THE CHURCHES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 188, 4 May 1908, Page 8

THE CHURCHES.

0 ST. MARK'S. MEMORIAL PULPIT DEDICATED. THE LATE REV. R. COFFEY. Yesterday at St. Mark's Church the new pulpit .which has been erected to tho memory of tho late llev. R. Coffey was dedicated and consccrated, and the first sermon was preached from it by the Rev. J. J. Bartlett, until recently curate of the parish. ■ MK Bartlett's text, was, " I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd giveth his!life' for tho Sheep " (St. John, c. xv, 2). After speaking of Christ as the Shepherd of. tho world, Mr. Bartlett ; said: " AVe have met here to-day to give good thanks: 5 to glorify God, for that is the first object in placing this beautiful, pulpit in this church. It is '.to tho glory of God,' and to-the pious memory;pf one'to whom .wo lovo to,do honour; to the honour of , a loyal and devoted; member of God's Church. . He was no hireling. No worldly motives moved him in his work, and no self-aggrandisement caused him > to movo one inch from the path of duty. H'e gave himself entirely for you, and for God, and lie led you through the green pastures of God's AVord, 110 fed you with that food that comcth down from Heaven. ;Ho. never altered his teaching' to suit the likes or- dislikes of any. Ho gave-. you the- whole counsels of God and. the doctrines of the Holy Catholic Church of Christ. He had no pet doctrines, and no worldly but in'singleness of heart ho led . you to' God. -AVhat could we have more than this: this pulpit setting. forth in its beauty "arid solidity tho character of his life and work P It was suggested at one time that a chancel should be erected to his memory, and I am quite sure it would have pleased the. hearts or all if it were found possible to have done that. , But it was hardly possible, though there were" many willing to give as much as necessary, to do it, and I thoroughly believe that if wo'had put forth a scheme wo would, have had enough for that and the beautiful' memorial in the cemetery.." The preacher, r went, ou to noint out that the "difficulty'lay with tho church building. " Arid so," lie, proceeded, "it was resolved to erect this pulpit, from which I now stfeak, to his mem-; dry, and I. hono that all thoso. who remain, iri tho parish—wo may all be gone to our last, home . when the new church.'is' built—but those who do remain .sliould remeniber him arid dedicate the new chancel to liis' memQi-y. But- now the pulpit is here,' and it speaks to. us of his/'memory. May it help you to pray better, live . better,, and serve' God; more faithfully in" this church, as he who sorved hero . thirty years over taught you: to do.' How much help is already, from',tho association clustering round this pulnit arid this church ? You, blessed with .such a pastor, 'ought to remember this church "and .the services which he has established as . a sacred legacy to bo retained and.-handed, doifn< to generations. It is also for you to nray for him lvho is going to'administer 'tho."AVqrd of God frpm .this pulpit aiid. the. ajtar, and not only for him, but for all'preachers,'that they may seek, not ithe praise of mori, biit 'the glory of their .Maker. - . </. .And so it is to tho glory of God and to the memory of one we love, and for yours arid your children's good, that we dedicate this pulpit to-day. May God receivo it and bless" 'it*. and may you all be brought to him who has gone, beforo with our Ssyionr and those blessed ones lvho are now iu Paradise." CHURCH OF CHRIST. - v At'the-'Cliurch"of Christ,-Vivian Street,yesterday, the Rev., J. 'J. Frariklynj who has lately been 'appointed to the charge of tho church,, delivered' his first sornion in the evening. Before coirimencing ' liis discourse ho stated his fervent desire ■to enter into tho joys and sorrows of his congregation, arid urged'that ho should bb allowed'to. His text was taken from - St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans; "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." St. Paul, he'.said,-differed very, largely' from people of modern Christeridrim, -'be-i cause no was not' publicly ashamed of tho Gospel." Not many to-day would say, "AVoe unto me if I spread, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ." There were some at the present day who < would eliminate from tho Gospel a|l that was miraculous ; they 'would take_' away tho fundamental principles of.religion. The apostle-Paul was riot much concerned with metaphysics' and psychological phenomena. He trusted in tho Gospel becauso he believed ,it to ■ be 1 a power for good. . Tho quintessence of success, was a hearty faith-in the potentiality of- tho message. Unless a thing was base, and failed in tho object of its' creations, thcro was'no need to bo ashamed,of it. St. Paul knew .howsiri stalked through tho-streets of Romo, and ho saw on all sides that tho need of tho city was the Gospel.' Look at tho city of AA'ellirigton to-day ! Imagino all tho hotels arid' gambling-, places closed! Supposing everything to be based on the ethics of ideal citizenship! But even then, unless the : Gospel was there, the city would be without its, most priceless thing, and its greatest'power'for good. The Gospel, ho proceeded,-was as great as-' its -purpose, and the purpose was the. alieriation of, sin. The preacher urged all, .when thoy'felt the power of the Gospel,/to ; tell it . forth ;to others in accordance with the command, "Go ye into all the world," etc. Th'ero, was V teaching that beforo persons were saved they ''must 'experience somo 1 mystic power t-o bring about the change. Therefore, there were 1 somo—constantly praying that they might bo saved; instead of letting tho, Gosnel take . possession- of their hearts and allowing it- to' work' the change. '- The message was that those-who believed tho Gospel would : be -saved. • St. Paul was'a : man of great persistency and 1 power, and lie got this from the Gospel, of '• which he was not ashamed. TEN DAYS' MISSION.' N ', .VIVIAN STREET BAPTIST/CHURCH. The Vivian Street Baptist Church ; is making a -special effort to' 1 reach the masses by means of a teri : days' mission campaign.'' Tho Rev. Herbert Hobday has come from Otago to" act'as "director,' and' he is' assisted;by .the pastor of tho : church; (Rev. J.' J. North), and the RevsV 'T. Keitji-Ewen and A. Dewdney. Tho opening, services were held : in the ,church yesterday. Preaching in the. evening from I Cor. 1,'22, tho Rev. H. Hobday, asked'if the Jews were wrorig in seeking after assign. They we're, because their real' object was not to find truth, but'to avoid'it. To the honest' inquirer; 1 tho universe would become vocal with affirmations, but to the man who tried'to ovado his personal responsibility by propounding questions, or asking religious conundrums, the universe would be. dumb arid tho heavens as brass. Tile wisdom", which was the prido of the Greeks,, as.referred to iri the text, was of such shameless impotency that the. deeds of darkness were done among them in open; day. Paul, seeing this, cried in audacious paradox, that the foolishness of God was wiser than men. The preacher then contrasted the misconceptions of the Gospel current among tho Jews and Greeks of St. Paul's time, and their modern successors with its uplifting power as experienced by tho believer. A word picture of a Roman arena,'where the'confession "Christianus sum " was followed sharply by the thou-sand-throated * shout, ' _ " Christianus ' ad lcones," was used to reinforce a closing exhortation on tho duty of making' a- frank avowal of faith. Abouf a third of the large congregation, which Jiad filled the church in every part, remained to an aftor-mcoting. In pursuance of the mission campaign, ono or moro of the ministers will go to the Quoeu's statuo .at half-past'twelve every day this week to give a ".straight talk on lifo.'" A men's choir will' sing. There ■ will also be an open-air servico at A'eitcli and Allan's cornor every evening, followed by a servico in the A r ivian Street Baptist Church.

