhodes, Knight of St. John and president of the brigade, the district commissioner (Dr. W. Gordon Rich), and the chairman of the Canterbury and West Coast centre of the St. John Ambulance Brigade (Mr McKenna).

Mr G. H. Dunlop, superintendent of the ambulance corps, commanded the parade, and the nursing section was led by the nursing corps superintendent (Mrs N. E. Mclntosh). The parade was accompanied by the band of the 3rd Armoured Regiment. As has been done every year since 1904 in parades honouring the patron saint, St. John the Bapist, the brigade colours were carried by a detachment in the parade. On arrival at the church Mr Roberts, commander of the colour party, handed the colours to Mr Fetch for the duration of the service.

The service was conducted by Mr Fetch and the lessons were read by Mr Rhodes and Dr. Rich. A special collection was taken which will be sent to England, in accordance with ancient usage, for the assistance of the ophthalmic hospital in Jerusalem. Although the order’s hospital building on the Bethlehem road is not now in use, the activities of the hospital continue in Jerusalem and financial help is still required. After the service, the parade returned to Peterborough street by way of Durham and Victoria streets. The story of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet was new because in it He broke the conventions, refused to obey the social rules, and showed a startlingly new way of doing things, said Mr Fetch in his sermon. “To most people today the joy of life is to be done with towels and basins—to be as far removed from the menial and servile as they can. They do not object to the towel and the basin so long as it is in hands other than their own. The sign of success is to be waited on, to have prestige and power, to be master and not servant/’ Suddenly, boldly, and without apology, into this accepted scheme of things had stepped One who would rather be servant than master, who refused to be waited on any longer,

and who Himself took a towel and basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet. This example was intended to declare that the essence of true greatness was not to be ministered unto but to minister, not to be served but to serve, and not to get but to give. “To keep alive in a grasping society such great and glorious truths is, I believe, both the proud privilege and the humble duty of the venerable order you seek to serve,” Mr Fetch said. That one simple far-away incident had been the inspiration of the greatest acts of service the world had witnessed, and the only inspiration of many of the world’s noblest characters, who had devoted their lives to supplying the physical and spiritual needs of other people. What had been true of the individual servants of the race was equally true of the great institutions and orders which, through the centuries, had sought to serve. The Order of St. John found its deepest inspiration in the ministry of caring and healing of One who was never afraid to use His hands. The law of service applied on all occasions, not merely on special occasions. Lyttelton Service The Lyttelton divisions of the St. John Ambulance Brigade and the Lyttelton sub-centre of the St. John Ambulance Association held their annual church parade last evening and attended service at Holy Trinity Church. In his sermon, the vicar, the Rev. R. J. Witty, spoke on “Service to God and to Mankind,” and praised the work of the Order of St. John. Visiting officials, who attended the parade, were Dr. W. Gordon Rich, commissioner for Canterbury and the West Coast; Mr B. J. McKenna, president; Major-General G. B. Parkinson, secretary of the Canterbury and West Coast centre of the Venerable Order of St. John; Miss L. P. Butler, district superintendent (nursing); Mr H. S. Wallace, district officer; Mr G. H. Dunlop, corps superintendent (ambulance); Mrs N. E. Mclntosh, corps superintendent (nursing); Mrs A. K. Wallace, corps officer; Mrs M. Lake, corps officer; and Mr A. Roberts, corps officer. The parade was led by the Lyttelton Marine Band.