NAPIER CATHEDRAL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 110, 24 April 1911, Page 7

NAPIER CATHEDRAL

ORDINATION SERVICE

The services held at the Napier Cathedral yesterday were of a special nature. At 10 a.m. Matins were read by the Ven. Archdeacon Ruddock. and at 11 a.m. the Bishop of Waiapu conducted the ordination service. A very large congregation assembled. conspicuous among whom were many members from St. Augustine parish. The special preacher nominated by the Bishop was the Rev. J. B. Brocklehurst. vicar of Hastings, who preached a very interesting sermon from Matthew iv.. 19. ‘‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.’' The preacher referred to the calling of St. Peter and St. Andrew, and asked : Why did these humble men respond to the call ? Probably because of two reasons: (I) They felt a mysterious attraction towards Jesus Christ; (2) something stirred within them. If they considered the calls of St. Peter and St. Andrew they would notice three things: (a) The strangeness of the call ; (b) Christ’s faith in man ; (c) God’s wisdom. -With regard to the first. Christ did not go in among the religious men of the day to find followers. He sought out ordinary men. most unlikely men. daily toilers. God’s call alw-ays came in a strange way. as in the cases of Abraham, Moses, St. Augustine, and in hundreds of other notable instances. The call proved Jesus Christ’s faith in man. Jesus believed in man. He saw the raw material rich in possibilities. He saw men, not as outcasts, but as ' children missing from the Father’s home. Jesus did not look primarily for orators, organisers, etc., but chose men of toil, devoid of imagination, and of homely speech. He saw this was the best type to get as witnesses to tell the life-story in a simple way. That His choice was wise has been proved by the change that had come over the world. The preacher concluded bv addressing words to the ordinands, reminding them that they were to be “witnesses,” and that they, like Christ, were to concern themselves primarily with the souls of men. The ordinands—Messrs. C. L. Wilson. Percy C. Davis and C. E. Nichols—were presented by the Bishop’s examining chaplain, the Ven Archdeacon Ruddock, after which the Litany was sung by the Rev. R. G. Coates. The first part of the communion service was taken by the Bishop, followed by the ordinations. The Rev. C. L. Wilson was the gospeller. Canon Tuke acted in the capacity of Bishop’s chaplain, and the Archdeacon assisted the Bishop at the altar. The Rev. C. L. Wilson is to assist Canon Tuke at St. Augustine’s, the Rev. Percy C. Davis goes to Rotorua. and the Rev. C. E. Nicholas is to be assistant curate at Dannevirke.