BROOKLYN BAPTIST CHURCH.. "PLAIN TALICS ON..PUZZLING .. PROBLEMS." Tho Brooklyn Baptist Church was filled last night, when tho Rev. Arthur Dowdney commenced a series of' addresses ; with > the .titlSj.- .lie "talis" tor last",.wasi

on "Is Cot! a Loving Father? a Discussion of the Problem of Evil."' The charge' was often made, said the preacher, tliat the par-' soils never dealt with'the real problems that perplex thoughtful. minds. They contented themselves with ringing the changes on a few well-worn themes that had little'vital connection with the real experiences of life. Whether that charge'was true .'or not, it ' certainly was not true that the religion of Jesus stifled thought. The first great Commandment demanded love' to God with the mind as ■ well •as the heart. ■ Christ's . question was, What think ye P If a man's ! i worship did not carry-v the assent of the : intellect it could not be acccptable. -They' , . were not built in water-tight compartments —they could be intellectually one tiling and ■ religiously another. ' Josus .Christ as' the ■ 1 rovelation of God presented .Himself,- and' '• demanded inquiry. • But they-must be \vill- : • 1 in'g'.to learn.' No knowledge in any branch '■ study could be acquired without , such will- | ingness to learn in accord Avitlr tlio laws of ■ science studied. ' . And the man who''ap--1 prbached religion: with preconceived ideas of 1 what' ought. to be would never'. learn. . 1 ! ho ' question they wero considering was a funda- }• mental one. On its correct answer depended' " the answer to'the other; themes .-they would 1 consider. There could be, for .instanco, no 1 legitimate demand for human'' brotherhood : - which did not spring froin Divine Father-. hood. The preacher quotfcdV Blatohford's ' reasons for refusing to accept'the'idca'cf a. ! ' loving _ Heavenly Father, Valid' proceeded to 1 deal - with, the 'objection based. onHho.calami- 1 >. tire man suffers ,at the hand's ,of nature.' ' Th'o' siifferins was keeiv and. great, but they' | would not solve tile problem:.-by .'denying ' God. . The evils wero.still'.there; more-'ter-'.ribly and hopelessly real.. 'God was more 1 careful for mail's character than his' com- : fort, and character could only be . formed | in the stress and storm of life. To n.-quire experience could never be a. painless pi o- ' cess. It was wrong to lay blame upon God forv many evils. Most diseases were- n.'an--1 made—poverty was caused by' man, mcial ! beings .could not be • without/power uf "self-" 1 determinism. If God had , intervened on > each critical occasion to supersede the choice > of man He would in the same degree'undo • His. own creation.' God was 'iiot ; an'.inipa'ssive [ spectator of the sorrows'-of'-'His,--creature. ' The Cross of Christ was' a visible demonstra- ! tion :of an eternal reality—that tlie/sin andsorrow of human-dife were' taken --uri into >, the very heart of: Godf Vicarious sacrilico :■ inheres in 'the' very nature' --of- ;things, .and' I God was'not|'outside His own'law.' As DoraGreenwell said, "Nature.and man and God are;pierced with-the self: same wound. 1 The i richest harvests the- world ; had reaped • Had' been garnered' on' 'the fields" of " paik;' ?• .God" was a - loving Father, . 'but : :;men ■'Vt-uld not know-His way byturning \ away,.-fiom [ Him.- When all. men realised ■ His -Fatherhood - and their sonship' the world's woes •. would be lifted, and humanity redeemed.