RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 615, 18 September 1909, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

~—__f. —__f _ PRIMITIVE METHODISM. CENTENARY PROSPECTS. With tlia recent conference at Soulhport, the, Primitive Methodists enter upgn the third iml final year of tho' centenary celebration states tho "Christian •World'.'). The movement vns inaugurated by the memorable'gathering >f the donominationa on How Cop in 1007, and ;lio opening of a Thanksgiving Fund at-Loices-: :er a. month later. The period will bo'cioscf jy another rally of tho churches on Mow Cop ind tho holding of the Centenary Conference n the Mother Church at'TunstaU. . _: The coming year is'to bo,the .most active if tho throe, especially in tho evangolistio and inancial departments. Four outstanding events, ire included in the programme adopted by. tho :onfcrenee. In October a simultaneous mission is'to take place, in which it is anticipated that more than five thousand churches will join. Arrangements are in progress for associating in the mission tho Sunday School, ChristianEndcavonr, Tcmpefanco Society, and any other, luxilinry in each church. In the early spring, tho members and adherents will be invited to join in a week of self-denial, which will close Dn April 3, the birthday of .Hugh Bourne, one of' the founders. A month later, Centenary. Synods will bo held at twenty-six distinct sontres, which will "prepare for tho Centenary Conference the following month. For three days the conference will adjourn tor ' tho thanksgiving meetings on tho "."Mount of Beginnings." . ■ • ■ From tho first meeting the desiro for a deep spiritual movement during the centenary period has been the consistent aim and hope of the Church. As the direct results of centenary activity camp m&tings and open-air processioning havo been more prevalent than for a long period. , An unmistakable quickening of spirit-ual-life, and also a marked 7 rivival of the traditional ideal of evangelism-must be recorded, but at the same time profound disappointment exists that in tho purely religious side the results havo not been moro conspicuous.- ■ , ■ With some tropidation, remembering thai Primitive Methodism is largely a ChurcVo: the working classes, the authorities decided upon a thanksgiving fund of .£250,000. In respouse to a general > call, tho circuits voluntarily assessed themselves for amounts' covering thie sum. Gradually, the increasing roll of family and personal promises ie justifying these assessments. During'two-thirds of tho time the. same proportion of the fond has'been guaranteed, tho promises reported amounting to ,£171,619. This includes Sir William Hartley's promise of ,£15,000, and another from Mr. W. Adams, J.P., of Birmingham, of £5000. A strenuouß effort is to be made to secure the remaining .£BO,OOO during the next twelve months. In the denominational parliament a resolution was adopted pledging the Church to aim at a large increase in- the membership and tho completion of the centenary fund for the TunstaU • Conference next June. ' Tho rapid growth of the •Church has rendered a great financial effort imperative, especially on the connexional side. Central funds, fairly adequate to current needs a few weeks ago, havoiallen bohiud in the onward march. Tfle new resources will be used for subsidising tlie'erection of churches and schools in new areas, tho. training of local preachers and teaohors, tho maintenance of the Hartley College, Manchester, the provision of pensions and homos for aged ■ local and itinerant preachers, and ampler accommodation for orphan'children. Most of tho money, it is anticipated, will bo used for aggressive, religious work. The renins of the denomination for kerne extension is finding ample opportunity under tho leadership of, tho. Rev. A. T. Guttcry, the new missionary eecretary. The claims of Africa aro oven nioro insistent; Within four months two largo new fields have beeu occupied,'and: a 6ccond- educational institution opened, involving "the employment of.five additional missionaries. Tho centenary fund-is. expected to provide for- a considerable expansion,of. African work, including!a new,development in medical missions. .Three-fifths',;6f'..the' amount' raised will be used locally for buildings, churches, scho'ok, manses, and clearing debts from connexional property. The outlook for tho year is bright and tho leaders are in good heart".. ,' ,'.'