Methodist Church Not Pacifist
ITS ATTITUDE TO WAR RESTATED Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Sept. 1. Comment on the reported police statement that a man had said he was a Methodist and as such could not fight was made by the secretary of the Methodist Conference, Rev. W. G. Slade, of Pukckohe. Such a statement is misleading and to allow it to pass without correction is to invite misunderstanding as to the official attitude of tho church, he said.
Mr. .Slade pointed out that the manifesto on peace and war issued by the 1940 conference expressed the regret of a large and influential church at the outbreak of war and reaffirmed its love of peace. It strongly declared its loyalty to* the British Grown and Commonwealth and the church’s unity of purpose with the nation in entering the war because there was no honourable alternative.
“There is a certain pacifist element in the Methodist Church as in every other denomination,” he added. “It is grossly misleading, however, to imply that pacifism is the official doctrine or policy of the church. The overwhelming majority of ministers and laymen
are not pacifist. A number of minister and students are on active servic either as chaplains or in the ranks am many young Methodists are oversea with the forces.”
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 208, 2 September 1941, Page 4
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215Methodist Church Not Pacifist Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 208, 2 September 1941, Page 4
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