VALLEY PRESBYTERIANS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22999, 30 September 1936, Page 3

VALLEY PRESBYTERIANS

ANNIVERSARY CHURCH SERVICES Family Worship Day was observed at the North-East Valley Presbyterian Church on Sunday, when the church was beautifully decorated for the occasion. The Boys’ Life Brigade was present, and occupied the front pews. The choir was augmented by several of the senior Sunday school scholars, and special hymns and anthems were sung. The lesson was read by one of the younger boys. A special feature of the morning service was the dedication of a Sunday school attendance banner presented by Sister Lysbeth, church deaconess. During the service the Rev. N. E. Oakley spoke of the keen interest taken by Sister Lysbeth in all branches of the church work, especially among the young people, and on behalf of the congregation he thanked her for her fine gift, which he handed over to Mr Beath, Sunday school superintendent. Mr Beath impressed upon the parents the responsibility of sending their children regularly to Sunday school, and said that the banner would be held from month to month by the department recording the highest percentage of marks for the previous month.

The choir gave a pleasing rendering of “Let There Be Light,” and during the course of a sermon, addressed specially to the children, Mr Oakley paid a warm tribute to the teachers, past and present, for their faithful endeavours to win the children for Christ, and so mould their character for the future.

in the afternoon a special Sunday school service was held in the church. Miss Begg, of the Presbyterian Training Institute, conducted the cradle roll service. She showed several pictures of various countries where, she said, little children might have fathers and mothers to love them, but they did not know Jesus. She afterwards told the story of Hannah giving Samuel to God and God’s call to Samuel. Several babies’ names were placed on the cradle roll, and bouquets were presented to their mothers. The banner for attendance, dedicated in the morning, was presented to the intermediate department of the Sunday school, which showed the best attendance for September. Professor S. F. Hunter spoke to the intermediate and junior departments, basing his remarks on Rev. hi, 12: “The new name.” He referred to the writing of one's name on what belonged to them, and names on other things, to the wrong names sometimes given or things wrongly labelled. Even people who bore the name of Christian were not always true to the name. He urged the children to be true to the name of Christ — to be real Christians, not hypocrites. In the evening a special youth service was held. Some of the leaders and members of the Bible class took part, and the address was given by Dr J. D. Salmond. Margaret Laing and Peggy Harvey sang a duet, “ Shepherd of Israel,” and the choir sang the anthem “ I Love to Hear the Story,” Ronald Flamank, a member of the Boys’ Brigade, taking the solo part. Dr Salmond’s address was entitled “New Zealand at the Cross Roads: A Challenge to Youth.” He based his remarks on God's message to Joshua in Joshua i, 17. After outlining how God had prepared Joshua for his life work and Joshua had accepted the call in the face of difficulties, he said that New Zealand’s need at the present time was for leaders who were prepared for hard "mrk, who would not compromise with evil, who would not be afraid to finish a task when once begun, but woulo go straight forward, prepared for sacrifice, earnest and sincere and willing to accept the call whenever and wherever God wants them. The services throughout the day were full of interest and inspiration, and were attended by a large and appreciative congregation.