QUIET HOUR

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 30 January 1926, Page 14

QUIET HOUR

PREACHING AND PROBLEMS. Dr. John Barlow, of the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, United States, is of opinion that the coming ministry will meet men’s problems more suecesiullv than is being done to-dav. tie has been reading several hundred sermons prepared by undergraduate students of theo’ogieal seminaries for the annual “Homiletic Review” contest, and his judgment is that they average ,<} per cent, higher than, the average of the s- rmons sent in by ordained ministers for the last competition. These young men srem to have a real grasp of the problems which are troubling men to-day, and to be able to- talk to men about these problems in a way that gees to the heart of the matter. CHURCH KINEMA FILMS. The Rev. F. Woodmass, a Hull "Wesleyan minister, has abandoned the exhibition o,f kinematograph pictures in his church in favour of a series of concerts which, it is stated, will cost about £IOOO, the appearance of a leading artist every Saturday night having been arranged. ‘T tried to give the public the best pictures as long as I could do. so,” Mr Woodmass says, “but- .1 have to throw up the sponge.” SUPPLY OF CLERGY. In an article in the Church Times, the warden of Iveble College, Oxford, states that if the laity are prepared to provide the necessary funds for the training of candidates ior Holy Orders they will get educated and devout' men to serve tnem in the priesthood in any number. If they do not, they will either get no clergy at all —or else, which may be worse, they will get the priesthood that they deserve. So much ro,r quantity. More important is quality ; and what of that? There were tiiis year seven candidates for the Lidton Studentships. They had come forward, at the suggestion of the heads or tutors of their colleges, with high recommendations to tile selecting committee. Four of this committee are bishops, Ministers of the Crown, or members of Parliament. Four are residents in Oxford. There are no restrictions imposed upon the candidates except that they must have taken honours in one of- the schoo’s of the University. Of the seven, five were scholars or exhibitioners of their respective colleges. They had seven first classes between them; one, three with two University prizes; another, three; one had three second classes; one a fourth. The subjects of their studies included classics, litterae burn aniores, theo'ogy, modern history, and English literature. All were already adequately educated men., Any of them would have been well qualified for election, as one of the electors wrote to me; while the notes of another elector, on the list he sent in to me, were as follows: “Very brilliant”; very good” ; “also very good ; but not quite so good as the first two”; remarkably good testimonials, one regrets not, to elect him”: and, in summary, “A very good field, I think; ordinands seem of good quality if deficient in quantity nowadays.” This from a layman and a member of Parliament. And I leave 'it at that. The quality is there; and the quantity- if the laity will only appreciate the situation, and subscribe large funds regularly that their own needs may be met.

THE. HIGHEST CROSS.

What is said to be the highest cro.ss in the world surmounts the new First Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago. This ,remarkable building is situated in the very heart of Chicago, in what is known as the Loop District, a lid it is the only church, building m the business section of the city. The structure is a combination of a church and a business building. There are 21 business floors and also a fine church auditorium, with office and all the equipment necessary for ministering to a down-town district. The 21 storeys b’end into Gothic tower and finally into a spire surmounted by the cross. The cross, which is 32ft high and 6ft wide, is 556 ft above the pavement-. It is intended that it will he illuminated at night by electric For comparison it may be recalled that the cross on St. Paul’s Cathedra' in London is 489 ft above the street. In the tower is to he a chime of bells, which will nlnv hymns and national and sacred songs. The whole building represents a courageous attempt to so 1 ye the financial problem involved in maintainng a properly - equipped church in the down-town section of a great city.

A HAPPY PHASE

A very noble phase wits coined and used amid the strenuous and terrible experiences of the great war. It was on the lips of evervone in France. The soldiers shouted it to their comrades as they met them going to the front. The wounded, as they were being carried in their litters back to the hospita's. cried out to one another and to the still strong and active. The brave mothers and sisters used the phrase at homo to hearten themselves and go- on with the dreadful struggle against discouragement, anxiety, and aetua' want, which is their part of the war. One_ said it to the other -in moments of dejection and soi row, and it was a battleerv of cheer against despondency and weariness,, "in dark moments, in dangerous places, .soldiers and women and chi dicn all cried out and felt their courage rally: “Carry on! W e must tight through ami carry on!” The plucky pcrseve.ranee civstal'ised in this hroce' phrase- in what' eventually won the desperate war. As the great general in chief command declared, “Battles are never lost until the vanquished think so.” On the other hand, victory never rests with the faint-hearted. No strength of arms, no copiousness of supplies, nor skid in tactics, nor even supplies dashes of bravery will supply the want of a determined spirit, a resolution to light until the end, a willingness to hear a'l hardships and still carry on. a persevering courage which wit l not let anything, even personal weakness, even one’s own faults, deter one from going forward. Those things are at the heart of a'l successes. LIFE’S BATTLES. Life has raanv tilings in common with warfare, because life itself is a succession of battles, open or .secret, and we are constantly busy fighting foes within and without us, who must be met with much the same persever-

a nee as that which snatched v ioiorv from the midst of bloody strife in France. . In our own lives, therefore, no matter how dreary and uneventful our days may seem from without, t is of immense importance to us to yet this hearty spirit and strong resolve to carry on. A■ ways we must hope lo strengthen our weakness, must survey our enemies bravely, and count up our chances of prevailing over them. We rr nut- always wind up every self-examinatiru. however discouraging, by a slid strangeresolution to carry on. It is inconceivable how important is perseveiance to the utmost if we ivoifd get. success from any struggle. Our one great enemy ia cur conflicts is discouragement and the will to cease lighting. If onlv wo are brave enough to carry on, we may lie oenfiden.t of ultimate victory, however iar postponed. We may apply .this principle to nearly every activity • i our i\ ‘s. lvit particularly is it true in the great battle for heaven, where Gfcd IT'mself is our ally. We must never grow discouraged nor stop trying when we are fighting for ■God. —Australian Sunday Visitor.