WINDOW DEDICATED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21315, 17 October 1932, Page 11

WINDOW DEDICATED

MEMORIAL AT ST. LUKE'S LATE MISS E. M. RHODES AN IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY In the presence of a large congregation, which included members of the Auckland Rotary Club and their families, the memorial window to the late Miss Edna Rhodes was solemnly dedicated to the Glory of God in St. Luke's Presbyterian Church, Remuera, yesterday morning. The service leading up to the act of dedication centred round the thought of human love and devotion as an expression of the love of God. "Where love is God is" was the title of the sermon delivered by the Rev. J. A. Thomson, who conducted the service. Appropriately he recalled the beautiful Old Testament story of the sacrificial love and devotion of Ruth to Naomi. Ruth forms the subject of one of the lancets of the memorial window. Members of the session gathered in the chancel, and Mr. Thomson made reference to the late Miss Rhodes who, he said, had been associated with St. Luke's Church during the whole of her life. As a girl she received her religious training in St. Luke's Sunday School, and with the other members of her family she worshipped in the old church. Her service was that of a devoted daughter and 6ister and friend, and found perhaps its highest expression in the understanding way in which she cared for her brother. When last year her brother, while experiencing indifferent health, was called abroad on business, her bright disposition fitted her in a special way to be his companion. It was not the desire for selfish enjoyment that moved her to take that trip, but a sense of duty to one she loved. In the performance of that duty she encountered the circumstances that brought about her death. She died serving. That day, with those who knew her best (and loved her most, they mourned her loss. But they reminded themselves that the spirit which called her to the service in which she was engaged was the Spirit of Him Who said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto Me." After the recital of appropriate Scripture passages and prayer, Mr. Charles Rhodes, father of Miss Rhodes,.on behalf of the Rotary Club of Auckland and on behalf of his family and in memory of hig daughter, asked the minister and session to accept the memorial window and dedicate it to the praise and glory of God and to the further adornment of the church. "We accept this gift," said Mr. Thomson, "as a sacred trust, and shall guard it reverently in honour of the faithful and devoted life to whose memory it is erected." The form of service prepared by the Church of Scotland for such occasions was thereupon used in the dedication of the window. The memorial, which occupies the southern end of the church, was greatly admired for its richness of colouring, clearness and simplicity of design, and the skill of its craftsmanship. It is the work of Messrs. R. H. Fraser and Son, of Dunedin.