THE MODERN CHURCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18347, 13 March 1923, Page 8

THE MODERN CHURCH.

CONGREGATIONAL IDEA. " FEARLESSLY-GIVEN MESSAGE. A conference was held in connection 'with the annual meetings of the Congregational „ Union of New Zealand yesterday afternoon, when the Rev. W. M. Holland, of Cambridge Terrace Church, Wellington, delivered an address upon : : The Congregational Idea of the Church." The speaker traced the idea of the Church in New Testament times and said that Congregationalism at its test was simply the expression in our modern life of the. early Christian conception of the Church as a tree fellowship of those who were bound together by the fact of their common loyalty to one Lord and Master. Turning from the past to the present and future, and dealing particularly with the future of Congregationalism in New Zealand* Mr. Holland quoted prominent English Oongregationalists to show that J it was the genius of the Congregational Church that it was free to express to each now age the message of God in terms of modern thought and life. He made a vigorous plea for an unhesitating acceptance of the spiritual and social implications of the Gospel of Jesus for the life of to-day, and urged that the glory of the past was but a signpost on the road to a still more glorious future. Congregationalism would be true to type only when it gladly accepted and fearlessly expressed the message of God to modern life, confident that the Father of Jesus Christ is still speaking, and progressively revealing Himself and His will in each new crisis of human history.