BAPTIST CONFERENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 637, 14 October 1909, Page 8

BAPTIST CONFERENCE.

WELCOME MEETING. SPEECH BY- THE MAYOR. The 27th:annual' conference of the New Zealand Union was' opened yesterday ■ at .tho' Vivian Street Baptist" Clmrcli. The, initial meeting in the afternoon was entirely of.a.', devotional..character! and , was largely attended. The Revs.'F. Hales (Invercargill) and E. -A. Kirwood. (Auckland) delivered impressive' addresses.; The day was largely occupied by 'committee work.

The delegates'(whose names were published yosterday) were welcomed at a publics meeting held in tlie.charch last night:. The Rev. J; J. North':presided, ' and 1 was . supported by /the •Mayor.(Dr. Newman) and others.. - The Mayor, iii • welcoming the delegates to the, oity, observed that, though his father,'be- . longed.- to , the Church of Kngland, his mother was V Baptist.. Consequently,- he wa6 himself a, sort of nalf-caste.,-.(Laughter.)/He-was very glad to be there amongst his mother's people. I "When visiting' Island Bay with the City Engineer. that-afternoon,, he had' been thinking how- times had changed. He was the chief -.of 'the island'at Island Bay. :It was not atpart of the city, but was governed by a. separate domain board, of which he was. sole, member. He was,'therefore, the absolute ruler of that : island;'iHis .predecessor,■ the .old Maori ' chief, of many 'years ; ago, . was a very religious man, andjhad; a difference, of opinion about a- theo'-. logical question with a:tohunga. It ended in the rangatira and. his people thumped the tohuheaf to/-death ' with -their" lists.' 'Nobody would thump-a. Baptist minister 'to . death nowbnt they ; could, starve; him out. After .killing the the Maoris'' buried him face .down wards,' so that no words of his should go'abroad in.the land...lt was' very,' pleasant, lor hiin. as'the'present-day rangatira of Island Bay, 'tooffer-.- very different treatment to .ministers of religion, and especially to such, a gathering as, the Baptist Conference. Welling- : ton was a city of conferences, and he was glad that was so. It. did the city good, quite'apart from the fact that tho people dropped a pound or two in the- streets.-. .Contact with .tho best intellects- kept- people alive: Visitors to conferences had said'they liked Wellington—the most beautiful, most attractive,."best governed city in New Zealand. ' (Laughter and applause.) He was [particularly ( glad,to welcome this confer-ence-of his mother's people, for .he knew the good : they were- doing in trying to uplift humanity, and to -make Wellington brighter and better.-. (Applause.) .'"May the conference come as the breath of a good'angel; to Wellington," was. the burden of a brief and hearty address by Mr.' H. N. Holmes, the Y.M.C.A. secretary. Tho' delegates boing the guests of the Baptist churches'of Wellington, welcoming speeches were delivered .by,; the . Revs. A. Dewdn'ey, (Brobklyd)' and T. A. Williams (I'etone), as frell as;'the . chairman. Mr. North apologised for the 'absence of the liov. T. E. Ewen (Berhamporc). 'vThe Rev. F. G.:„ Buckingham. (Oamaru) and Mr.>H,'.H. Driver . (Dunedin) ■, expressed ... the thank's,of', the'delegates' for. the church;.'. and. ■Mayoral../welcome,'; and the ■ hospitality / ex-,j tended to them. ~. . ■ ■'•■' l -.. -During the-evening selections .were: rendered •by- a :; men's choir and a mixed choir from the local' Baptist churches,'with Messrs. T: Wilson and H.' G. Hill as conductors, and Mr. C:.Col'lins 'organist: /Mrs.' Bott sang the solo in: the. anthem,,,"l Am Alpha, and Omega," /': : The delegates'and. Wellington friends after : 'wards :took,supper together in the schoolroom. ' i The proceedings - to-day- will; comprise,a .'devotional'meeting at'9.3o'a.m., and sessions of-the union at 10 a.m., 2.80 p.m., and 7.30 p..m The 'president' (Mr. A. ':-F. ■ Carey) - will - deliver- his address in the evening. The conference will he continued ..until-Thursday next. . ■; . •