DUNEDIN PRESBYTERY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18851, 2 May 1923, Page 5

DUNEDIN PRESBYTERY.

The monthly meeting of tho Dunedin Presbytery was held in First Church Wall yesterday morning. Tho moderator, the Rev. G. 11. Jupp, presided. CALL TO MAORI HILL.

Tho Rev. A. M. Finlayson presented to tho Presbytery a call from tho Maori Hill congregation in favour of tho Rev. A. C. W, Standage, of Fairlio. The call was signed by 153 members and 37 adherents. Mr Finlayson explained that there were about 220 effective members on a roll of 241. 'lho stipend offered was £4OO. Mr \V. L. Craig, who appeared on behalf of the congregation, pointed out that the second Sunday on which tho call was open was exceedingly wet, and only about a third of the members were present. Otherwise the call would have been more largely signed. Mr Standage had done excellent work at Mount Ida, 'at Kelburn,, and at Fnirlie, and they had no doubt that he would do equally good work at Maori Hill. Mr Standage was a man of parts, and would bo an acquisition not only to Maori but to the Presbytery of Dunedin. Ihey wore deeply indebted to Mr FinlayS °\i 01 s .P^ ent bd work as moderator. M r H. Neill further supported the call Mr Kilpatrick moved that the call be sustained and sent on to the Timaru Presbytery. They were glad at the prospect of an immediate settlement. They all know something of Mr Standage, and wore pleased at the prospect of his coming among thorn.

the Rev. H. H. Barton seconded the motion, and said that both Maori Hill and Mr Standage were to be congratulated. tentative arrangements were made for the induction to take place at Maori Hill on May 24. A SCHEME OF MIGRATION.

The moderator of the Assembly, tho Rev. W. J. Comrie, wrote forwarding a lengthy document from the Migration Department of the National Council of Y.M.C.A’s. Tho enclosed memorandum contained details of a proposed scheme of co-operation with overseas churches and other organisations interested in migration within the Empire. Mr Comrie suggested that the Presbytery should go carefully into the matter and then take steps to bring it under tho notice of congregations. Briefly the proposal is that congregations should nominate immigrants, and that the selections should, if necessary, bo made by churches in the Homeland, working in conjunction with the Y.M.C.A. Nominated domestic servants get free pasages. For farm hands and miners tho passage money is £lO, and the same for their wives. For other nominated immigrants the passage money is £lB. All children under 12 travel free.—The matter was referred to the Public Questions Committee THE THEOLOGICAL FUND. , Iho Rev. H. Maclean, convener of the Iheological Committee, wrote placing before the Presbytery tho urgency of tho needs of his committee. Last year £6OO w’as allocated to tho Theological Committee from the Church’s budget, but the congregations contributed only £345. Many of 'them did not take up. tho collection at all. In this'Presbytery 21 out of 32 congregations and home mission stations failed in this way. The result was that the commutes started the year with serious deficits, and had had to ‘ reduce tho students’ bursaries to a hopelessly inadequate amount. This year the committee had been allocated £650 from the budget, and they were very anxious for the sake of the students to obtain that sum. Ho asked the Presbytery to emphasise in such a way that every member would understand them the following points;—(l) The salary of no professor is paid from this collection. (2) Not one single penny goes to the upkeep of Knox College, which is an entirely separate institution. Erroneous impressions on these points had caused ministers, office-bearers, and members to withhold their sympathy and support, and the committee would like to have these misunderstandings removed Mr Maclean said that the Theological Committee was taking steps to have its needs brought before the whole Church, but it had felt it was proper also to bring it directly before the Presbytery. The bursaries- had had to be reduced to £l2 10s a year for married men and £8 15s. for single men, and the committee could give them no guarantee that there would bo any supplement' tp that. There ought to be some explanation of tho disproportionately largo number of the congregations in the Presbytery failing to contribute to the fund. The only explanation they could find was the misapprehension that the fund was used for the salaries of professors and for the upkeep of Knox College. The collection was for tho theological education of their students, and unless it was a generous onp their students were going to suffer. The Rev- E. J. Tipler said it seemed now that the Church wanted men for the ministry but was not prepared to help them. Tie did not know how men were going live on the bursaries mentioned. The Rev. At M. Dalrymple suggested that another name should be given the fund more clearly indicating its purpose. The Moderator said he felt very keenly that the Church during the past year had let the students down. The matter had been made as clear as daylight on several occasions, but there still remained a certain amount of prejudice to be overcome. The letter was received. LICENSED TO PREACH.

Mr A. C. Hampton was taken on trials for license. In the absence of the convener of the Licensing Committee, the Rev. J. J. Cairncy, the Rev. W. Trotter reported. He moved that tho candidate’s Old Testament exercise bo sustained by Presbytery, and had the same proposal to make regarding the sermon. The Rev. T. Yuille moved that the New Testament exegetical exercise, which he had found altogether satisfactory, be sustained. No report came to hand on the candidate’s thesis, but Mr Trotter said that even without this he was prepared to take the responsibility of moving that those trials be sustained on a conjunct view. The Rev. E. J. Tipler seconded the motion, which was carried. The Moderator thereupon proceeded to the formal licensing of Mr Hampton to preach. Mr Hampton received the right hand of fellowship from all members of Presbytery, and was addressed by the moderator.. SABBATH DESECRATION. The clerk of the Presbytery of Southland forwarded a resolution originally drawn up by the three Christian bodies in Queenstown—namely, the Presbyterian, Anglican, and Salvation Army—and read by their ministers at both services on the day referred to, Easter Sunday. The Presbytery of Southland commended their action and adopted the motion as a resolution of Presbytery. The motion was forwarded because a- Dunedin sports body had been involved in the meeting complained of The motion forwarded was as follows: —“That the action of all concerned in completing tho programme of th© Queenstown regatta on the morning of the Lord’s Day demands this expression of our sense of shame that so great a- sin against God and offence against the community should have been committed in our midst, a wrong-doing from which those who have a Christian conscience cannot too carefully dissociate themselves.” Mr Kilpatrick said that the circumstances wore that a regatta was held annually at Easter at Queenstown. For some reason tho regatta could rot bo completed on Saturday this year, and it was decided to conclude it on Sunday morning. It certainly was more than a pity that anv organised sports body should so far forget itself as to C"use that to occur on tho Lord’s Dav. He moved that the matter be received and that the Prebvtery express its regret that any organised body should have carried out anv part of Its programme on the Lord’s Day. Mr Duncan Wright said he warmly snpnorted tho motion Tlie Rev. W. F. Evans said that, a wider question was raised, been use Queenstown was a holidnv resort and a great number of their neoplo went, there on holiday and were drawn into Ibis kind of thing. The motion was carried. GENERAL. Professor Dickie reriortad on behalf of. tho special committee set up to consider the overture on tho preparation of a brief statement of faith. Tho committee drew attention to tho fact that the overture was omitted from the printed proceedings of Assembly, and proposed that tho Assembly be asked to appoint a committee (1) to ascertain what other churches had done in the way of preparing simple statements of doctrine; (2) to consider what 'should h© done in this way in the case of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand; (3) to report to next Assembly. Tho report was adopted and the recommendations forwarded to tho convener of the Theological Committee.

The Rev. W. Trotter reported on the remit from Assembly proposing to empower prebyteries to grant ministers emeriti a seat in Presbytery ns associated members without a vote. On Mr Trotter’s recommendation, it was decided to disagree with tho remit and to propose an additional clause to prevent the transference of ministers emeriti from one Presbytery to another.

Tho Rev. R. Scott Allan reported on the visitation of Brighten, and referred to the desire for a permanent settlement