NEEDS OF THE AGE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11448, 24 February 1931, Page 2

NEEDS OF THE AGE

THE C^URCH’ITm^ItTIJNIT Y. 1 ADDRESS BY N’IDW YfETHOBIST f - PRESIDENT. , I , | <:THE :(JABB *TO ' UNITY.” - i >/ *• ' • !

(Special-To The. Times). - Ff; DUNEDIN,-Feb. 20. “J.f there is one. thing that condemns tlie; Church . ; of the iiast it has •been her failure to- keep Christ’s eon .trill law of Jove. Never can the Gospel of Vloye make 'full appeal; to' the Avorld ' Until- it '-'is.' *eonvm<imgly‘•'•'and eonelush'fely manifested in 'the house--hold of , faith - withinJv- din these Terms reference to the subject of church uni gif was .madewby; tlie; Rev. E.. D. Patcliett, the uewly-elected president/ of the New Zealand Methodist Church,• ill tlie course of liis-.in-augural address—last night- at the opening of the*' Church'k annual eonference in Dunedin; ' All* barriers, % and they were but flimsy barriers t.o-f tlav, . continued tbe ,„.speaker, were, ready- to' break ndquiii before ■ -tbo touch of tlie finger of love. Surely the • worjd needed, '.-as . never before, tlie- witness of- a .(.united church. ' His own belief., was that if, the cl|Ure|ies /; of tliis' laud would take-their oivii cherished' traditions and ehiircli loyalties, und lay them at ’the.rfeet • off Christ in a spirit of sacrificial, love,' in ■order - that' they might rise up as one, tlie effect of their witness Would be .imineasur.abiy ‘increased, and' the church would sliiue with renewed splendour. ■ ■ . , , .. j “We live to-dav in a world.’- said the' president - which confessedly has-; little love for the church. That does fiot mean that the world is to be roundly .condemned, nor tlie chiy;clr unduly pitied. Men to-day have fallen eagerly in love with the wonderful new life-and liberty which are theirs. lienee their neglect, ol the :church. But the church, knows that her day is coming.; Mali’s, nature is such that it is bound to come.”) It Was true, AJr. Pa'tchctt continued, that *a , pre-occupied world .was today captivated bv the glamour, of its own aclueveinenls and • ambitions. Rburried past the church’s door, not with' execration,- but merely for-' getl'ul of the church in the feast •of Hie. .It .turned a deaf ear to the ehufeh’s message, not because it was carried .forward on the ilood tide ol U new and . captivating experience. Within the lifetime of the present generation the world had -accelerated tosuch a degree that it seemed to have been projected centuries into the future. What .wonder that many.had- been carried off tliciryfeeur But while the outward conditions of life had greatly changed, the heart 6f man was -still the ‘same, and because tlie church ofy God thought long, long thoughts,_ it could afford to look with a certain calmness and courage ripen the . present tendency. . There was. however, a subtle -danger to the church in an indifferent age—that of accepting" herself at tlie world’s valuation, of being intimidated by the indifference of men. Seeing-the world, flowing : past her. doers' in ever-increasiug Hood sbp,, was apt'to trail, her faith -as a broken wimr. Act the chief peri) cf tbo church had never been tlie presence or absence of' the ■ multitude : her chief peril bad been that her own light should grow dim and her spiritual fervouiv abate. Let lier hold on her..high wav of unselfish service to God and man. and great would be lier'reward- The more her mes-. sage was scorned, the more neces- ; sary- it became ; • more •; uifficuit her- day, the greater the cfill for devotion. He urged, that they should believe in the future of their church as earnestly: and ; hopefullyw.as. tfiey believed in God, for'"die teifiple they built could never, be destroyed, ex--cepl, BamsohVlike, , they pulled it about their own cars. Reminding themselves continually of the divine origin of the church, a.nd her diviue-ly-ordaincd purpose of bringing m tlie reign of God on , earth, they should not be too . disturbed by- the prevalent criticism IliaL tlie cbuicli liad bad its. day, that institutional, religion was dying—a false prophecy.' The only possible ground .for., a.paralysing pessimism epiicerning the future of the cliurcn was the untbink- . able fear that Christ had changed His purpose ‘concerniiig her or withdrawn His presence from her. t heir thought of tli(. church should not eC governed by the uncharitable pnophecies of tlie world, but by ilie word cf Jesus, AYlu> bad promised that the gates of Hell should not prevail against it. - > . The Aloibodist witness... was or great value in an age of spiritual declension. It supported the- view that the heart of- man, underneatli its modern veneer, is incurably religious, that human life is "marvellously redeemable. In assessing tlie church's problems to-day, .-had- tliev reckoned with the Great AY ar, and made allowance for the historical verdict that* the luirvest of n gicat war was-iilways a bitter harvest y As the eliurcb • sliar-ed in.- the crime Of war,, so she must surely share.m its curse. It was no' exaggeration to say that they lived in an age when nearly every spiritual and moral ideal liad been tainted by the foul breatn of war. That was part of the price they were called upon to pay for the world’s madness. But .the , -price would be paid, and an unencumbered future emerge, for the dying of nature to live was a. parable of the Church. As a living organism the church, of course, must adapt lieiself to new .conditions, proving not Only that- she > has ap unchanging foundation, hut, ail expanding fu ( -- Then would come .tlie ■ •fulftlmenUot ■ the whole law of social hrotlierlihfcd and lore, tlie final outlawry .ct evils such as war and tlie .licensed .hquor traffic, the high enthronement of justice and righteousness,Tor' all.-. Ho urged that as. a necessary,,.condition JU the application -o'f the vGbspel to the needs of the -new %e they, must: give more. attention to an. educated e vangel ism’, and i to tliiv-sin r itual, n u r,tiii'e of the : young. ’ ..wqb ! present,,c'd ; s.ucli splendid yhaterial to wovk ( upoil.’ I.ii • this connection, believing ni the : ijialieiiahlc right- of Ovefv 'child in ; the laud to grow uu with a knowledge of God and His wofil, their church ; ar.dently supported the work of the Bible-in-Scliool League. They ■rejpjeed. in ■ .fihe uoiicordat with the. Roman Catholic Church. believing; tjiat .this amicable ■ liiiderstamling' had brought the .promised. liiildhin sight.