MOSGIEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24736, 13 October 1941, Page 10

MOSGIEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

NEW SUNDAY SCHOOL HALL FOUNDATION STONE LAID For many years the Sunday school of the Mosgiel Presbyterian Church has been conducted in the old church building, but very soon this important branch of the church's work will be housed in an ud-to-date Sunday school hall, which is beins erected alongside the church in Church street. The old building will be removed to make way for a new manse. The new hall will accommodate 250 persons. The main floor space will be S& feet by 30 feet and a kitchen and anterooms will be added. Attached to the side walls will be movable screens which may be used to form cubicles for eacli class. The building is being built, of brick with a tiled roof. The architect* are Messrs Miller and White,, and the contractor is Mr F. A. Kennedy. Greetings Extended i The ceremony of laying the foundation stone took place on Saturday afternoon in the presence of a large gathering of the congregation and visiting friends. Prior to this ceremony, all present assembled in the church, where a welcome was extended to the visitors by the minister (the Rey. T. C. Cameron Hay). He specially welcomed the Right Rev. G. H. Jupp, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. A number of messages from friends who were unable ( to be present were read. These included greetings from two former, ministers—the Revs. C. A. