ECCLESIASTICAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7789, 8 November 1886, Page 3

ECCLESIASTICAL.

Collections were made in the various Anglican churches of the city and suburb yesterday in aid of the Home Mission Fund, a fund whioh is for the spedal purpose of supplementing the stipends of the ministers located in country districts in which the Church members are unable to _ raise sufficient amongst themselves to maintain a minister amongst them. The fund is at present at a low ebb, and at the last session of the Diocesan Synod the various clergymen were asked to make a special effort to increase it and yesterday was fixed as the time for the special colleo* tion. , The services at St. Mary's, Parnell, yesterday were well attended and four collections were made. The forenoon service was conducted by the Rev* G. H, S. Walpole, incumbent of the parish, who preached an excellent sermon on "The object of religion." The evening service was conducted by the Ven. Archdeacon Dudley, who preached on the subject of "St. Paul and Philemon." The offertories were as follow: —Eight a.m., communion service, lis; quarter to ten a.m., children's service, 8s Id ; eleven a.m., £8 lis sd, and evening service, £5 15s 5d ; making a total of £15 5s lid. At St.Matthew's yesterday the incumbent preached to a good congregation in the morning from Ezekiel xxxiv., 26 : "I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing." He pointed out that the city should stand in the position of Mount Moriah, whence should flow streams of blessing over the land. The offertory amounted to £7 lis 7d. In the evening the incumbent (in the absence of the Rev. H. Langley whose visit to St. Matthew's was postponed, owing to indisposition), again preached upon " The dry bones of Christianity." He took his text from Ezekiel, xxxvii., 11-14" : " Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost," and showed that Christianity, without the Spirit of God keep it alive, languishes and} dies ; and that the breath of God alone can again resuscitate it to good works. The congregation, which was again a very good one, contributed a further sum of £8 5s Bd, making a total for the day of £16 3s. It is possible, that more may still come in. At St. Sepulchre's Church yesterday special sermons were preached in aid of the funds of the Home Mission. The Yen. Archdeacon Dudley preached in the morning, founding a very practical and instructive sermon upon the subject of Philemon. At the afternoon service the Rev. J. Haselden * delivered an address to the Sunday-school children. The church was filled for the evening service when the Rev. J. 8. Hill, occupied the pulpit, taking his text from St. John xx. 20, and delivering a very eloquent sermon upon the wounded hands nailed to the cross. The Revs. G. H. S. Walpole and A. G. Purohas also ' assisted in the service. The offertories which were liberal at all services were, on account of the depression, hardly up to the average, and were as follows :—Morning, £14 14s Id ; evening, £11 16s 5d ; other services, £3 3s lOd : total, £28 14s 4d. Speoial services in aid of the Home Mission Fund were held at St. Paul's Church yesterday, when there were good congregations at all the services. The incumbent preached at the morning service, delivering a very instructive sermon upon the "Homeless One," and dwelt upon the lethargy shown by many churchgoers in the cause of religion* There was a very large congregation at the evening service, when the Rev. G. H. Gulliver delivered a powerful sermon, basing his discourse upon the " Immortality of the Soul," and took his text from I. Corinthians, xv. 54: "Death is swallowed up in victory." The offertories, which were in aid of the Home Mission, were well up to the average of collections for that fund. Collections were taken up morning and evening at All Saints' Ponsonby, on behalf of the Home Mission. The total for the dny was £13 0s lid. A collection was taken up yesterday nt one of the services at St. Thomas', Freeman's Bay, on behalf of the Home Mission Fund. It amounted to £2 9s. The anniversary services of the Parnell Wesleyan Church were held yesterday, and Were largely attended. The Rev. Mr. Dellow preached at the eleven o'clock service, and the Rev. Mr. Barley conducted a service at three o'clock; also the evening service, at which he preached. The anniversary soiree will be held on Thursday evening, the 11th inst. A meeting re the existing debt on St. Patrick's Cathedral was held at half-past three p.m. yesterday in the cathedral, His Lordship bishop Luck ' presiding. Rev. Fathers Costello, Kehoe, and Lenihan were also present. It was resolved that a census of the different parishes of the diocese be taken, so that all might have an opportunity of contributing to the debt, the cathedral being considered to be in a sense the common property of the. whole diocese. Some £75 was subscribed by those present. The lecture hall of the new building of the Y.M.C.A. presented' "a"'grand appearance yesterday afternoon, being filled with men gathered to hear the president, the Rev. J. S. Hill, lecture on "Sowing and Reaping." Some plain truths were spoken whioh will not soon be forgotten. These Sunday afternoon meetings must be the means of doing much good, and spreading much valuable information among the young men of the city. The Rev. R. Bavin will conduct the first of a series of meetings for special prayer, to be held every night this week in the new building of the Y.M.C.A., preparatory to the mission of the Rev. Henry Langley. There was a crowded congregation at the City Hall last evening. Mr. Brakenrig (general secretary Young Men's Christian Association) presided. Earnest addresses were delivered by Revs. H. Driver, of Wellington, and W. Rishworth, from Cambridge (Waikato), The annual sth November Thanksgiving, service in connection with the Orange Institution was held yesterday afternoon, when the brethren met at the Protestant Hall, Newton, and marched in procession to the Choral Hall, where divine service was to be held. The gathering was a very representative one, every lodge in the district being j represented. The service commenced with a hymn from Moody and Sankey's selection, after which the Grand Master (the Rev. Mr. Brooke) engaged in prayer. Another hymn, Am a.soldier of the Cross was then sung, after which Mr. Brooke read as a lesson the 4th ohapter of St. John's Gospel. The hymn, " Stand up for Jesus," was then sung. Mr. Brooke took as the basis of his discourse John iv. 21-23, " Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet in Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what; we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." After expounding the more immediate references in the text, the preacher said the first great fact suggested by the above conversation was that God was to be worshipped; and a second was closely allied to it, that He alone was to be worshipped. The whole teaohing of Scripture was opposed to Mariolatry, the worship of images, the elevation of the host and the people worshipping, prayers to saints, and other idolatrous practices. Even the wearing of the cross as an ornament was dishonouring to the Saviour. It was not now necessary to go to Jerusalem to worship. Christianity had swept all that state of things away; God was not confined to time, place, or people. He concluded by earnestly exhorting his hearers to be true to their God, true to the Bible, and true to the Protostant principles for which Luther and his contemporaries had suffered and laboured. A collection was taken up to defray expense?, and the service dosed by the singing of .the. stirring hymn, "Hold the Fort." Through- . out the whole address Mr. Brooke did not make the slightest allusion to Bishop Cowie's letter or the newspaper controversy arising out of its publication. Yesterday sermons were preached in the Pitt-street Wesleyan Church oh behalf of the Wesleyan Home Mission and Church " Extension Fund. In the morning the Rev. ■ E. Best preached a very effective sermon from the text, Luke xxiv., v. 31, addressed chiefly to business men. . In the afternoon, the Revs. J. Dellow and A. J. Smith gave addresses to ohildren, and in the evening the sermon was preached by the Rev. T." G. Hammond, the congregations on each occasion being large. The amount of the collec-" tions daring the day was something over *17- __________ : r'^""'-"