AFTER FIFTY YEARS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 7 November 1924, Page 4

AFTER FIFTY YEARS.

PRESBYTERIAN JUBILEE. THANKSGIVING SERVICE. Away back hi 1870 the Rev. Mr Hogg .journeyed on a bullock from Wanganui his saddle a sack and his stirrups of plaited flax, to form the first Presbyterian Church in the Hawera district. In those days the distances were long, and'the tracks narrow and dangerous, but in spite of great obstacles the foundations were laid, and fifh H r’ eia Presbyterian Church, after y y ars of continuous progress, yesterday opened its jubilee celebrations. P° C , Ca ? 0n ? Vas one for thanksgiving to God tor lus bounteous gifts and e race, and of preparation for a glorious and inspiring future S • 8 nfw°^- d l ng J S v opeiie ’ d ivlth a tea/ and after this had been a thanksgiving service was held in the church. there were present in the pulpit the rw?; E i E ; Evans (Hawera), Dabourne mTuth e ) rIe ‘ V ’ and Bluildell (New Ply. Tl ' c Rcv - Habourne, Moderator of f p Presbytery, congratulated the la gest congregation in the Presbvtery on the occasion of its jubilee. Looking through, the jubilee souvenir he had been _ gladdened to see the record of great development, Continuing, the speaker eulogised m work of the men who first camato Taranaki and laid the foundations of- the church in this prothose early days, suffering Lif s f lf -denial had been experienced, but they cause to be proud of it. The history of the past, however, called the members of the church to-day to work. He hoped that the happenings of the next ten or twelve years would be the cause of future generations expressing satisfaction, at the great things done. ® On behalf of the Hawera Ministers’ Association a few words of congratulation were spoken by the Rev. Mr Goring. He said that those present had very great caT.se to be thankful to God, and they must feel that it was something to belong to a church possessed ot such splendid traditions.' Still he knew they would press on and would not live in the past. The Rev. R. E. Evans said he would be very pleased if he were at liberty to call upon some of the old members of the congregation to tell the stofv of then- experiences of 50 to 55 years ago. He was sure their story would thrill. How great the men of'old had laboured and how much had been done! Continuing, Mr Evans pointed out that at the present time the;- were launching on a new era im the life of the congregation. In another half century most of those present would not be alive, and those who were to follow would look back on the work of the present generation with either jov or disappointment. In setting out on* this new era the3 r did so with organisations well developed. They had all the mac.lnnery, but they< wanted the power from on High with all its fulness; they wanted men and women prepared to come before God and definitely conse.crate their lives to His service. The Rev. Blundell, of St. Andrew’s Church, New Plymouth, coiiveyed the warmest greetings from the “senior 7 church in the Presbytery.” There had come round, year by year, the Hawera Church’s' first jubilee, and it wag fitting that on such an occasion those who did honour to Him should give praise and show their love and gratitude to Him, “Who, for His great name’s sake, forsakes not his-people. ” The jubilee, said the speaker, was a time for consideration of the great things God. had done for the Hawera congregation' during the years gone by. They lived in a young country, where 50 years was ancient history, and further they lived in a part of the Dominion where there was not the deadly stagnation that existed in some settlements very much older than Hawera. Fifty years was a long time in the human life, but 50 years in history was not so long. He supposed there were some present, who came into Hawera in the first' coaches, and yet it was four years later that a committee of earnest men met in the old blockhouse, with a view- to establishing Presbyterian ordinances of Christian service in accordance with the practice of their fathers. The progress made by those men and women of a former day was now reflected in the life of the congregation, which had ‘ grown out of the first tentative effort of those God-fearing men and women. From strength to strength the Hawera congregation had gone, and they had every reason to be grateful for the means of grace and Christian instruction which had fallen to their lot. From the first their pastors and teachers had 1 been men of eminent piety and love for the Christ they served- —men of sanctified intelligence, ability, and exhibiting a true love for the flock entrusted to their care. That they had not laboured in vain could very readily be seen. Nevertheless it must be realised that Hawera, despite its 50 years of work, was still a young Christian community, and they should continue to set before their minds the ideals of progress. They would not look upon the jubilee as a reason for slacking, but a reason for still more earnest devotion. If there was no progress it meant stagnation, and . stagnation meant drifting back. AVliat was wanted was vital, spiritual and individual progress, and with a view to definitely progressing, the speaker urged more prayer for others. “Before yow lie the hills sunlit with promise,” said the speaker in his concluding remarks. During the service Mr L. A. Bone announced that apologies had been received from the Revs. Brown', .T. D. Smith, Oxbrow, Monaghan and Orange. He also announced that greetings had been received from Misses Young, of Palmerston North, Misses Robertson and AVilliamson, Mr A. Blair, Mr Kedgley, Rev. H. B. Gray, Mr and Mrs R. Tait and Miss Tait, Miss Miller, Rev. Alex. McLean, Rev. N. McCallum, and Mesdames Shore, McGregor and A. A. McDonald. . It was decided to write thanking the absentees’for their expressions, and it was also decided to forward on to the General Assembly of New Zealand a resolution conveying the Hawera Church’s appreciation of the oversight by the Assembly of the church’s affairs during the past 50 years and trusting that in the future God would give them wisdom and would guide them in their deliberations.