PATRONAL FESTIVAL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 79, 30 September 1938, Page 11

PATRONAL FESTIVAL

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH

Two sermons, each bearing a lesson for people of the present day and of very diverse type, have been heard at St. Michael's Anglican Church, Kelburn, this week. The first was preached by Canon D. J. Davies, vicar of St. Paul's, who had exchanged pulpits on Sunday with the local vicar,, and the second by the Ven. Archdeacon W. Bullock, vicar-general of the diocese, who preached at the Patronal Festival last night. / The Canon, in a truly inspiring way, drew a striking lesson from the rever- j ence and adoration in which the Jews j held the Sacred Ark of the Covenant and stressed the need today of a return in thought to the ideal of God transcendent, high, and lifted up, a God to be loved though revered "while still we see Him in the lowly spheres of life. It was a question of balance," he said. "Only so shall we miss two great evils of the present day, complacency and futility, both pointing the way to moral disaster. We must get a new vision of God and a deep conviction of His power." Archdeacon Bullock, in a forceful style, stressed the need of people of today, paying heed to the injunction given by St. Matthew when he asked the question: "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" He who shall humble himself as a little child, the same is the greatest. The Archdeacon urged all people to remember' their duty to their weaker brethren j and in all their actions to set a high example to the younger generation who were so influenced by observation of what they did. They had need- to foster earthly knowledge as distinct from heavenly wisdom. In an eloquent peroration the preacher stressed the need of securing the wisdom of the prophet combined with the learning of the scholar and a humble simplicity of life, taking care always "that ye despise not one of the lowly and simple souls in the world." In the congregation were the Rev. R. Murray and some of his people from the Presbyterian Church who were given a cordial welcome by the Rev: G. McKenzie. A feature of the service was the hearty congregational singing. The hymns were chosen to honour the Day of St. Michael and All Angels, and the anthem sung by the choir was Dr. G. A. Macfarren's fine setting of "A Day in Thy Courts," the words being from the Psalm selected for the service.