ST. PAUL'S PRO-CATHEDRAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2790, 7 June 1916, Page 6

ST. PAUL'S PRO-CATHEDRAL

• JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. / ; A. service was held in St. Paul's Prop . Cathedral last ,night to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the dedication of the church. .. .'• : • .. .:.JAe Bishop of Wellington (Dr. T. H. Sprott),.in tne course of a sermon based V- . ~on >the ■ eth'.. verse .of.:the: 13th-chapter of . -.the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Jesus Christ, ./' the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,'' i. : -J ffid he was happy to join in celebrating fthe jubilee of St. Paul's. , fie' had been i:; /■ more cTosely associated with the church I ' ' fnan anyone else. He had vicar of j;/.. ; St. Pauls for eighteen happy years. He gave some interesting, details of the aci;, quisition of the site, and recalled Bishop f Abraham's address to the first' Synod at ' Wellington in 1859. The church was i-r- /'.consecrated as soon as it was built an iv/.i. ;';wiusual proceeding; nowadays,, for noi/. trl®* 1 ?. _ ' • could be I consecrated : against £whicn'.therS"was J any legal claim. The ;. / ""population of the city then was not more S. / "y ß ?:' 7 ®®®* Fifty" years '.ago. the fatal !: ■ lack of discipline, apathy, and , .. ■ ..general indifference for which they were :/ paying an awful toll to-day, had not | smitten the British people. Tho church, its consecration, had been dedicated to " was curious that in the /Middle- Ages there- were few churches ; ..dedicated to. St. Paul.. The Middle Ages : ; were unable to grasp the significance of ".-.the great Apostle. Paul was emphatical- " Jy the apostle of national churches as j-distinct from imperial ecclesiasticism. -..winch, predominated during the Middle /"Ages. It was not till after the Reform a'tion that St. Paul came into his own. !■ ' ■'S V;? s „? tt,D e that t!,e Cathedral Church. , -of Wellington should bear the name of .i i' J ,, , h °Ped a permanent cathe- , , ™ would be built on the present sito ,< .°f the church. This would be a worthy J . memorial of those who fell in the great / war of -national defence. The destruc- - . tion of Reims Cathedral was tho simple embodiment of the spirit incarnate in ' ft® r \ Although it was recognised ,that Ohnshun. principles should rule in ■ dealings between man and man, the spirit of war denied Christianity, which ...was not' recognised by the nations in - their dealings with each other. During }; - the fifty years that had elapsed since the ■ consecration of the church great changes ;) ritirl occurred. They were on th'e eve of v still greater changes. When tho history •; 'of the times came to be written two r dates—lßß6 and 1916—would stand, out as ;y, amongst the most epoch-making dates in ;/ human history. In the former year / Prussia fought with. Austria for the i "hegemony of Germany, which was won on 'the field of Sadnwa. That was tho be- ? 'ginning of the drama, the end of which yet to 'come. In view of the wonS derfiil events going on. they might well ;/ "ask if tli«re was anything stable in the ; world. The church was consecrated to bear witness to the fact that .Tesus Christ j!.' . was the same yesterday, to-daj', and for r - .ever. ! . , . . ■- '