DUNEDIN PRESBYTERY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 2

DUNEDIN PRESBYTERY.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Dunedin Presbytery was held yesterday' afternoon, when the moderator (the Rev. J. D. Smith) presided. , , The Rev. E. J. Tipler moved that the induction of the Rev. J. Collie to the chair of New Testament studies in the Theological Hall take place on a date to be arranged at the conclusion of the present Theological Hall session.—The motion was carried. —The Rev. William Colie will also occupy the position ot moderator of the General Assembly as from March, 1931. The Rev, E. J. Tinier explained that he had discovered that Mr K. 1. h. Larsen, who had been recommended by the Bifcsary Committee for the Blair theological bursary, was ineligible, mm was not a graduate, Mr R. J. Griffiths, however, fulfilled the conditions of the bequest, and he would therefore move that the recommendation be amended, and Mr Griffiths be given the bursary.—The motion was carried. . The following were appopinted a Public Questions Committee:—•Dr Mernngton, Dr Dickie, Revs. V?. Trotter, A. 0. W. Standage, E. J. Tipler. Q. Miller, J. D. Smith. J. G. S. Dunn (convener). Messrs J Farquharson, D. S. Beath, J. Russell, J. M. Dick, William Anderson, and M'Hutcheson. , ... , „ The Rev. J. G. S. Dunn submitted the report of the Youths' Committee, the report being adopted after some discussion had taken place on the question of the age at which children should leave the secondary schools to join tiie Bible classes. TWO CALLS SUSTAINED. The following calls came up for consideration:—From Knox Church to the Rev. D. C. Herron, M.C., M.A., of Auckland; from First Church to the Rev. W. Allen Stevely, M.A., Melbourne. The Rev. (f. Kilpatrick (clerk) said that the call from the Mornmgton Church to the Rev. A. H. Nordmeyer, M.A., of Kurow, would not come on, as Mr Norameyer had withdrawn. a . The Rev. G. Miller said that at a Selection Committee meeting held a iew weeks ago it had been unanimously agreed that the congregation should recommend sending a call to the Rev. Mr Herron, of St. David’s Church, Auckland. At the congregational meeting it. had also been agreed (with one exception) to insert Mr Herron's- name in the call, Messrs R. Miller, H. Ishp, and J.C. M‘Crae spoke in support of the call. Mr Miller said that there were 1124 on the roll of Knox Church, and that 814 communicant members and 163 adherents had signed the call. , The Rev. J. Kilpatrick said it gave the presbytery much pleasure to have such a • largely-signed call laid on the table., He moved—“ That the call be sustained and sent on to the Auckland Presbytery. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr Herron, who is about 45 years of age, was born in Dunedin, and received his primary education at Pukerau. After leaving school he spent nearly three years on his father’s farm, and seven and ahalf years on the clerical staff of the New Zealand railways. During the last 18 months of this period—nine years after leaving school —while he was records clerk in the railway superintendent’s office, be passed the matriculation examination. From 1907 till 1910 he studied at Otago University, graduating B.A. in 1909 and M.A. (philosophy) in 1910. From 1911 till 1915 he was at Glasgow United Free College under Drs Lindsay, Denney, Orr, M'Fadyen, and Clow, and from 1916 till 1919 he served as a chaplain with the New Zealand forces. In 1919 he took a post-graduate session at Oxford, doing Old .Testament work under Dr Buchanan *Gray, At the close of that year, on his return to New Zealand, -he was called simultaneously to St. Andrew’s Church, Dflnedin, and St. David’s Church, Auckland. He is a member of the council of the Student Christian Movement in Auckland University, He has always been deeply interested in Old Testament study, and in the midst of a busy pastorate has contrived to read a good deal along that line. For two years in succession he lectured on Old Testament subj'ects at the three summer schools of theology, and was given an opportunity of continuing this work, but as it' involved a month's absence from St. David’s at a time when the new church was under way, the offer was regretfully declined. His business experience and the years spent at the war probably have helped to give him a knowledge or men;, and circumstances have privileged him with a widely varied experience in the actual work of the ministry. He served as a student missionary at Taihape in the early railway construction days, and among the lumbermen in British Columbia, Canada, as an assistant in a prosperous Glasgow congregation, and in an institutional church in Aberdeen among the very poor, and as minister in St. David’s, It was decided that the date of the induction should be, provisionally, June , The Rev. Mr Kilpatrick Introduced Messrs W. H. Adams, James Wallace, R. M'Adam, and Crosby Morris, who were to speak in favour of sustaining the call to First Church of Mr Stevely, of St. Kilda, Melbourne. Mr Adams said that the church had had a very anxious- time during the past 18 months, and there might have been a feeling in the minds of some members of the presbytery that they were hastening slowly. They had, however, done all they possibly could to get finality and had had to deal with much correspondenct. The work of the church had not suffered through it being without a pastor, thanks to the able, conscientious, and . capable manner in which the Rev. Mr Kilpatrick had filled the vacancy. Out of a roll number of 649, the call had been signed by 432 members and 64 adherents. Messrs Wallace, M'Adam, and Morris also spoke, Mr Wallace stating that they had tried to secure a New Zealand-trained minister, but, unfortunately, without success.

The Rev. Mr Kilpatrick moved that the call be sustained, and that it be sent to the South Melbourne Presbytery. The motion was carried unanimously. • The moderator said he thought he should make some reference to a system under which two large congregations could/remain for over a year without a settled pastor. Ho thought they could learn something from the Anglican and Methodist Churches in this respect. He thought they should make a change so that it will be possible for them to act swiftly in cases like those he had referred to. Anything that would bring about a better system .would* he was sure, be supported. He. would leave the matter in their hands for consideration.