THE CHURCHES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 634, 11 October 1909, Page 8

THE CHURCHES.

,'.. ,- WESLEY-SUNbAY/SCHOOL. ; '';/SIXTY-EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY.; ' ' ' .Sunday SchooU'in'connection-witb .the \7csterChnrchV Taranakr Street;- celebrated-its sisty-eighth;, anniversary, at.:the Town' Hall yesterday. Three .services.were held; and the attcndanco.'at each the. number '.present at -.the 'evening meeting • being 'about 3000. . It 'njiist be: mentioned also' that shortly after, the time the service Began, the .doors' wore closed; and'several hundreds had 'to be turned away. • -It.'is-interesting .'.to look back •and remark that the first church services of the 'denomination were held in a raupo hut opposite the Opera House in Manners Street. It .was butned down, and'.'.then " the present structure was..erected- in Taranaki Street, brace .that, time the progress. made by' the ohnrcli .rrr.point of' numbers lias been phenomenal.' The anniversary services have been' in active preparation for the.past few weeks, undor able, instruction of Mr.'. F.. Billman ? Jl ?,^ n I . e ff^ en ! ; staff .of assistants. '■■ ' " -At .the. evening service yesterday the-plat-form was occupied by the orchestra and choir, the lady members of which wore white with a.blue ribhon-the Sunday School colours.:. .;-, • ■ .. , .'.•..■-.

Vrhejnorning service was 'conducted by • the Eev; T. F«e, president■'. of •' the New Zealand Conference; the Rev. fWV R.- Tuck, M.A., officiated in "the afternoon, and the Eev. S. J. • rpe hi eooressedvthe. gathering in the • evenlßg. _ ~The: collections, while not breaking last year's record, were, considered very satisfactory.. The following are figures:for the last two years:-1907: Morning,-£2O Bs.; afternoon, £U-2s..WA.i evening, .£23 15s; 6d.; total, .£57 6s. Id.. 1908: Morning) ,£2l 4s. ■;■ afternoon, -£42 11s. 5Jd.; total, £93 12s. 9d, 1903: Horning, £22 Bs. id. ;. afternoon, .£lB 16s. M -i evening, Is.; t0ta1, , .881 ss. 9d. : ; ; .lfiis years anniversary gatherings are stated to have been the most successful in the history of the ;church, and mention is due to Mr. .L, B.'Christie, secretary; Mr. J. L. Garrard, superintendent; Mr. W. A. W.:Grenfell, and-a. host. of. workers, whose labours helped to'fflake'them so. Mr. W. J. Harland presided, at the organ. ' .

• . ' ST.v JOHN'S CHUKCH. ■ fifty-sixth anniversary of -St. . John's Presbyterian -Chm-ch - was celebrated yesterday. .. The ■ Eev.; John Mackenzie, ~ of St.Andrew a Church, Christchurch, conducted the services,, having exchanged -pulpitsi with Dr. Gibb, who had gone : south to conduct: anniversary, services at St. Andrew's. In the morning-'Mr. Mackenzie preached-to a-good congregation',on'Habakkuklll, 2, "0 Lord, revive Thy-'work .in the*midst,of the years.'! .■Mr. Mackenzie showed that the religious life of .nations, .had always been. subject to-periods of greater and, less 'intensity.' . He dwelt'ipn the .'common aspects of'all revivals of "religious earnestness—including; a return -to the; pages pf'Uo'd'S Word and a new 'sense of responsibW for.sin..:. The Bible never had been so widely distributed as it was at the present time, and he sometimes thought that it was nover .so ; neglected by-so-called Christian people: If it were necessary,, to make;some sacrifice, ~he .urged .his hearers .to sacrifice the newspaper, rather than-the chapter, the novel andniagazine rather than the Epistle! and the' ■uospel.-. He would like to see the, prayer meetings made the centre of Church activities. In. these;.days of the multiplication, of .meet-, ings the,'prayer meeting had to.. a large ■ ex-tenUlost-.its. significance. 'The materialism, indifference, and self-indulgence of the present age-would.give- place to better things if they learned, to pray from the-heart, "0 Lord,' revive Thy work." ,; Deferring .particularly at ~St., John's,, "Mr: \, Mackenzie ' said that for. ,fifty-six'.., years/ , ,God:, had,'.;led their-.//.congregation.', : by "i" the"■'.>■: ;'htWd. .Through, all-the. years not one of'His'.'promises .had,f,a.iled. './At no period'.had'there, been' more '.to,;encburage' and • inspire. : They should not .. grow "weary ..of. welldoing, , 'or .'set -limits to possibility; but they should .'expect , great victories,, and go'.forward V and ■-, attempt them; .They should go in and -ossess the ;land. .";• ■ , The choir sang the Tβ. Deum and. an anthem. / In the evening ''Mγ.". Mackenzie preached:to a- full congregation on I Chronicles, XXII, 8, .Thou shalt not build a house unto My Name, because thou hast shed much blood. upon the .earth .in My sight." The sermon dealt with : the limitations on life imposed by certain courses of conduct.,. The choir. sang the Tβ Deum, and after the service Mr. J. Maughan .Beinett,- the'-.. church organist, ; played the "Hallelujah^.-chorus.'. '■"••''';. -'• .; • ■ ■ ;,- annual social meeting of-the congregation will,.bo-held-in'St. John's Hall to-mor-row night.' A musical programme will bo given, and the E«v. John Mackenzie will.give an address. . A,... -. . ■ . ..','■

■ , CH^RCH'OI , CHRIST. \ _ Yesterday's services at the Church of Christ, Riddifqrd Street, Newtown, marked the commencement of Mr..C A. Wilson's association with that,'church.'.: Mr. Wilson, is from Mel.bourno.,. At ,the .evening service yesterday, he ;deUvefed';:an. .earnest.; address, to a-large ■ congregation. .Framing his.''remarks on the question asked in the Fourth Chapter of ..St. James's opistle, ."What is your life," and the reply, "It is even a'vapour, which appeareth for a.little while and then vanisheth away,' the speaker said that, in one sense, the Bible was a book of questions—practical quesnons.for application to, and solution bv a practical work-a-day world. : In another sense, the-Bible was a .picture-hook.- • Every.where ln'its pages were to be .found admirable .word-pictures of life, and .its different aspects, and from'each of these pictures were to be .draivn apt lessons 'for the guidance, of men: Ihe ■ preacher 'concluded with'an earnest exhortation'"to hiss congregation., i .- ■ . Mr. and, Mrs.; Wilson are: to be'tendered a ' welcome tea" on Wednesday next. ; ■ ■'•