DR. GIBB ABROAD

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 260, 27 July 1908, Page 6

DR. GIBB ABROAD

INTERESTING LETTERS. MEN AND CHURCHES IN BRITAIN. ' The following extracts are taken from a letter written by the Rev. Dr. ; Gibb, from Aberdeen, under dato May 13, to the members of St. John's session:— "To givo you merely an itinerary would occupy all the time now iat my disposal, and a baro itinerary would only tax your patience. Wo have seon much, heard much, enjoyed much, and I trust profited not a little. I havo tried as we camo along to tako a broad view of tho world; I have also tried to interpret it to myself from the standpoint of the Church and the cause of Christ. Looking about in this way there is a. good deal to depress, and, thank God, there is also a good deal to cheer. It is sad, for example, to find that in Egypt Christianity has made hardly any 1 impression on Islamism. As Mr. Gardner, a brother of Mrs. (Dr.) Gibbs, of Wellington, who has been many .years in .Cairo, told us, Christianity has hardly touched' the fringe of Mohammedanism, but' while this is directly true, indirectly you.can • see - eveywhorc in Egypt the influence of Jesus lOhrist. ! .'.'. Scotland may bo from' one point, of wjow, a less religious country-, tliaii in tho days of. my youth, but though,. ; of ( courso, . my impressions are as yet, superficial, I think it is a bettor and moro wholesome land than the land I knew. And. this is Christ's doing. : " ... . Familiar Problems. "Thero was not much opportunity of studying either religious, or social problems in the countries through which wo passed 011 our way Homo —the ,rato of movement was'too swift. Here, in tho Old Land; howovor. I hopo to bo ablo to make comparisons between .tho conditions of the churches and the conditions which obtain among ourselves in Now Zoaland. As far as I havo yet soon, my impression is that it is six of the 0110 and half a dozen of tho other. Hero tlioy aro face to faco with our problems and our difficulties. . At tho Synod of {he -Prosbytorian Church in England, held at Nowcastlo, I was greatly interested to find thorn eagerly discussing such questions as 'How to arrest tho drift from tho church of tho artisan and labouring classes,' and 'How, to make the Sunday-school "more effective.' If I shut my eyes, 1 could havo imagined I was at the New Zealand General Assembly, so similar was tho courso of discussion and tho character of tho remarks. I was ablo to tell them so when it fell to mo to address tho Synod. Porsbnal Csmparlsons. ' "I was interested in tho Synod from another point of viow, namely; how does it compare with our Assembly from the standpoint of tho appearance aiid bearing of tho moil, and iir regard to the quality of the Bpeoches. Well, the Presbyterian Synod in