■■' A REMABKABLE; SERMON. ;. ..". IMMORTAit^,;^T|^)iS^LL.-a ; |vij .A remarkable ,, serm'onfon' Jl Jm4fl6ttality "hae just beenpreached by tho Rev. 'Dr. .'Horton, , a foremost English Congregationalist minister.. In opening, Dr. Horton.observed.that soionce, for the. last thirty years aFJanyi.rate, had given no" countenance whatever to the thought or life after death. The conclusion at which, science had arrived might have some foundation in truth. "Wo are not entitled," Dr.< Horton argued, "to assume eternal life'as a matter of course. The idea that men will necessarily attain unto the resurrection from the dead is; a hasty conclusion. Thoro is a remarkable word of our Lord which does not-receive the attention which ■ His extraordinary language deserves. Hβ say's they that are counted worthy attain unto tho' resurrection: from the deadimplying.that in His .judgment there are some who are not counted.worthyi . .-...._. - ; ■ "It seems-to me," continued Dr.' Horton; "that what science is Uniiig ! to-day, is to call attention to a' dangerous superstition . into which wo have fallen. ■ We have treated eternal life too lightly. •Wβ talk as if we were all certain that wo shall rise trom the dead. Science sternly challenges us, to prove it, and, if on scientific grounds it connofc bo shown that men will rise from the dead, belief in that resurrection must rest upon some other ground, \ According\to our Lord, immortality is not forced upon us. It is an incalculable prisio offered as the heirloom of. humanity, but we' are to.be 'counted worthy.' The more I -have, thought about this phrase-the more the conviction: has grown upon me that "our Lord's meaning , is simply this: Being counted worthy is having the real desire for. eternal life. Those who have no desire are unworthy. If we long for purity and righteousness and love, which are implied ( in the immortal, life, that; passionate yearning is in God's eyes our worthiness to re. ceivo His great gift." .■.,-■ .■•.■; ■:-"■■ Such a yearning, Dr.. Horton pointed out, was absent from base men, but never from noble men. Carlylo, Ruskin, - Tennyson, and Browning all expressed in different ways the passionate and ineradicable- craving for God and immortality. With them ho,contrasted tin Swinburnes ana John Davidsons of literature, The soul which lms lost;faith in the beyond, he said, must wither. Dr. Hortonwent on tc deal;with tho inevitable,question, "What hap pens.to tke-tyrants, the despots,-the egotists of tho-world? Individ phrases he repudiated the. idea that they'could over pass into a dream, less sleep. : They could never escape the world in which their, sin would bring its anguish To teachi the, doctrine, of eternal torment was to arrest the conscience and,uestroy faith in't God of eternal pity and eternal love, but thi of those who wronged their fellow men was inevitable, and God would render tc every man according to his works, i CHURCHES CO-OPERATE. ' - !tHB EXAMPLE' OP CANADA. •':'■' •;Co-operation of tho churches as -apparentlj carried out in Canada to a degree which is un known in this country. Tho "Toronto Globe' states that tho policy'of. the Iriterdenoniina tional Laymen's' Missionary'-Movement foi 1909-10, as adopted by the Canadian Counci and endorsed by" all the Denominational Com mittees for" tho.Dominion, arranges for- th( planning, in' co-operation with the denomina tional committees ''and/their secretaries, of i series of. District Interdenominational Confer ences at important , centres, to be located by th< Canadian* Council in consultation with tho co operating committees. " It' is expected that ir each of these places the burden of securinf delegates will rest , with tho local Co-opcratinf Committee, and all'expenses, except those oi the laymen's secretaries, will bo met by thai committee.: That ■ committee and. , tho local clergy will bo expected to arraugo to.havo all congregations, so far as possible, _ addressed on missions'on the Sundays-immediately -preceding and-following- tho conference.'