CHURCH TODAY

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 111, 6 November 1935, Page 8

CHURCH TODAY

SUNDAY OBSEEVAtfCE

POSITION IN NEW ZEALAND

THE "TRINITY OF EVIL"

Speaking at the opening of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in St. John's Church last night, the Moderator, the Rev. H. H. Barton, M.A., said there was a good deal of justification for the common remark that in our day the Church was "up against it." Church attendances m many instances had declined considerably. .. "The religious observance of the Lord's Daylsineglected by multitudes," continued Mr. Barton. "Some of the Important organisations of the Church, like the prayer meeting, have a sad struggle for existence. Family religion, in the sense in which it was known in the past, has largely disappeared. There is not the former deference to the Church's authority nor the oldtime fear of her rebuke. > MORE COMPETITORS. "It is true that we must beware of estimating the religious life of the home and of the community and the success of the work of the Church too exclusively in. terms' of the observance of religious rites and ceremonies. One has to remember, too, that our forefathers, and even we ourselves in earlier days, experienced a life which offered far fewer competitors for the time and interest of men than does life today, Take, for instance, the ibservance of the Lord's Day, which, on Old Testament grounds, has been often regarded as a sign or test, of the spiritual life and interest of the community. There are at the present time many ways of spending the day which were not available, or considered respectable, a generation ago. The motor-car, the cheap railway excursion, and the radio, as well as other Interests, compete with the Church. Moreover, thef; is a distinct lessening of interest in the serious side of life. Not long ' ago a prominent Scottish minister pointed out that in his country it was now practically impossible to maintain literary and debating and similar societies of an intellectual character. Once they were to be found in almost every town and village in Scotland. They had been displaced by the lighter and more sensational attractions of the cinema and of the dance hall. Under these circumstances, the fact that the Church still maintained so great a hold upon the people was encouraging. REASON FOR ANXIETY. "Moreover, it is manifest that the essential Spirit of Christ shows itself today in a host of activities of which our forefathers knew little or nothing. To revert to the military figure, the line of battle has been almost indefinitely extended. Religious men have been rightly seized with the great thought that Jesus Christ is the Lord of life in all its relations. At one time they would have found expression for their Christian loyalty and enthusiasm almost exclusively along the lines of churchly activity. Today they may be displaying no less genuine zeal and devotion in ways that would once have been classed as secular. "Making every allowance that I can for these and other considerations, I fear that there is only too good reason for anxiety. The position of the Church in this land is not so satisfactory as it once was. We need to give serious consideration to our own section of the battle line. The so-called trinity of cvil —impurity, intemperance, arid gambling—still offer their deadly challenge; and it may well be feared that the Church is not offering to these the stout opposition of the past."