CHURCH OF ENGLAND MEN'S SOCIETY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 143, 15 June 1909, Page 8

CHURCH OF ENGLAND MEN'S SOCIETY.

An enthusiastic meeting of the men of the Church of the Nativity was held last evening in the central Sunday schoolroom, for the purpose of forming a branch for the parish of Blenheim. The Yen. Archdeacon Grace opened the meeting with prayer, and in a fewwords introduced the Rev. J. D. Russell, of Petone, who, he stated, was an enthusiastic promoter of the Men's Society. Mr Russell said that Mr de Lambert before leaving for Blenheim to assist in parish work here had expressed a wish to join the Church of England Men's Society, and this had led to the steps he had taken in coming to Blenheim to do for Blenheim what had been done for Petone in the matter of marvellously increased attention to spiritual matters in the individual and the life of the Church as a whole. The C.E.M.S had been nicknamed "the parson's body guard." Four years ago he made a trip to England, and attended n C.E.M.S meeting there, at which the Archbishop of Canterbury was present. The meeting was presided over by the Bishop of Stepney; 250 delegates were present from all parts of the United Kingdom, and South Africa, too, was represented. The big hall of the Church House was packed, jammed, and the enthusiasm of that meeting—the spirit of it—was such he had never experienced before or since. He had looked down and seen'rows upon rows of men, young, middle-aged and grey-haired men. He was so inspired by the experience there that before lie came back to; New Zealand he went to the headquarters of the Society and interviewed the Rev. Gordon Saville, the clerical Secretary, and Capt. Watson, i the lay secretary (these men were both Australians), He became a member. When he returned to Petone he started a branch there, which for 2J years has flourished with surprising results. His was a small and poor parish compared with Blenheim, and he would predict even better results here. The principles of the Society were broad. The chief one was that a member of the C.E.M.S. must be a communicant. Others not communicants were admitted as associates, but both members and associates were obligated to take the same rule of life—a double one—being "to pray to God every day. and to do something to help on the work of the Church." That meant that they had a cohesive body of praying men and workers in the Church. The admission service was always held in the church, generally on _ Sunday evenings. It was a grand inspiration and help to be linked on to a body now 60,000 strong, -and growing rapidly at the rate ol between two and three thousand every . month, of working and praying church men. The movement, he said, might be denominated the freemasonry of the Church. The Church had too long been composed of scattered units, and this was a movement to bring high and low, rich and poor—sinking class distinctions—and bringing ..the | disintegrated mass of men together into one cohesive body to talk over the questions that rankle men's minds. The members wore a small bronze badge, worth nothing as far as its intrinsic value was concerned, but which meant a great deal indeed. Members wearing this badge had no need of introduction—they were brothers the world over. Mr Russell gave instances of how useful this had proved in cases which had come under his own notice. There Avas something indeed needed, and something more than a mere worldly bond, that was necessary to keep our men from falling away from the Church. Men had doubts and perplexities, and it was necessary that the Church should make provision for this. It was a wonder that it had not been done before. Therefore at the meetings papers were read, and debates entered into, and he had been astonished at the ability found in the men. He knew that when they had got such a strong cohesive body of men such as belonged to the Church of England to take action unitedly they were almost bound to carry a mandate upon any moral question that cropped up. On the motion of Mr Girling, a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Russell for his inspiriting address and his kindness in visiting Blenheim for the o.bject of inaugurating a branch, was carried heartily and unanimously. Mr J. J. White, in speaking to the motion, said that he had noticed for some time that certain other churches had associations for men, and this fact tremendously augmented their success, and he trusted that if a branch of .the C.E.M.S. were inaugurated here the members would be persistent after the first interest had flagged—then all would be well. On the motion of Mr V. Powell, seconded by Mr W. H. Marple, it was resolved to form a branch at once. j Mr Russell then formally admitted I the Yen. Archdeacon Grace as president by presenting him with a badge of membership, and the meeting appointed Mr W. H. Marple secretary pro tern. Mr de Lambert explained that the work of the now existent Bible Class would not clash with the work of the C.E.M.S., but would rather be helped by it. Twenty intending members handed in their names, a<id it was resolved that there be a meeting called for framing rules, etc., on Monday night next at 7.30 p.m., and that the enrolment of members be on Sunday, 27th inst., at the evening service. The to the Society would be merely nominal, not more than 2s 6d per annum.