... Each conforenco will cover two or tJireo days, the day sessions to be largely educational, and tli-c evening sessions inspirational, with ono oi more-addresses by men familiar -witlraotual conditions on the homo and foreign-field, cacl denomination, if- 'possible, to be represented on the programme, and denominational conferonces to bo held vach forenoon during th( conference. ■ Each- district -covering oiio. oi more confewnce contres will be, lor two oi three weeks preceding ■ the conference, undei tho supervision of a denominational secrotarj or secretaries, ■' as- mny, seem • best. The selection of tho secretary to bo sent to the several districts will bo regulated, as'far as possible, bv the strength of the different communions in the section to be covered. Tho secretaries will bo expected to "become familiar with met and conditions,'and to so co-opcralo with tin local comniitteo that ample preparation will be mado for the conference. They will communicate with tho olergyand laymen,, and seenre; where possible, .the •. appointment of amnion's missionary comniitteo in each church, wht shitil bo"tho special represenlatives of thai cimrch lit tho conference. The policy .of Hhc Canadian Council is-to recommend tho pro motion of the movement in cities and toiviii with as little-organisation ae possible, that tht work- may oontinufr a movement, rather than an organisation, The national missionary

lolicybe pycf?cnt: for atcactt • District Co-operative Comoillee yill. follow "up" this work in tho endcaviur to : seo- that tlio details of that policy are vorked out in each ehurch so far a 9 possible. , Another object lesson which Canada has just )oon presenting: is a Young People's Missionary luoyeinent Conference, which was attended >v 238 'delegates ■of tho following churches:— itethodiste, .97; Presbyterians, , 65 r Anglican, . 19} Baptists, 22; Congregationalists,' 10; other ; lenpminations, 5. . Over' twenty' missionaricc •epreseiiting, inost'of'the great' mission - fields lavo been presenf, besides a number of tho eaders, both ministerial-and lav, of mission* iry 'work in: the various churches. vs . Though' picnics, tenuis,, croquet, and. other tourna-. :nents oocupied the afternoons of "the week of sunshine"—"for to many delegates, (states a Canadian, paper) tins 3 is part, of their summer, vacation, and health 'has • to bo. Bought—yet real earnest work bas'bfceti'tho keyiwfco of tho conference from 7.10 a.m. to 12.30 pjn. and from 7.15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ; Many haveJboeit the objects of the conference, but tho chioi. "has; •. been to bring those present-to realise that tho. , great commission of our: Lord .is a poreonal l . v and i»imediato one, and to -show, how--best .Hi commission may-bo earned out." - New Zealand lias its Presbyterian,"Methodist, . Baptist, and other Bible.-cla.ss camps during ♦ tho summeT holidays, but an interdanomina-i tionjil camp on this scale and impressive-gathering. CONSECRATION" CEREMONY. - ' - THE .BISHOP'OF-PRETORIA. Tho consecration' of■ Archdeacon.\ Erase, <A / Johannesburg, as.'. Bishop of • Pretoria* was.