BALD AND CONCRETE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1030, 20 January 1911, Page 5

BALD AND CONCRETE.

k. MINISTER AND ■ SOME LAYMEN. "A rather bald paragraph appeared in Ihe Dominion newspaper this morning," eaid the jiev.S. Henderson at-the: Primitive Methodist Conference yesterday. Tho reverend gentleman referred to a paragraph reporting his- utterance of the previous day on the subject of "confoundedly, .lazy" laymen. .-' "Some of the laymen here feel rather aggrieved iibout it,"'continued Mr. Henderson. "I may ,say that I referred to the open-air work and nothing else. Lven in/this there must .be some qualification. Everyone will know that some of our laymen . have :to keep their shops open _bn {Saturday. night or are otherwise detained by their.-business occupations. I repeat that anything I said was'only m regard, to open-air work; I' said, I think, in my retiring address that our laynjen compared favourably with the laymen of any other church." ; "'We are a confoundedly lazy lot'— that was the expression used," said Mr. E. W. Hall, "I-did not rise to say any- . thing about it because it did not fit;me!" (Laughter.) Mr. Henderson: "Others 1 said exactly the same as-1 did, only I put it into ■concrete form." (Renewed .laughter.) "Pretty solid concrete, all right," interjected the president.

, Mr. \V. Dobbs, like Mr. Hall, a layman of Christchurch, where Mr. Henderson, is stationed, declared that for a long time" Mr. Henderson was well supported in his .'open-air work. But one of his principal supporters' went for- a trip Home —as it was becoming fashionable for Primitive Methodists to do,.- the speaker was glad* to say.Apart from, the loss.of this worker there'had been' a' cer■tain dying, down of. enthusiasm.'. There •were'otherfthings to,consider. -Nowadays regular^,-,sermon's, wereVprcached in ' the open , air, and sojrio'"oftho Christchurch laymen could not prepare a sermon for ■cach Saturday.night out in,the'Square -that was .worthy of delivery. Mr. C. E. Bellringer, who had been absent .while' Mr. Henderson was speakinjr, Tose .at this stage to say that he objected to being described as a confoundedly lazy man, "It has gone through the press of this Dominion," he said, "that we are confoundedly lazy men; arid 1 think tho brother (Mr. Henderson) ought to withdraw tho'expression." / On being' informed as 'to the actual of affairs, Mr.' Bellringer withdrew his demand and .a passage, that "was brisk while it lasted, ended in. an ■atmosphere, of perfect good-humour.