CHURCH YOUTH CONFERENCE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29390, 17 December 1960, Page 14

CHURCH YOUTH CONFERENCE

1700 Expected At Lower Hutt

About 1700 delegates between the ages of 17 and 30 will visit Lower Hutt from December 27 to January 4 to participate in the third Ecumenical Youth Conference.

The conference will discuss nuclear warfare, the racial problem, the impact of scientific thought on traditional Christian patterns, Christian disunity, the relevance of worship and the contracting world community. Representatives will be present from all the churches linked in the National Council of Churches: Church of England, Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, Associated Churches of Christ, the Salvation Army, the Society of Friends, the Church of the Cook Island and the Greek Orthodox Church. There will also be a party of about 30 from Australia. Addresses will be given by the Rev. Philip Potter, a negro and a Methodist, the Rev. Alan Booth, of the Commission of Churches on International Affairs, the Bishop of Auckland (the Rt. Rev. E. A. Gowing), Dr. R. H. Locker, and the Rev. M. W. Wilson. Subjects The addresses will cover such subjects as “The Lordship of Christ,” “Peace and War,” “Race,” and daily bible studies on “The People of God.” There will also be addresses on “Christian Unity.” and “The Space Age.” An overseas visitor to the conference will be Miss Ruth Soong, a Chinese Christian worker from Hong Kong, who will be a delegate from the East Asian area. The general secretary of the National Council of Churches (the Rev. Alan A. Brash) will be chair-man-chaplain of the conference. The Rev. Potter will conduct a watch-night service on New Year’s Eve. In addition to addresses and study circles, young people will share in several workshops designed to help them acquire practical skills which will make them more effective in their Christian service at local church level. Three tutorials will inform the conference members of aspects of the life of the ecumenical movement as it affects New Zealand. After the conference largescale scenic tours have been organised in which many of the delegates will share. Others will take part in work in work camp projects, in which practical manual assistance will be given to community causes.