Australian Evangelist’s Views On Christianity

Press, Volume C, Issue 29609, 4 September 1961, Page 16

Australian Evangelist’s Views On Christianity

The Church must "get back to original Christianity” if she is to be relevant to this hour, the Rev. Arthur Preston, the visiting Methodist evangelist from the Brisbane Westend Mission said at a specially convened rally held at the Civic Theatre last evening.

The rally opened the first city-wide Methodist mission ever conducted in Christchurch. Mr Preston addressed a gathering of more than 1200, including a choir of nearly 200. Closed circuit television relayed proceedings to nearly 1000 more persons in the nearby Trinity Congregational Church in Worcester street. Such an arrangement has only before been made at the Civic Theatre—for a spiritualist's meeting. Mr Preston emphasised the challenge being thrown to the Christian faith by the materialism of "atheistic communism.”

The attempt to create a Godless world state composed of "the economic, man worshipping the god of science, communism was a revolutionary movement whose objectives could only be counteracted by an equally revolutionary kind of Christianity.” Challenge to Christians

It was. therefore, necessary for all professing Christians to show that Christianity was "more than a match for communism or any other form of materialism. "It is one thing to be religious. to go to church and so on.” said Mr Preston. "But it is another thing altogether

to be a genuine disciple of Christ God is looking for men and women who are in earnest about being Christian.”

.To be applicable to the present day, Christianity had necessarily to return to its original meaning and form. One particular challenge facing Christianity in both Australia and New Zealand was for an increasing awareness and "creative concern” for the native peoples of these countries—in his own land the “neglected aboriginal’’ and In New Zealand the Maori people, Mr Preston said.

Special features of the mission will include an openair evening meeting, a series of evening addresses In the Durham Street Methodist Church. and lunch-hour meetings at the Addington Workshops and the Christchurch Transport Board Workshops. Background Mr Preston Is recognised as an author, radio and television celebrity in his own country. He is, however, par. ticularly well known for his popular Saturday night cabaret sessions conducted at his mission building in Brisbane. These weekly occasions are reputed to have captured the spiritual interests of the modem “downbeat" young°f the city In a way which is s»'d to be unique amongst church achievements.

Nothing on such a scale has ytt been •ttemoted by any ch i*. reh J n New Zealand * _£ r Pres *offi who is tn his forties, is married with four children.