BAPTIST CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17596, 8 October 1920, Page 7

BAPTIST CONFERENCE.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. f ' RECONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS. "V BUSINESS SESSION , OPENS. The annual conference of the New Zealand Baptist Union opened yesterday at the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle. The president of the conference is the Rev. S. W. Jehkin, of Wangacui, and " the vicepresident the Rev. K. S. Edridge, of Hastings. In the morning and afternoon official reports were presented, and formal business dealt with, and in the evening the piesident delivered his address. Mr. Jenkins dealt "with the contribution of the Christian Church to the world's peace and order, particularly emphasising the urgent need for a spiritual awakening in the world, and in the hearts of the individual. If the Christian Church was not bringing to th© terrible need of the present aay a vital and practical message, if it stood dumb and impotent before a task of such magnitude as had never before been looked npon, then the Church's name and its profession should be cast out as evil by those who had a right to expect that it. knew its business, and how to discharge it. The opportunity was stall present for the Christian Church to claim the period of reconstruction for God, and the vital question was t his: " How are we going to grapple with the situation? What message of life have we for these unexampled times?" But there was a very real danger of making the Church's message of heavenly things unreal to men by taking too little interest in their welfare here and now. li was vain to talk of a social salvation that failed to take account of individual regeneration, and if the new world lay not in human hearts, it was nowhere. It was ro religious arrogance, but sober truth to say that the only hope of mankind in this period of reconstruction was the hope of which the Christian Church was the herald. The world's only hope lay in the Lord and Saviour.

" If we are to make anything of this opportunity/' declared the speaker, " we must be prepared for judgment to begin at the House of God. we must be purged ©t all insincerity. A church of shams will 7".ever bring renewal to the world. Religion one day a week is religion ' going slow.' Cantankerous piety has done untold mischief in lowering the respect of men for Christian and Christianity. It is I'ttle use to proclaim a spirit-filled life if in the work-a-day world men cannot live and work with us because of our irritability and general unpleasantness. Many of us need "a double portion of that love that is not easily provoked. We may well echo the opinion of an Kn-glish writer that ' the need of the day is not ecclesiastical alliance and leagues of Churches, hut a religious revival.' " The Rev. R. H. Knowles Kemp ton, of Dunedin, who acted as chairman at the evening meeting, delivered an address on the attitude of the Church to the. outsider. He said the position was becoming very serious. It seemed as though the gulf between those in the Church and those without was widening. No one would think of charging those outside the Church with being irreligious. There were men whose religion was inarticulate, but who were honourable, true,'and unselfish, and stood for the very things Jesus Christ stood for. We must, he said, - realise the ideal of brotherhood to an extent we haves never realised before. Re-dedication to the service of. Jesus Christ was necessary.

The annual report of the union, presented in the morning by the secretary, the Rev. R. S. Gray, stated that the increase in membership by baptisms during the year was 146, by transfer 228, and by other means 90. making a total increase of 463. The losses comprised 52 by death, 205 by transfer, and 298 bv other means, making a total of .555. The tctal membership was 5777, a decrease of 89 compared with last year. Tiie revenue had been unprecedented!}' large, and many generous gifts had been received. A church office had been opened In Wellington, and the various agencies of the union efficiently carried on by it. Regret was expressed that more manifest results had not attended the work of the churches, but it was felt there was no cause for

depression. The report of the Manure Children's Home stated that there were 75 children in the home and the weekly cost of (maintaining each child averaged 15s 10§d. The income for the year was £2481 and the year closed with a credit balance of £330, with £1738 in hand for the erection of an isolation ward and £384 for furnishing the ward. It was stated that £1000 had been received toward an endowment fund of £40,000 which it was proposed to establish. The annuity fund report stated that receipts for the year were £1299. including a contribution of £500 from Mr. W. H. George. The total amount now invested was £6091.

It was resolved that for the next conference each church be invited to present a summary of its work, consisting of not more than 150 words. Mr. T. E. Tonevcliffe, of Gisborne, offered a prize of £10 for the best report. A devotional service in the morning was conducted by the Rev. R. H. Knowles Kemp ton and a communion service in the evening by the Rev. J. W. Kemp.