CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 102, 26 October 1929, Page 13

CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR

THE NEW ZEALAND UNION

The annual meeting of the New Zealand Christian Endeavour Union has just been held in Wellington, under the presi■'dency of the Eev. Lionel B. Fletcher, of Auckland. On Wednesday about 150 Endeavourers had tea in the Lecture Hall of the Vivian Street Baptist Church, arranged by Mesdames Harry and Goring, at which thc_ Mayor of Christchurch (the .Rev. J. K. Archer) gave a hearty and .Wmpathetic address. He expressed his interest in Christian Endeavour, having a society of his own, and declaring that the movement was the greatest possible help a :_unister. could have. Christian Endeavour, n- said, had a good citizenship plank in its platform, and the society had been a- mighty social uplifting fore. -sJierever it had gone. Addresses followed bj lis^ Eev; J. Carlisle (Invercargill), Pastoi? VMarshall (Wanganui); and Dr. Minnie Yarley-(Dunedin), bearing eloquent testi*'mo_y to the value of Christian Endeavour in their work. Tea was followed by a delightful junior demonstration. A Dominion rally followed, a large congregation assembling. The Eev. Lionel Fletcher presided, and the Eev. F. E. Harry gave a hearty welcome to the visiting Endeavourers. Greetings and good wishes for a successful convention were received by cable from England and Australia, and responses to the roll call were given by representative's from Auckland, Wanganui, Raglan, Christchurch, Invercargill, Nelson, and other places. _ Miss Jennie Street, the British Christian Endeavour Field Secretary, then gave an-address, in which she vividly described, the, lighting of the holy fire in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, ]at Eastertide, a ceremony she had . witnessed. From Jerusalem the fire' was carried by the people to their homes and to {their churches throughout the country. Ehdeavourers were urged to carry the holy fire of love and enthusiasm from the .convention to their homes and churches.. The president then delivered his manifesto",' pointing. out that the great Christian Endeavour Society, which began in ISBI and had now over five million members, depended for its permanence on itspirituality. It stood for loyalty to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; devotion to His aejfice, work (through various committees) for the local church, interdeuom- . inational fellowship, good citizenship, and -missionary enterprise. Coming, asihe said he did, from a great and successful mission in Dunedin?in which over three hundred people had professed to find salvation from sin, hs urged the young people ' present to engage in personal work for Christ, to wear their C.E. badge every*here, to be helpers of their ministers, to adorn the doctrine of Christ in all things, and to-be sure that they were wholly surrendered to the control of the Holy Spirit. The -Benediction brought an enthusiastic im-etirig to a close. i'-All day Thursday the members of the New Zealand Christian Endeavour Council, transacted business under the chairmanship of the' Eev. Lionel Fletcher, with Mr. Noel Carless, of Auckland, as secretary. The constitution of the New Zealand Union was thoroughly revised and adopted, and the following officers were appointed for the ensuing two years: President, the Eev. Lionel B. Fletcher; vicepresidents, the Revs. F. B. Barton, Principall Haddou, F. E. Harry, H. Johnson, A. N. Scotter, A. S. Wilson, and Archdeacon York; secretary and treasurer, Mr. » Noel Carless, Titirangi, Auckland. It was determined to appoint delegates to the World's Christian Endeavour Convention to bo'held in Berlin in July next, four or

fivo members having signified their readiness to attend. It was also decided to cooperate with the Australian Union in holding a great Pacific Convention in Sydney in 1931 to celebrate the jubilee of Christian Endeavour. In his address to the council, Mr. Fletcher alluded to the valuable aid given to the movement in New Zealand by the visit and services or Miss Jennie Street. New societies had been formed, prejudices against Christian Endeavout had been destroyed, and a great impetus liad been given to existing societies by her eloquence and encyclopaedic knowledge. She had been as far North <v Hikurangi, and as far south as Invercargill. She had not spared herself. She had met with opposition and overcome it, she had faced united gatherings of ministers and debated Christian Endeavour with them; in fact, with apostolic zeal she had spoken for the Kingdom of God all over the Dominion. The Christian Endeavour movement everywhere owes much to the earnest advocacy and fertile pen of this remarkable woman. The Rev. F. E. Harry endorsed this testimony gratefully, and others spoke of Miss Street's versatility and wisdom. The secretary's" report indicated au increase of 100 per cent, in the number of societies during the past year, new ones being enrolled almost every day. It was suggested that branches of the Alumni Association should' be formed in the various unions, but the wish was expressed that the' name should be changed to that of Comrades of Endeavour.