SUNDAY READING

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 August 1920, Page 8

SUNDAY READING

(This column will appear every Saturday.) LUX IX TEXEBRIS. In the darkness and the ciuuu, In the mystery and the night, When hope shivers in her shroud, Be Thou still my light. When death whispers by my side, And fear grips me by the hand, Hold me' fast, whate'er betide, Till I understand. Though the gloom be overhead, And my path I cannot see, Though the very stars be dead, Let me cling to Thee. For I know that Thou hast still Wondrous wealth of grace in store, Sti'engthen me, through good or ill, For Thy more and more. PRAYER. 0 Lord, our Gracious Father, who hast in Thy storehouses sufficient for all the needs of all souls, and dost distribute Thy gifts with the knowledge of each of our wants, we bring ourselves individually to Thee, and pray that acording to our special and particular necessities Thou wouldst mould the manifestations of Thy mercy. And we bring ourselves collectively, and as parts of the greater whole of Thy Church, or of this nation, and of the greatest whole of the Brotherhood of Humanity. We beseech Thee .that, upon Church, and nation, and world, Thou wouldst, in Thy loving providence, bestow the correction, the guidance, the susten-

ance, the power, and the life which Thou hast given once for all unto us all. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. "DOES CHRIST BELIEVE IN US?" Is there not an important matter about'; which multitudes uf men need to be reminded? Do they realise that Christ believes in them ? What was it that kept our sons straight and clean and brave amid the misery and horror or war? VY;is it not the sure knowledge that their folks at home believed in them, and had the fullest confidence that they were playing the mian?. There is more truth than some neople imagine in the picture drawn by John Ayscough in. his remarkable book. I "French Windows." of the Scots lad lying badly wounded in a field hospital, listening to the priest speaking quietly to' the lad lying in the next bed about the folks at home, the love ''and belief of his mother, the love, and belief of Christ, and how the Scots lad's heart yearned with a great unspeakable yearning; and when-."at length the priest turned to him, 'and he stammered, "Oh, but I'm no a Catholic," and the priest said it did not matter, how he begged of the priest to talk to him about hll Home folks, and ilien he added : "You gave a wee Christ upon the cross-to yon Catholic. Have ye. ane for me? 1. heard him tell that Ch'-'jt 16yed him and believed in him. "I)o ye. think He loves and .. believes in me?"'.We need to hold up Christ be-, fore 'tlW peonie—a Divinely human Christ- who- believes in ,' every man created in his image, and who recognises 7in every "human, soul a son of Go'd by nature and a potential .son of God by redemption—a Christ who is the moving 'spirit in every . altruistic

movement, the Founder of the kingtlom of universal right, universal jusnee, universal brotherhood, the only true Leader of mankind to any eartliejtopia; the Divine Friend who understands, who never judges, who makes unspeakable allowances, the Crucified King of men who lives for mankind, il is jusl the old truth, ever new, like morning dawn. A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR TO NEW ZEALAXD. REV. s. f. collti:r, of MAXOHEbTLK. The name of the Rev. S. F. Collier has ben associated for over 50 years

with the great Central Mission in /Manchester. No one lias more elTeci/ely touched the social and reii.noas life of that city than the guitleman who is shortly to visit our shores. The mission began in the strives. Street Church, a venerable budding, had been left high and dry by the migration of population. Anion.si the many romances of tlu. i:;rssion tiie iirst was the appointment of a young unknown minister who stood up one morning in the autumn in an old schoolroom (the church had been demolished to make way for the new hall); around him was the desolation of a forlorn hope. X> one seemed to know why he was sent. lie accepted the situation as one that would give him ample time for study. He would finish his educaton, and Jiavng graduated, move on to the real work of his life. Meanwhile the great; hall was being built, but so little was the young probationer interested that he never once went inside the hoarding to see what was going on. The first Sunday morning service, already mentioned', seemed to hold little promise. In the afternoon the young preacher

taught a class in a neighbouring Sunday school because he, had nothing else to do. In the evening he was out in the streets. He had a message and the people would not come inside to hear it. He was joined b" the friends of the Salford and Manchester Mission, which, for years had been wrestling with the problem of irreligion in the streets. It was the d nvn of a new day, and the new wineskins were being prepared behind the hoardings in an adjoining stivcl. Henry .1. Hop" was the moving spirit of the enterprise, and when the new hall was ready, lie proposed that S. F. Collier be appointed as missionor in charge. One of the conditions laid down by Mr. Collier struck timid-hearted doubters with dismay. A popular entertainment at Id per hea ! eutet ho held in the great mission hall every Saturday night. It was neither s-atTsu secular, nor evangelistic. Something popular, attractive,; heroic, paihetic, amusiuc. Mr. Collier wanted the people from the 'public houses, theatres, music halls, and streets. Some were piously pssti'ved that he was beginning at the wr.vir' end. bit h n was determined that the people when they cimo should ~B'i.ioy themselves. His methods met with never? criticism from maivy <.". 3d people, but. the magnificent suc3.ei.B of niorj than 30 years

is their justification. The proposal for the Saturday night entertainment at one time threatened to wreck the mission, and was only carried in the teeth of determined ami iiniuential opposition, il succeeded, however, and soon the id c.nc.rt proved a feeder for the evangelistic agaicies. There was no d.'cepiiun—no piam fraud — about it. Every pub, bar, and similar place in Manchester knows exac.ly what Collier mums by this c.mc.rt. He never cheats the people into salvation, but woos them from evil by cheerful cunsjiadons that lie may tilrich thtm with. Divine Uraco. Clean souls in clean bodies, clad in decent clothing, honestly paid for, was his aim. His Saturday night cjneeri; wan a daring, but perfectly sane bd for the attention of those whom the churches had failed to reach. Mr. Collier was always present himself from start to finish, and the strong, masterful, big-brother spirit: was always in evidence. The latest report, available to the wr'.ter is so.no y u s old, but it shows the extent of the

work. Its membership was between 6.000 and 7,000. There wire 1,500 voluntary workers, and every week 6,UuO homes were visited. Gipsy Smith, who was one of the mission's leciU preachers, said he never met a more prosperous work than the Manchester Mission, it is estimated that the various agencies of the mission reach 30,003 weekly. During a typical year 31.570 applicants for relief were consid r ■<] 100,030 beds were provided as we!! 'is food and work for the destitute. Th > Sunday congregations in the gre::t hall and branches average over l?,00.k Prisoners to the number of 4.7 T) we"' met at the prison gate and lie!]) afforded them. The Sunday meal f.-.r the destitute was partaken of by 20.460 men. The medical branch ndi'vel over 2,000 cases, and maternity char:i.. ~ ~i -r i.. cin , ',,, •„,*,

lty cared for nearly SUU young womo 1. Such is the wide scope of its for. runnel* of equally succassful mission:; which, in Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol Cardiff, Nottingham, and Liverpool, as well as other large cfntrss, are doing similar work. Mr. Collier. as a speaker, can fill the larg-si halls in London when announced.