-a * most impressive • rite. \ St. Peter's. Bajr-ttm 1 fixed for the ceremony,- and' on! tho rigil thej AT.chbishop; of. Cape Town . arrived at- Pretoria,; having- travelled-1050-miles, and two. nights in tho train. " The Bishop ,oi > • land had flushed his four days' ths week before, and-had' conducted a -retreat for the Bishojvelect • and; his clergy *at: tho House of tho .thellc?urrectibn« . OnL.the day fixed for the consecration tho < choir and clergy, formed in. lino in. tho Cathedral grounds,'and then- the long process sion, 120 clioirmen and boys, and ovor.GCcbr clergy, entered the Cathedral. Wheat they hadJ reached their places, tbo tall. of tha * Bishop-elect, dressed in his rochet, cams irons tlie south sido of the chancel, led. to Ins seat : by two of tho-senior priests of tno diocese*. Then the Bishops' procession entered from thal , : west door, and wcnVslowly to the altar» Tma procession' was' led by the Bishop of Jlashona- 4 land, in cope and mitre, followed by Ins chap* lain; then tho Bishop of Natal, mul his chap.. . lain; next tho cross-bearer, and.at last.-the ( '« Archbishop, in a, beautiful cope and -nntro, ; : tho former held by liis two pages, : followed by v ■ his tlireo chaplains.- There was a packed conv I ,: gregation, Lord' Metkuen, tbo Commanucr-in* Chief, in full uniform, in the front seat. Then there was tho Greek Archimandrite fronj Johannesburg, - with his beautiful •, cross. Tbo - chief Presbyterian, ..patch- K«- : formed,' Baptist, and Wcskyan mimstara sat; between tho arches of tho chancel,., closo-to thai bishop's, throne. . "■ ■■' ' __ | The sermon was preached by tho Kcr. J Clement Thompson, C.IU ah old college friend, of tho now Bishop, at tho end of.which the son-ice of consecration be^an.' Durmg fto-ex-hortation, when the Biblo is presented with tlia, words "Give heed unto reading, oshortauonJ and doctrine," tho Archbishop put into thfl I now Bishop's hand tho pastoral staff when ho, " came .to tho words, ?3o to the flock of ChTish a shepherd" (as is ordered ill tho Prayer Book of Edward VI), and-on his finger, tho Episco-. ( " ■ pal ring (the gift ■of the 'clergy}* Tho ~ oration over, tlio • Archbishop lnid i <isido i hiscopo and celebrated in tho red cbasubla, belong*\ ing to tlio Cathedral: During, tho "Fight tho Good Fight" (written: .by . thoV : Bishop's grandfather) > was sung. . Mtcr Nunc Dimittis the'long procession, reformed and wont out in reverse order. Tho Archbishop, walked with his primatial cross in ono. band, holding by tho other hand tho now - Bishop— a moving sight, for theso two are old friends > and' havo worked'together in tho .closest /har» .■ mony for * tho last six years.; , GENERAL BOOTH ON TOUR;. ■ General Booth's, campaign on . his big rphito . car with red wheels when the. •last'mail left from tho Eastern Counties woll up to th« Midlands. ; Takoa' haphazard, a fevr of, the wayside happenings. Which lltastrato/ : tho spirit in- which' tho missionary of eighty; ... is" bcirig received ;show something, or tho man. tbn uniform, and n f()U:tho eccrot';.of : his 1 . , Norwich a request hasCbeon an invalid who wished jiist to catch a sight of the : General's face. X'or. eleven vtars shoi had bcon bed-ridden,.' and,.'in order, to; gratify , her request, tho white car made a : slight. do« 1 tour; and ran. right up to her' window, where > tlie. General" waved;;hishat, and rbcoirod In return a pathetic signal from a'wasted hand. ■At one villago the' parents, of ono of ' the General's field,officers, live.'. Their soileft hisi •' country'homo'years'ago, aud'joined tho Army' . in one of the provincial cities.- Tho old peoplo ' asked for a w'avo of ! the hand as tho Gonoral'. passed. Their sou wrote that they would hold 1 , out a largo red handkorchief, and Would bo ■ dressed ill such tfnd such a fashion. To their delight and surprise .tho General ordered .thai 'cars''to halt when they reachod this Norfolk, hamlet, and tho aged couple ,wpro : brought, for-j ward .to rcccivo ,tho thanks, of tho Genoral for'their gift of a son to "tho war." . ,'■ Last Sunday morning tho inmates of Lincola « heard tho General preach. * Out of 350!' • iifmates thero' are eighty boys) jrofa being: introduced to tlio Borstal system. The?" ■ General's address struck a sympathetic note—j "ify fnVnds, tho diiforenco in onr character® 'is-largely a difference in, training," :. . Y.M.C.A. NOTES. ■• (By n.N.n.) - ; V •' Tlio chief interest -o£ Y.M.C.AJfi in,.