AN HONORED MINISTER

Evening Star, Issue 18807, 4 December 1924, Page 1

AN HONORED MINISTER

THE LATE REV. ALFRED NORTH. (Contributed.) A Christian minister who long held a very honorable position in this city closed yesterday a life of far-reaching usefulness. Coming to this country half a ceiitmy ago as minister of the Hanover fatieet Baptist Church as successor to the Rev. J. Upton Davis, 8.A., tho Rev. Alfred North soon made his influence felt as a champion of righteousness and a fear.ess assailant of moral evils. During eighteen years lie maintained a. ministry of great efficiency and fruitfulness. _ It is over twenty years since bo retired from the city, but the reputation ho established during his residence among ns he retained to the end, and the influences for good which he exerted still endure. His citizenship was of a noble typeHis activities were never limited by narrow denominatioiial boundaries. In eveiy movement for social and' civic advancement he displayed a keen and intelligent interest. His robust Christian character commanded the respect of all with whom ho was associated, 'Sagacious in counsel and energetic in action, he was readily accorded a position of leadership. Strong in his own convictions and ever ready so champion tho principles Jic held, lie jet cultivated a chivalrous regard, for those who differed from him. Even those witn whom ho crossed swords m controversy recognised the purity of bis motives and the sincerity of his aims. Truth was to him too uacred r. tiling to be held hghrn or to be cheaply compromised; but ms zeal was never divorced from charity. He was over held in high esteem by all classes of the community. At the_ great valedictory social tendered to him and Mis North in the Garrison Hall when they left for India, testimony was borne by’ many representative speakers to tho splendid service he had rendered to many organisations which aimed at the uplift and betterment of society. He was one of the founders of the Council ot Churches, a member of the Executive of the Otago Bible Society, deeply in the Prisoners and Patients’ Aid Society, tho Society for the Prevention of Cruelly to Animals, and kindred agencies. All good causes won his ready help. Mr North was always proud of the dominion to which lie was invited m the prime of his manhood, and in which the best years of his life were spent. In iho civil and religious liberties of this favored country he greatly rejoiced and was unceasingly jealous of any infringement of them. Ho was all his life a Liberal in politics and a convinced Democrat. In his own denomination Mr North held a position of acknowledged leadership. Ho had much to do with the establishment of the Baptist Union of New Zealand in 1882, and through all the years of its history he exercised a unique influence. he thrice occupied tho presidential chair (1884, 1886, 1890), served on many committees, attended most of the annual conferences, and shaped the policy of the union. By his special aptitude for organisation_ _ lie initiated many of the activities ot the union, and was especially useful in founding the annuity fund for the benefit of aged and disabled ministers and missionaries. To him fell the honor of moving in TBBS the formation of the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society, and he evci championed the missionary enterprise in East Bengal, to which the Baptists committed themselves. He devoted himself to the training of young men for the ministry and the mission held, and was ever eager to encourage the young to turn their life to highest account. There are many all through this land who will regard Ifls death us a personal loss. In 1917 the Baptist churches of the dominion presented Mr North with a testimonial of £3OO and an illuminated address in recognition of his magnificent services during many years. Mr North recognised tho power of the Press, and used his pen to good j impose. For some years he edited the ‘ New Zealand Baptist.’ He prepared primers on Baptist history and Baptist princples, which wore widely circulated. Hu wrote in trenchant style, with a good command of nervous English. Although not a classical scholar, he was very familiar with our glorious literature, and used it effectively in his addresses and articles. Nothing enlisted Mr North’s enthusiasm more fully than work among the young. Ho believed the Sunday school to be the most important and remunerative of all the activities of the church, and rejoiced exceedingly in tho growth of the Bible class movement. He was keenly interested in tho Bible class camps, anti regarded them as fraught with vast possibilities of usefulness. He kept his heart young to the end by his unbroken contact with the youth of the church. One of his great achievements was a young people's industrial exhibition held here in the Agricultural Hull in 1898. Those who knew tho homelife of Mr North bear witness to its graciousncss. The tenderer aspects of his character were unveiled within the sacred enclosure of the home. Hugged and austere as ho might appear at times to lie in public, in private lie was kindly and courteous to a degree. The . grace of hospitality throve in tho manse, and multitudes from many parts of tho earth enjoyed its domesticities. For some fiftylive years Mr North had the delightful companionship of a wife who aided him in every way in his noble work, and who won warm affection by tho rare sweetness of her disposition. It was tho dcsolatcness which came over him after her removal a few months ago which hastened his end. He hud little to live for when she had gone, Mr North was surrounded at the last by the filial affection and ministry of Dr Charles and Mrs North, under whose roof he passed away. His eldest son, the Rev. J. J. North, of Christchurch, visited him shortly before he readied the end of the way, and he rejoiced that his gifted son had accepted the principaiship of the newly-established Baptist College. It was fitting that (his distinguished minister should dose Jiis career in the dominion in the city in which it began. After spending seventeen years among usi (1802-1900) with unflagging zeal Bind fidelity, lie went to Calcutta, whore he ministered for seven]' years at (he Circular Road Baptist Church, and studied the problems of the mission field, gaining firsthand knowledge of their complexity. On Ins return to this country lie held pastorates at Ponsonby and Epsom, and acted as organising secretary of the Baptist, Missionary Society. He retained his mental vigor and alertness to the end, and quietly “fell on sleep” at the age of seventy-1 nine. To him may be applied the terms addressed by Matthew Arnold to tho memory of liis famous father: Wo were weary, and wo Fearful, and we, in our march, Eaiu to drop down and die. Still thou turnedst. and still Gavest the weary thy hand! If, in the paths of the world. Stones might Live wounded thy feet. Toil or dejection have, tried Thy spirit, of that we saw Nothing! to us thou wi-rt still Cheerful and helpful ami firm. Therefore to *liee it was given Many to save with thyself; And. at the end of the day, O faithful shepherd! to come, Bringing thy sheep in thy band.