CHRISTIAN UNITY United Service For Week Of Prayer

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30769, 5 June 1965, Page 23

CHRISTIAN UNITY United Service For Week Of Prayer

Representatives erf several i city churches were present at' a united service in Trinity Congregational Church. How-1, ever, this was not just a unity j I of New Zealand congregations. as the service was conducted by the Samoan minister. the Rev. Kanape Faletoesee. and the sermon was preached by the Rev. D. Jackson Inglis. In a sermon called a contribution to the world's crisis, I Mr Inglis said that this was a historic week for Christchurch and for Trinity Church, too. This was not just a coming together of New Zealand congregations but a unity of different races within the same congrega-i tion. The unity of the Church! must also be among Maori 1 and pakeha, and Samoan and! New Zealander, for “in; Christ there is neither Jew! nor Gentile, slave nor free.” Crisis meant decision, and; decision meant judgment so that in the world the Church; was judged by its separate-; ness. If the world was to re-1 ceive the fullness of the Gos-i pel of God in Christ then the Church must have a continual mission to the nation. Anything less than that was judgment. It was in the mission together that unity would grow richer and deeper. The Good Shepherd The people of Israel though of Jaweh as their loving shepherd who had led them with fatherly care from the captivity of Egypt through the desert to the promised land, said the Rev. J K. Harte in the Sacred Heart Church, Addington. I "Christ took to Himself this! title of shepherd.” said Father Harte, “He is the good' shepherd who had laid down His life for His flock. But He has taken it up again. He sits nowr in glory at the right hand of the Father. "Before He rose into heaven He chose one from the

flock to whom He gave charge of His sheep. ‘Feed my lambs.’ He told Peter. ‘Feed my isheep.’ He wishes that the flock should have one of their own to look to, a visible shepherd who would lead them in the name of Christ. Through His spirit and through His Eucharist, Christ dwells in the flock and dwells in the hearts of each in love; j through His visible represenItative on earth, He leads the people of God to the promised land of eternal glory. “Like Christ the good shepherd, Peter and his successors lead the flock not with pride, but with humility; not with severity, but w’ith not with hesit- ! ancy, but with confidence ■ born of the assurance that Christ will never allow His flock to stray. ! “If Christ the Lord predicted that “There will be one i fold and one Shepherd,’ must ! not all Christians continue to j pray that this may be so? Was it not true, in a certain I sense, that all Christians felt iPope John belonged to them?”