“Winds Of Change Must Be Harnessed By The Church"

Press, Issue 29236, 21 June 1960, Page 8

“Winds Of Change Must Be Harnessed By The Church"

(New Zealand Press Association)

HAMILTON, June 20. Not only in Africa but in every country and over all spheres of human activity the winds of change were blowing, said the Bishop of Waikato (the Rt. Rev. J. T. Holland) in his presidential address to the Waikato diocesan synod tonight in St. Peter’s Cathedral. “Long cherished ideals and ancient ways of life, some bad, many good, are being swept away and replaced by others, some better, some worse. The world is being pushed along at the double, but even so the pace at which we are now moving is merely a crawl to that which lies ahead. “However violent the winds of change may appear to us today there can be little doubt that they will be classed by those who come after us as nothing more than squalls." he said. “The winds themselves—even the hurricane of nationalism—could be harnessed to the glory of God and the well-being of mankind." The bishop said the church had to change too. There was a vast difference between the changes of compromise, death and decay on the one hand and the changes of adaptability, life and growth on the other. “By our passive acceptances of tradition and our unwillingness to recognise that our social system has long outgrown its feudal origins, we are squandering

talents in our ordained ministry which the Church can ill afford to lose,” he said. Providing Specialists “We must have our parish priests and in increasing numbers, but we expect the impossible of them. In this highlyspecialised world, so throbbing with changes and opportunity, we in New Zealand will have to make a far more determined effort within our own church to provide our own specialists, both clerical and lay.

“We should aim to have our theologians and general scholars, our authors, teachers, evangelists, youth leaders, social workers, counsellors and the rest supplementing and complementing the work of our parish priests.”