CHALLENGE TO THE CHURCH

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 175, 27 July 1938, Page 6

CHALLENGE TO THE CHURCH

Awakening of Spiritual Side of the Nation WELLINGTON CATHEDRAL PROPOSAL The challenge to the Church in New Zealand at the start of the new century in its development, and his project for" erecting a cathedral in Wellington, were eloquently outlined by the Bishop of Wellington (Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland) at a public meeting in the Palmerston North Opera House last night, called for the purpose of launching the local campaign. There was an attendance of several hundred, and the Mayor (Mr. A. E. Hansford) was in the chair. The proposal was enthusiastically received, aud at the conclusion of the meeting his Lordship enrolled many helpers in his cause. Speakers besides the bishop and the mayor were Mr. J. Hodgens, M.P., Hon. J. G. Cobbe, M.P., and Rev. A. Blakemore, the latter speaking on behalf of other churches in Palmerston North. The Mayor conveyed apologies for absence from Hon. Mr. Justice Quilliam, Messrs. B. J. Jacobs and J. A. Nash and the Mayor of Feilding (Mr. T. L. Seddon). He extended a welcome to Mr. Cobbe and said the organisers were pleased to have him and Mr. Hodgens present. On the platform and among those who had sent apologies were represented different walks of life, yet all were in sympathy with the proposal. Mr. Mansford expressed pleasure at the recovery of the bishop from the effects of his recent accident, and he welcomed him to Palmerston North.

His Lordship said he was grateful to all who had come forward to help the movement. He was proud that Palmerston North was under his jurisdiction and under his pastoral care, and he knew that he could look on the people here to help bring bis project to a successful conclusion. He was not establishing a bishop’s fighting fund just for the fun of it; he would be much more comfortable sitting at home in an easy chair. Why was he making his appeal? He was trying to serve not only his Church but also New Zealand. When he had come out to the Dominion he had found New Zealand on the verge of its centenary year, and thinking out what the centenary meant, he had thought it essential that the occasion should bo used to the best advantage. The future of New Zealand might dopend on the opportunity we had in the centenary year. Who would have thought, his Lordship continued, that the Christian world was going to dethrone Christ and the religion which had meant, everything to it in its development? Yet that was the position the world was in to-day. The Godless attitude to life was seeping into the heart of the nation, and was threatening to take this country, with others, off the proper track. There was a feeling abroad that the Church did not count in the life of a nation, and he wantod to see the Church—and he was not speaking of his own Church, but the wohle Church of Christ—rise out of its trenches and reveal to the world that it had got the spirit to fight • —fighting for the truth, for God, for decency and for the very nation’s soul and life. Ho agreed with prominent leaders that there was a need for a spiritual reawakening and he stressed that the Church of England had got to give as big u contribution as it could. “I can’t bear the idea that we should sit back and say ‘We pay our parsons; let them do the job’,” the bishop went on. “I believe that the centenary should not be allowed to pass without stamping out that idea. Surely our job in the centenary is to try to leave a lasting memorial to the faith by which we live. That was at the back of my mind, when I suggested a new cathedral. 1 It is a second century for the Church as well as the nation, and I am going to give all tbo service I can to see that our Church marches forward to a stronger and more vital part in the province of Wellington.” The stranger, seeing Wellington, saw nothing to sliow that the city was concerned with religion, and that the nation was concerned with religion. New Zealand was the only Dominion whose capital citj r had nothing to suggest that God and His truth were really matters that concerned the whole nation’s life. For this reason Palmerston North had cause to be interested in the matter. Prominent Wellington citizens, including men of all faiths, had issued an appeal for support for the proposal to erect a cathedral which should be the centre of the nation’s spiritual life. But it was not a matter only for Wellington or tho Church of England; it was a national matter, and there had been a suggestion that the work should bo a centenary memorial, with the Government giving assistance. He wanted the cathedral to be a house of prayer for all people, a house of worship for all national services, where united prayer and thanksgiving could be offered on occasions of national importance. He believed that the enterprise, if rightly led, would lead to the revitalising of the Church, which was necessary if there was to be a spiritual awakening of the nation. It was going to be done, but only with tho co-opera-tion of willing workers, and he appealed at this stage not for money but for j helpers. It really did seem that God i was behind the scheme, for although | the campaign had just begun, already | £17,000 had been promised by Wellington citizens, with an additional £6OOO from tho synod. At Ashhurst £455 had been promised, and at Foxton £590. He appealed to all that they should give so that they might have tho joy of seeing this great and glorious project God had put into their hearts brought to fruition. Mr. Hodgons said that to anyone who studied the world to-day there seemed to be a day of reckoning ahead. Things that were good were being submerged. He would like to see the brotherhood of man become a reality in New Zealand aud the Church and State working together in the closest co-opcration and harmony in the application of the Christian message. He wished the project every succesj. The erection of a cathedral would be

an outwmrd and visibie token of the reverence which we owed to the heavenly Father for the many blessings which He had bestowed on us, stated Mr. Cobbe. Surely it was the duty of all living in this land to erect an edifice which would stand as a challenge to infidelity and sin and be an outward sigu that God reigned in New Zealand and in tho hearts of its men and women.

Mr. Blakemore said it was with a feeling of gladness that one saw the Churches coming closer together, and all could rejoice in the advance of any Christian Church. We lived to-day in a world over-run with materialism, which was the foe of righteousness and the foe of all the Churches. He trusted that the bishop’s efforts would touch the hearts of all people, and that his vision would become a reality. In a message which was read to the meeting by the chairman, Mr. Seddon said he hoped the project -would have the active support of all citizens of this district, and lie associated himself with the movement.

“Everyone will agree that we should have a cathedral in our capital city that we can point to and be proud of,” said the chairman. “Surely the raising of tho money is but a test to us as members of the Christian faith. No civilisation has yet survived the downfall of its God. That is as true to-day in 1938 A.D. as it was centuries before Christ. Is it not our Jack of faith in Christianity and, Christian ideals that has undermined our Western civilisation to-day? The Dominion’s greatness is not iu its wealth or standard of living, but in the character of its people. Tho Bishop has thrown out a challenge to us.- Have we the same faith as our forefathers? I hope so. Let us prove it.” Mr. R. S. Abraham, chairman of the local committee, voiced appreciation of the great work the bishop had taken in hand ,aud on his suggestion the meeting expressed its thanks to his lordship by according him musical honours.