New Baptist president

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 17

New Baptist president

Man has become so dangerous to himself that his continued existence had been called into doubt, said the incoming president of the Baptist Union of New Zealand, Mr J. Taylor (Christchurch), at the Church’s national annual conference in Christchurch.

Mr Taylor was inducted into office last evening, succeeding the Rev. R. Hart (Auckland). Mr Taylor said that New Zealand could no longer be called “God’s own country.”

“The turnover in stolen cars in New Zealand is s7m and the majority of 'our converters’ fall in to the 15 to 24 age-group. Armed robberies are now almost commonplace, and deaths from drugs no longer warrant front-page attention,” he said. Mr Taylor said that the reason why the Christian Church was so weak and ineffective was because men set great store on education, scientific achievements, military power, and material wealth, but did not glorify God any more.

“Too many ministers are more active in the business of entertainment than in the task of preaching the gospel,” Mr Taylor said. “Success in Christianity, as in most things, lies in doing the job you were called to do.”