Page 4 Advertisements Column 3

Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 50, 1 March 1883, Page 4

Act, tho clause of which referring to_ the subject I havo been writing about is entirelyv diHregarded. Eaoh inenmbent claims to have the Hole control of the choir and the musical part of tho sorvice, and in too many cases we all know perfectly well what this means. Look, for instanco, at the performance that took placo under the name of a religious service on the evening of the day on which the Diocesan Synod commenced its last session, and what was it? Nothing but an advertised performance, preceded by a street procession, which in my opinion was BJmply a disgrace to Church members, and which, 2 it had beon got np by any other denomination, would, I believe, have been most strongly denounced by the very people who took part in it. And what do y/e read in the account givon of the affair in the public papor next day? We are told that the minister who proaohed on the occasion informed bis hearers, that such services were a sign of tho vitality of our Church, and warned them against becoming too spiritual. Did anyone over hear such nonsonse preached from a pulpit? I am bold to say that the result would have been pretty much the same if the performance had been hold in the Theatre *Royal or tho Arcade, with this difference, perhaps, that rathor more people would go to a church because there was nothing to pay at tho door. And this kind of thing wo aro told is to bo taken as a sign of vitality in our Church. Is it possible that a Christian Minister, preaching in this way, can forget that thero is such a passago in the Bible as the 23rd and 24th verses of the 4th chapter of the Gospel according to st - John » wnore we have the Savionr s own description of what true worship is,>nd| the way in which the Father desire* to bo worshipped. These versos are as true and as full of meaning today as they were when spoken to the woman of Samaria, and now we hear of a large congregation of Christians being warned by a fellow-creaturoagainstbecomingtoo spiritual in their worship, and told that a choral service of the kind in which they aro ongagedis tho more acceptable way to worship God, and should bo taken as a sign of vitality in our Church. I would mention two much bettor tests on this point which I would recommend this and all other preachers to take if they really wish to arrivo at a true standard of Church lifo. Let them take the communicants' roll and the attendance at the week day sorvices in their parishes; these I take to bo the true tests, and not services of the kind I have referred to, and for which a practice must bo held in God's House tho previous Sunday. While on this subjeot I will mention one othor instances the ohoral festival held in St. Peter's Church on tho 20th of December last. Again I ask — What was it? And again I answer — An advertised musical performance held in God's House with the avowed objeot of raising money, and tho programmes for which wore freoly circulated in the church pews the Sunday beforo, with tho incumbent's name flourishing at the head of them like that of the proprietor of a cirous or the leader of an opera troupe. Could anything be more derogatory or subversive of the dignity and sanotity whioh should surround our ohuroheß and everything conneoted with them? If this is not turning our Father's House into a house of merchandise, please point out to me what is ? And yet there ore some who will ask us to believe that this sort of thing is a sign of vitality in our Church. We shall be told next that our Church parades are signs of 'the same thing, and I would believe it just as readily. It is true things do look very lively on suoh occasions, when the streets are so orowded with a rabble running after a band on Sunday morning, that members of other denominations oan hardly get along the footpat'i on the way* to their respeotive places of worship, but it is to my mind, aa well as the kind of service already alluded to, a kind of life that our Churoh would bo very much better without. Let it not be thonght for a moment that in these remarks I am speaking against Church music — nothing could be further from my thoughts, and nobody could be fonder of saored musio than I am. But I say it should not be made the principle thing in our services, it should be kept in its propor place, and as I have tried to show in the previous part of my remarks it should bo confined to that part of tho service knowu as praise, but it should never be allowed to intrude into the prayers. It is quite against reason and common sense. Let there be as many hymns as possible in the sorvico, and even on anthem provided it is of the solemn simple kind that any congregation can join_ in, aftor having heard them once or twice, bnt tho present oporatic style of singing the anthoma cannot bo too strongly depreoated. The singing of solemn quiet hymns, everyone will admit, has a benofioial and elevating influence, but what is it in the oase of the anthems, with a strong ohoir singing them, as we gonerally hear them sung, at the very utmost pitoh of the voioos, at suoh a pitoh that the singers can hardly control tho notes, and where scarcely a single word can be heard