Lllgland differs from • a Presbyterian Assembly in Wow Zealand very notably iu the dress and bearing of tho ministers. Ilcro 1 Jou doll t see tho unbrotherly array of variegated ana piebald garments that strike the eye m our Assembly. The ministers were to a man decently and regularly apparelled. J., was struck, too, with the approximation in appearance to the Anglican type; almost all the younger ministers aro clean shaven, with tlnu and pale faces, and a look of mental alertness. But the quality of the speaking as far as the ministers v'cro concorned was . muc ' l saino as among ourselves. J hat-ib not saying little, however, for—take my judgment for what it is worth—you will go tar beforo hearing better speaking than characterises our Assembly when an important discussion is in swing. But whatever may bo tho case with respect to the ministers, tho laymen of tho ojHoci lmpressod mo as being a very superior Sf>fc of men. Thero were no spccimcns of tho type- with which wo are familiar in the New Zealand Assembly; they. might all have como from St. John's session, and that in saying a great deal. Some London Services. "We have heard a good many proachcn and attended a still larger number of church services. There is _ a daily service in St. laul_s and .Westminster Abbey, and when possible we-went regularly to 'ono or other of them., Tho music is—well,'angelic would hardly be too strong !a word. It was not niproly -the artistic merit that impressed mo; tho dovoutness, tho solemnity of the responses,' anthems, and chants fairly thrilled my heart. On tho Sunday we spent in Lon- . don wo _ went to' Dr. Campbell Morgan's church 111 tho morning. ft was raining heavily, but there was a,-good'convocation downstairs. I liked tho service, but was * not profoundly impressed. Dr. Morgan has ' a grea na lne and is -unquestionably ona .. ot the leading Independents of the • metropolis, but I could not got rid of the. feeling that there , was something artificial, almost theatrical, in jus manner. Tho prayers wore good, but lie had a note of the headings on tho desk beforeltim, and-it was almost ludicrous -to see him one moment with eyes closed and head aloft, and tho next with-: eyes open awl head bent for tha next idea. The sermon was an exposition of a passago in the Acts of' the Apostles—a passage which did not lend itself to surnestwo treatment, but tho preacher, who spoko tor 40 or 45 minutes, succeeded in keeping one s attention, a.nd here and there he showeS what he might do with a suggestive theme An Objectionable Custom. Wo stayed, as I have said, to the Com munion; Beforo that rito slips of cardboard were passed round tho pews and the strangers wore asked to' write down their names, churches, and habitats. When all the slips_ ha.d been filled they wero .handed to the minister, who proceeded to read them aloud. In duo courso tho names of the Rev. l)r. and Mi's. Gibb, Presbyterian Church of XSow /ea]and, were announced, with a largo number of people from many parts of tno Old Country and from air over the world. More than ■ half of tho communicants must have been-strangers. I did not like tho reading of tho;na 1 mes. -It struck,mo as a bit of a show; it seemed to signify.'Listen, and see how many and how varied aro tho" - peoplo who como to hear Dr. Morgan I' It wasn't as if any further use was to ho. mado of tho names. You had your name; read out, and thero an end. . ■ • Presbyterianism Unknown; \ v "ln tho afternoon ,wo heard Archdeacoi. \\ilberforco in .Westminster Abbey—a very , lino, thoughtful sermon ho gavo us. In the evening wo tried, to find-Dr. Munroo Gibson s Church (Presbyterian) at St. John's \\ ood. But even the. noxt-dpor-to- • omnißciont London policemen had never heard of Dr. Gibson, and Presbyterianism was notan ism within their knowledge. Wo had to/givo up tho search for the church, and returned to .the''city and got a whiff of R. J. Campbell in tho City 'Teinplo. I didn't care much for him—got, however, exactly what I knew I would got. "It is only fair to say, however;-. that -Mr< Allan,' jn-lio had . been present at the forenoon service in the Temple, whs delighted'with Campbell. ...... . Clasgow Preachers. "Last Sunday wo were in Glasgow! and heard- again three preachers—Revs. Hutton, of Bellha \en, U.F. Church, in the morning; Dr. Hunter, the Congregationalist, in tho afternoon; and Dr. Ambrose Sliopheard, at night. Far and: away above tho level of tho two latter—far" and away abovo anything I have hoard in this.country—was Mr. Hutton's service. The sermon was first-rate. You have heard me sometimes say that: tho true cri- . torion of tho worth of a sermon is: " Does it make God real to man?' Well, here was a preacher who dealt with spiritual things so that ono listening felt tho nearness of tho divino and eternal, and began to thirst for God. I enjoyed and profited. ■ Wo spent only a few days in Glasgow. My wifo's_ mother is living at Lenzie, somo fivo or six miles out. She is very frail, but-well enough to rejoice in our home-coming. You can imagine how glad she was to seo hor daughter again after theso long 2G years. in Aberdeen. "AVe then pushed oh to' Aberdeen,' whert wo have been busy looking up old friends, and noting'"thq ■ changes in my native' city. The changes aro marvellous. Aberdeen has been practically rebuilt in these years, and is now'a fair aiid Btately. ' city. ■ But tho weather is .shocking. . . .'Wo are going south on Monday to" the Church Assemblies in Edin- , burgh, but'shall return again to Aberdeen as soon as .possible. In Edinburgh }ve aro to bo tho guests of Mr. and Mrs. Aitken— our Mr." Alston's 'brother—who havo kindly ■ invited us to stay with them during tho "v Assembly." ' Dr. and Mrs. Gibb will probably be back in "Wellington, ono gathers from this' letter, - iu the, beginning of.November. ' Not Far Behind. A letter addressed by Dr. Gibb from Aberdeen to his 'congregation, and dated May 15, jiays: " Thus' far it seems to me that wo nre"not far behind tho chuTchcs in Scotland in any department of our activities, if we aro not, indeed, 'cjuito abreast,, of 'them. . A .» larger'acquaintance with what is, doing hero _ may lead, me to modify this opinion, but I ' havo not yet-seeh or heard of anything in the way of church work which' has struck mo as entirely-new. '/My wife -and I : are in the . best of health, and in excellent spirits.'.' . .