MEANING OF LOYALTY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21509, 5 June 1933, Page 11

MEANING OF LOYALTY

GOD AND THE KING PRESENT-DAY DANGERS SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICE The meaning of loyalty to,the faith and the King was enunciated by Archbishop Averill in the course of a King's Birthday service in St. Matthew's Church yesterday morning. The Gover-nor-General, Lord Bledisloe, and Lady Bledisloe attended, and there was an exceptionally large congregation. The service was attended by representatives of the Auckland Consular Corps, the Northern Military Command, the Air Force, local authorities, the Navy League, the Returned Soldiers' Association and the St. John Ambulance Association. When Their Excellencies arrived, they were welcomed at the entrance to the church by the Rev. M. G. Sullivan and the Rev. H. K. Vickery. Outside the church members of the LegiOn of Frontiersmen, accompanied by the St. Andrew's Pipe Band, were assembled. Commander J. Rosati, of the French sloop Savorgnan de Brazza, was in the church, accompanied by M. Edouard Joubert, French Consul in Auckland. His Excellency read the lessons. Archbishop Averill said the day, "Whitsunday, should stir the sense of responsibility in the Christian Church, God's gift and instrument for setting up, extending and consolidating His kingdom. Ho said it should be realised that the Church was a means to an end, and not an end in itself. "If the Church is slow in the accomplishment of God's great work the fault lies in our lack of vision, slackness and indifference, and the failure of individuals to realise their own privileges and responsibilities," the Primate continued.

King George had never swerved in his loyalty to the one God. It was right and fitting that his loyal subjects should offer their praises and thanksgivings for his beneficent reign, and that they should pray for the continuance of a life so precioiis to the world. Loyalty was bettor expressed in deeds than in words. Patriotism was not sufficient. It might be only a selfish nationalism, one of the curses of the world. The outward expression of loyalty was all the more necessary when there was a danger of disintegration, and there were subversive forces striving in the world. God was here in the world and waiting to bring order out of chaos when He was given His rightful place in every sphere of human life. The evils of politics without principle, wealth without work, pleasure without, conscience, knowledge without character, industry without molality, science without humanity and worship without sacrifice, had been rightly named. Whether the people realised it or not, world civilisation was in the melting pot. The men and women of the present generation, said the archbishop, were building up a new social order. What was done to-day would be reflected in future generations. The greatest deed was the return to the true ideal of God as a God of love. While there should be full recognition of this ideal, it could be seen that there was fear on all sides. Confidence could never be restored until the people got back to the right idea of God, and it should be realised that the British Empire never had more responsibilities than to-day.