from the beginning to the end, with no blending: of the parts, bnt each one bawling away on his own aocount, at the very top of his voice. And what is there elevating and ennobling in a small boy out of the ohoir, about 13 or 14 years old, with a little shaking, trembling voioe, that the organ completely drowns, being stuok up to sing to a whole congregation of Christiana, met together to worship God, and all standing up to hear this little boy sing? And yet we are told that this has a very solemnising effect, and tends to a propor kind of devotion. Did anyone ever hear such trash ? Tho samo arguments were advanced at the Church meeting lately hold at the Athenscum, and it was argued that to make dovotion real, thore must be monotoning and intoning, and music must bo made the principal and attractive part of the servico, in fact/ the mo.ro musio the; more genuine the dovotion. I say it ought not to be so, and I tried to show there in the few words I said, of what an unreal nature such sorvices must be. In the simile I adopted I pointed out what is generally thought of that kind of courage whioh is only drawn out by artificial means. As a rule it is not valued very highly, and is usually known by the name of Dutch courago. And I say that if the Kind of sorvico that is now booing forced into our churches by choirs and organists, is encouraged much moro, our Church sorvioos will soon partake largely of a commodity that may truly be called Dutch devotion, a kind that cannot be evoked without a continual whirl of musio and noise. I have alroady far exceeded tho limits to which I intended to confine myself when I commenced these remarks, and yet I find thero is a great deal more I could say in support of tho viows I hold on this subject. But I must conclude by saying, that I have not only expressed tbe views of persons who are to a certain oxtent wedded to old customs and practices, bnt also the feelings of many young people who do not hesitate to condemn the present mode of conducting our Church servicos, as being formal and fantastic, and who freely admit that a much better state of things existed in our churches, and also among qur Church members, say ten or fifteen years ago, than now exists. And who that looks carefully into the matter can help coming to the same conclusion ? Since writing thus tar, the evils of which I have been complaining have, I think, reaohed their climax in the Harvest Festival service, held in St. Peter's Church on Sunday, the 4th February, and I can hardly trust myself to say what I think about it. What is to be thought of us as a community, to have lived in Wellington for more than 40 yoars, during the earlier part of whioh period the yield of grain and tho return of fruit would bo more in ono year than it now is in five, and yet never to have been struck with the necessity of having a Harvest Thanksgiving sorvico until we go asd build a grand churoh, several years before it was needed, and run ourselves into debt to the tune of .£4OOO, and then this sudden feeling of thankfulness comes us, and this grand choral service is held ; and what is done with the munificient offertory of .£36 2s 2d collected at the three services held ? It goes to the reduction of the Church debt, not to the Hospital or the Asylum, or any other benevolent object. What a mockery the whole thing is; and can sonsiblo peoplo think fcr a moment that God is to be duped (i use. tho word in no irreverent sense, but as being tho only ono that fully conveys my moaning), and I ropoat it, is God to be duped with suoh catchpenny entertainments, got up in His house, with all the surroundings and accompaniments in the way of bannors and oroßSes, and scrolls and arches. I say it ia lamentable to soo such services taking place in our midst. They are enough to bring down a curso instead of a blessing on our Churoh, and I, as a churchman, will always raise my voice against them whenever the .oocasion arises, if no one else does. I thoroughly believe in thanksgiving services, but lot them be genuine and real ; do not let them be called one thing and mean quite another. And let them be shorn of all external show, and nonsense, which to my mind would be very suitable in the oase of people worshipping in an idol's temple, and who might be exonsed for carrying in offerings of grain and fruit, and laying them at the feet of the falso gods they believed in. But I say all this kind of thing is quite unnecessary in the worship of enlightened Christians. Surely our God knows far better than we oan tell him that we have received all these good things at his hand; and I do not see that it can be in any way acceptable or pleasing to Him to see all this waste, and to be worshipped in His Church decorated and dressed up on Sunday, too, as if a flower-show were going to be held in it, and to have our thanks returned for all these mercies in a, full choral service. As I said before, heartfelt thanfa, liko heartfelt prayers, could nover bo sung. A thanksgiving sorvice, to be genuine and real, cannot bo conducted in too quiet and solomn a mannor, and, if the true feeling of thankfulness ia there, people will not require to bo enticed to the ohureh where it is neld by all this outward show and parade. And,