METHODIST SEPARATION.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 125, 3 June 1910, Page 3

METHODIST SEPARATION.

AND MS PROBABLE EFFECTS.

(Contributed.) The General Conference of the Methodist Church of Australasia, now sitting in Adelaide, will ever be remembered as the most important m the history of the Methodist Church in this Dominion. The annual conference o* the Methodist Church in New Zealand made application to the General Conference to confer upon it legislative power of enactment and to establish its own supreme court of Methodism in this land. Up to the present the General Conference has legislated for all the annual conferences of the Methodist Church in Australasia. The request .for independence was indeed bold and aggressive, and is regarded by some ecclesiastical statesmen as a perilous venture. With men like Dr. W. Morley, of Melbourne, Dr. Fitchett, the Rev. E. EL Sugden. Master of Queen's College, the Rev. C. H. Lowe, 8.A., president of the New Zealand Conference, and the Rev. S. Lawry (secretary), the debate on this vital subject was looked forward to with considerable interest. After a prolonged discussion, the Adelaide Conference has granted New Zealand's request by a very substantial vote, the voting being 160 for and 13 against; a majority of 93. This is regarded by the delegates from the Dominion as eminently satisfactory; but the last word must remain unspoken till the new policy has been tried.

Some of the leading ministers in New Zealand are very divided in their opinions on the wisdom of the movement. Those against separation from Australia at the present moment contend that the arguments of their opponents lack sound reason, that the time is inopportune, and that the best results can be secured through union with the sister colonies. Union a^nd not separation is the healthy spirit of the age. It is believed that for ministers and laymen from the Colonies to meet together once in three years and discuss the policy of the Church must bring lasting good, and act upon the members of the conference and of the whole church like a freshet on a somewhat stagnant river. Again, under the management of the one General Conference all the money raised for foreign mission work lias gone into the hands of a Foreign Mission, Board in Sydney, which has, disbursed these amounts to the agents in the foreign fields. On that board of management in Sydney, New Zealand was represented. It is thought that the income-from New Zealand is not sufficient to work any part of the foreign mission field, and in all probability this will hamper the sphere of foreign mission operations. The supernumerary ministers' and ministers' widows' fund presents another signal difficulty. This fund is a kind of jnsuranca for the aged ministers of the church after they are superannuated and are no longer fit for active circuit work. During the time a minister is in circuit work he is required to pay about £9 17s per annum into this fund, and the church also contributes a small amount. This money is invested, and the ratio of payment depends upon the prosperity or otherwise of the fund. At present the fund is managed by the Rev. Dr. Morley in Melbourne, at a minimum cost. It is thought that the apportionment and allocation of this fund will now present,difficulties, and that to create a new office and board of management in New- Zealand will mean an added and unnecessary expense. It may also be doubted if New Zealand offers the same security for investments, and whether the rates, of interest will be quite as good. In any case, the cost of management will be greater for the Methodist Church of the Dominion, and the funds will be in the hands of those who have had no previous experience along these lines.

On the other hand, the zealous advocates of this new departure are decidedly optimistic^ .and believe that this independence is just what the Church in New Zealand needs. It will enable the Church io work out her own destiny and consolidate her work in this land. Why, it is asked, should the annual conference be put to the unnecessary expense of sending delegates to Adelaide, Melbourne, or Sydney every three years? This costs New Zealand about £300 or £350 every three years. This money, it is thought, would be better spent in doing aggressive work at home and working out the destiny of the Church in these islands, of which the geography is altogether in its favor. At the inception of Methodism in New Zealand the Church here was controlled by the mother conference in the Home Land'; but it was seen by the British Conference that Methodism in this young Colony was healthy and aggressive, and could do its best work by being severed from England. It is contended that the same argument applies to the present separation of New Zealand from the General Conference of Australasia. The late Hon. Richard Seddon thought it best for New Zealand not to join, the Commonwealth, but to work out her own destiny, and these ecclesiastical statesmen are of the opinion that the same argument applies to the Church. And, it is asked, are not the ministers of the Church in New Zealand not capable of doing their own work and minding their own affairs? The Methodist Church in the Dominion will not, set up its own General Conference which will be held every three or five years as th 6 case may be. It will manage its own connexional funds, decide upon the curriculum of its students for the ministry, and in a sentence enioy "Methodist Home Rule."

Two things are expected as the result of independence: (a) The itineiant system may be changed. At present no Methodist minister is allowed to spend a longer term than fire years in any circuit. He must remain five years in another circuit before he is eligible to return to his former circuit. In this way he may spend the whole of his ministry in two circuits. It is possible' that the term in the near future may be extended, or .modified in. some' way. (b) It is thought'that the movement will lead to the union of all the minor Methodist and Primitive Methodist churches in the Dominion. In this way. the Methodist Church of Australasia in New Zealand will present a strong and united march forward. The line of cleavage will disappear. The "man in the street" will find less excuse, and this strong united Church will be better equipped to attack the deeply entrenched social evils of the day, and to pursue that ever-widening policy of evangelism inspired by John Wesley's words: "The world is my parish, and the inhabitants thereof my people."

Describing their experiences while> in gaol, Messrs O*Cohnor and Butler1, two of the New South Wales coal strike leaders, who- were released from prison a few days ago, said they were treated just the same as the ordinary prisoners. "We all had tha same food, and although we were not supposed to mix with the other prisoners, we can tell you that they were the only persons from whom w& got a kind word. Work, yes, we had rather too much of it. We were in the cook-house and would talk together, but only when there were no 'screws' about. Then \V§ had to act mum. No, far- bs bodily health? is concerned, we are'perhaps better than before our imprisonment. We were all a bit run down at the oott-' elusion of the strike, and the regular hours and simple life certainly hasn't weakened us. What we 3" missed, however, most of all was the home life. That's what breaks a man up—no home life. We saw no newspapers, and had no means of learning what was going on in the outside world. We were allowed to read books from the prison library, and had a light in our cells from sunset till 8 p.m."