BAPTIST DISPUTE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25029, 20 October 1944, Page 4

BAPTIST DISPUTE

. EEPLY BY DB SOUTH ; DR HODGE AND UNION "By", his . resignation, Dr JHo'dge has t avoided the necessity of * appearing s before the Assembly of his Church to r answer the findings against him made u by the executive officers of the Baptist . Union," said Dr J. J. North, editor of 0 the New Zealand Baptist, yesterday, when commenting upon a report in yesf terday's Herald. This announced the resignation of Dr Alexander Hodge, of H the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, from t l the ministerial ranks of the New Zea- :- land Baptist Union. 1 "The position is actually this," continued Dr North. "The Baptist Union has in its custody the credentials of its ministers. The union is under obliga--0 tion to vouch for the fitness of those on t its list to serve as ministers using the [ j Baptist name. The union was compelled to review the credentials of Dr Hodge. 5 The proceedings by commission were e controlled by methods prescribed by e high legal authority and were cout ducted without bias. Dr Hodge had Ii adequate notice and has been offered g copies of all relevant documents. e Question of Publicity "The unanimous finding of the executive of the union was that it could no 3 longer vouch for the credentials of Dr t Hodge. The intention of the executive s was that, since the matter was of j domestic importance, and since it awaited review by the Assembly, it r should not be given publicity through the press. Dr Hodge, from the moment of his decision, appealed from pulpit and press to the public, so uninformed s on the issues. ] "Dr Hodge circulated among the churches of the Dominion and officers t of both youth and church work his version of the case —a version which the executive was compelled to describe in the columns of the New Zealand Baptist as 'a medley of half-truths'," continued Dr North. "Dr Hodge's appeal to the public necessitated publication also of the unanimous findings of the executive against Dr Hodge, with signatures attached. New Zealand Baptist's Action 3 "Without waiting for Assembly, Dr Hodge proceeded to eject some scores of members from membership—people 1 of blameless character who desired to . retain membership in the Church they - and their fathers had loved. The New [ Zealand Baptist, knowing that such a proceeding was unprecedented in Church practice, defended the defenceless in r measured terms. Thereafter Dr Hodge ! proceeded to degrade ten prominent L officers of the church by a process which , was a travesty of justice. The Baptist was obliged to expose the proceeding. [ "Nothing at all would have appeared • in the New Zealand Baptist but for ; compulsions laid upon it by Dr Hodge himself," concluded Dr North. 'Dr ) Hodge now avoids his appearance before . the court of his Church to answer the ; charges. He alleges a non-existent t 'propaganda' against himself in the i Baptist. The public will draw its own ; conclusions." ; MILITARY DEFAULTERS ' EDUCATION QUESTION r I REQUEST FOR INFORMATION i (S.R.) WELLINGTON, Thursday Information whether .military default- ' ere were i*eceiving correspondence : courses, including advanced secondary ! education, under the Army Education 1 and Welfare Service was sought by Mr ■T. L. Macdonald (Opposition— Mataura) in a question in the House of Bepresentatives today. He said that ! if this was so defaulters would be placed 1 in a more favoured position than many ! of the men serving overseas when the time came for release from defaulters' , camps. NORTHLAND HOSPITALS CONFERENCE OF BOARDS (0.C.) WHAKGAHEI, Thursday A conference of the six boards cqlicerned will be held at Kaikohe on Saturday, .November 11, to discuss the amalgamation proposals of the Minister of Health, Mr Nordnteyer, for the Northland hospital boards. The Minister met the boards in committee early in May and discussed his proposals, but no public statement has yet been made by the Minister. Repeated requests by the boards for the Minister to release his proposals have not been successful. The conference will exchange views on amalgamation and secure if possible from the Minister his long-promised statement. In reply to a question by the Hokianga board, the Minister wrote that his proposals called for the stabilisation of hospital rates in Northland at ljd in the pound on the unimproved value of the rateable property in the area. HARVESTING LABOUR PROVISION IN THE WAIKATO (0.C.) HAMILTON, Thursday Seven camps would be established in the Waikato to supply 16 districts with servicemen for harvesting labour, said Mr L. W. Jane, secretary of the Waikato Primary Production Council, today. These camps would be located at Taumahere, Claudelands, Cambridge, Te Awamutu. Ngaruawahia, Te Aroha and Morrinsville. The demand from farmers for labour was much the same as last year, said Mr Jane, but as the harvesting season this year was a month later there was no call for additional farm workers before November 115, when a total of 120 men was required. The peak would be reached between December 15 and .SI with a call for a total of 546 men throughout the Waikato, the number then dwindling to 242 from January 15 to January 31. "DR R" IDENTIFIED WORK FOR YUGOSLAVS (0.C.) HAMILTON, Thursday The "Dr II" who has done so much for \ugoslav wounded and has been specially commended by Marshal Tito has been identified as Dr Lindsay , Rogers, of Te Awamutu. He was doing specialist surgical work in York and , Manchester when the war broke out ■ and later he became attached to the . Eighth Army. Dr Rogers performed . 9000 operations in Africa, and later he set up a hospital in Yugoslavia. ROTORUA SPORTS AREA (0.C.) BOTORUA, Thursday Plans for the conversion of portion of .the Kuirau reserve as a sports area < for Rotorua are well under way. Considerable assistance in the formation of i playing fields and a running track f have been given by High School pupils 1 and sports bodies. The Mayor of Roto- j rua, Mr P. A. Kusabs, reminded the J Borough Council last night that the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Parry, t had mado a verbal offer some years ago 1 of a pound for pound subsidy in pre- f paring the area for such a purpose. I SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS 5 Concern regarding the shortage of t staff, especially teachers of mathematics i and science, was expressed by the i principal of the Seddon Memorial Tech- i nical College, Mr G. J. Park, at a meet- 1 ing of the board of managers yester- 1 day. Mr Park said indications were that c in the new year the school roll would number over 1600 pupils and .the c number of teachers on the staff at press ent was inadequate to cope with I that number. If teachers were not mado f available to the school before the n coming year, some applications for en- g rolment by children would have to be t refused. Tt. was decided to place the s position before the Director of Educa- i Jtion, Dx C. E. Bee by* 1)