- New Zealand at. the,.present, time is', the; visit, of llr. j. J. . Virgo, tho general secretary of tha ' Sydney' T.M.CiA., and acting-national aocrotary for "AustralnsiS. Mr! Virgo, is bome onthusiasticully teccivod . everywhere, ana •< a \ groat • reception is being planned, for him ill Wellington. •. ■Tlio Now, Zealand Secretarial ConteKmoffirill 1 bo held next week in" Wellington, and ; promises; to bo a-gathering M .great untwrfcanoa., i The-secretaries of tho Auckland, Ohsljorjx), Hilton, Mastcrton,' Christchurch; Dunedin, . Tiniaru,. tineiYlnvorcargill Associatkms; will -all ;.' ' bo preaeht'..,;." ...■,. ~ v. . In an interview-given br Sir- Gcoroo White,, one of tho-leading-members of tlio Honso of Commons, Sir George speaks 6f the great valuo. of a ■'Y.M.C.A. Debating Club which lie at-; \ tended as a boy. ' By this club and villaeb , ! preaching ho got his. first cxperioneo in pub-? ■', . lie -speaking. At nineteen Sir Gcorgo won a,, prizo of fivo pounds for' the best essay oil tlia work, of the Young. Mon's Christian Association.,, / ■..' Tlia Scottish National Council of is sending out Mr. James G. Harlcy, M.A., as its rtpresentotiro. to India. Mr. Hajle.v .is big in. frame and brain, played' cricket for/ his , county, ltugby for' his Uniwrsityi .aad.hodtej; for tho nation. He was p«sidont or tho btu* dent Council, and made- himself felt as » Christian' forco, 'iu the College life. . -. The contract. for tlia new building of 'tha ' London Y.M.C.A.. ■ has just; • '..bem- lot' for - JC9OOOO. 'LonVKinnaird out. tho llrst sou, pro<; paring tho way: for; tho foundations; .. .. . ' Mr .Tohn' Wanafeakor, the . famous , inep"chant prince of Philadelphia, is erecting thrco now association buildings in tlio, Hast, _at Seoul Kyoto, and Poking., His connection:, with the association dates from his .teens, wheiu . lm was first secretary, in Philadelphia, and Iho writes in a .rcccnt letter from, Paris: "I . . stand by nil thnt is"saiil about tho,\oung . » Men's Christian 1 Association. wolk, .and, under- v score it." . i■"'■. ■ • .'- '• ' . JOTTINGS. Miss M. D. Petre, in a. letter to "The Tinier,"' that : I'athcr Tyitell . left in writing ; r si" statement which shows that ho was-quita : nreparod for tho prohibition of Catholic burial, and that lie regarded it as a likely clnsequenco ; of Mho lino, he had pursued. , Mr.' Seth Hart, of Carterton,' has been, a* mcmhor of tlio Motlitidist Church for 75 yoars., : a record surely hard to beat. Ho .has filled . nearly all tho loading positions of tho .Church? ' anil lias been a zealous local preacher I for 55 years, commencing in tlio. Wairarnpa when tha .. valley was ono great circuit. .. Mr. and Mrs. Hart were presented' during tho week • jvith' an illuminated address by tho i. tiirarapa Methodist Church on tho-occasion of their; diamond 1 wedding. , It is understood in well-informed iirclcs that . Professor Georgo Adam'Smith'will'bo the now , Principal of tlio University,",of Aberdeen (says , the -"British 'Weekly")'. Should tho appointment take place, it will bo received with -the'" greatest favour in tlio oily, ili tlio district, and, indeed, through tho whole country. Dr. Goorgo Adam Smith commended: his distinguished. .. oareer'in Aberdeen. At first ho taught' Hebrew in'tho I'rcn Church College, as a substitute for Professor; liobertson Smith, and afteni-ards 1 became' minister of a now West ; End churchy Queen's Cross, ivhero lie was eminently 'success- ; ful, taking liis place ainoug tho foroinost men of the city. Dr. Smith's academic tastes; his , acknowledged position in .literature, his oratori- . cal power, and his winning and gonial manner should make hiin an ideal head of a great uaiversity."- ,