MODERN TRENDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22580, 19 November 1936, Page 14

MODERN TRENDS

DRIFT FROM CHURCH belittling religion INFLUENCE OF RADIO METHODIST LEADER'S VIEWS A tendency to belittle the importance of institutional religion, and the inlluence of radio, are two aspects of modern life that threaten to cause a serious drift from the Church, according to the Rev. K. 1). I'atchett, chairman ot the Auckland district ol the Methodist Church, who in his inaugural address at the opening of the representative session ot the annual synod yesterday referred to the need of arresting this dritt. Mr. I'atchett said that bv many tokens the Church to-day was lacing :1 nation-wide drift from her doors. This drift was serious for the Church and serious for the nation, for tho lowering of the spiritual vitality of tho nation was greater than tho depletion of its pjiysical stamina. Modern Tendencies "While there is yet time we heed to see clearly that to arrest the national drift from the Church is a patriotic as well as a religious duty, j said Mr. Patchett. "The immediate need for emphasising this fact is found in a twofold modern tendency. "The first is a tendency to belittle the importance of institutional religion. In many quarters it is assumed that the Christian faith will go oil whatever happens to the Church. J his is a fatal illusion, for the Church has no permanent substitute. It is against all precedent that a nation can retain a distincti\ely Christian character and programme without the organised might of the Church behind it. Mr. I'atchett said that . another aspect of modern liio that threatened to cause a serious drift from tho Church was the influence of radio. Broadcasting promised to impingo more and more upon established conventions. It was to he admitted that the Church in New Zealand had been slow to capture its fair share of radio for Christ. Perhaps this dilatoriness had sprung out of a reasonable distrust of the ultimate issue. Substitute lor Worship "The acceptance of a cheap and lazy substitute of some of the elements of worship over the air instead of the complete fellowship of God s house will not do," said Mr. Patchett. "Radio services cannot be recognised by tho Church as an equivalent for the privilege and duty of public worship. By a gradual slipping in this direction tho friends of religion may do the Church in the long run a grave disservice. No good purpose will be served by the Church neglecting to use broadcasting to the full as a handmaid of religion, but Church people should set their faces against the temptation to neglect j the imperative duty of church attendance." Mr. Patchett said that the desperate j need of , this age was a widespread spiritual awakening.