CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 760, 8 March 1910, Page 3

CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR.

• PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE ■/ ■ OPENED.; . The' sixteenth annual convention or the Wellington Provincial Christian Endeavour Union was opened in the Vivian Street .Baptist . Church last evening. The retiring president (the Rev. T. Keith ■Ewen) occupied the chair. . ... Mr. E. A.' Wright, ii.P.*" in welcoming the ! delegates, said-that in the Christian Endeavour, movement, as. in ,all - other movements, the great burden of the. work must fall' upon the few. They would not be ..discouraged beoauso t.ho attendance was.a small, one., .The delegates, had met in-' conference for mutual assistance and encouragement., and to .exchange : ideas. The society - had . done .'an immens6 amount of good work, inside the churches and beyond them; He;believed that in future the. Christian Erideavourers would be called upon to do more and more-in their churches as: the' outcome of "the ■"higher criticism." Some of the people who went' to church V virtually rejected the Bible. The influence of the Christian EndeavouTers would . be needed to keep the people in the ancient path. He hoped that-the visiting delegates would have a pleasant time and derive much help from, the conference. : The annual report of the council,. covering the period from September 1, 1908, to December 31> 1909, stated that, the Eggers missionary shield and honorarium were won by:the Vivian Street Baptist Juniors' Society with the. fine record of J826 12s. raised,. an average of 17s. 2d. per' member. The Tarsnaki Street Society was second, raising .£l7 17s. 2d-, and next came Constable Street. Gongrogational £14 :55., Wanganui Baptist .£8 4s. 7d., and Kent -Terrace Presbyterian .€5 ss. For several months- the ■ union paper—the. "Advocato"—had . not been published. Then for a brief period it was revived,., and .recently .it had been enlarged and issued; under the now name of . the/"New Zealand Erideavouror." Mr. C. A. Wilson , had been appointed editor. Thanks were expressed to, a friend who had guaranteed. the rent of tho society's room for twdvo months. The last Dominion Conference, held in bad

weather, had left the Dominion officers with a debt of over «£20.t0 face. A good deal of useful work had been done by committees during l the year. Two new societies had been* affiliated, and two had ceased to meet. Appreciative reference .was made to the work of, officers, and the assistance given by "various friends.. '■ . The balance-sheet for the year showed a trilling debit balance. The officers for the coming year were announced as follow: —President, Rev. B. Hutson- (Brooklyn); vice-presidents, Mrs Eggers and Mr. L. J. Clark; secretary, Mr. Griffin; treasurer, Mr. G; ,T. Clark. . . .. ; To-day at 2.30 p.m. the convention will be continued,, in the Taranaki Schoolroom, when the Rev. khirer will read a paper on "The Needs of the Church." The Junior Workers' Conference will bo hold in the evening, starting at 5.30, and will be. followed by. o sacred concert in the Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church. ,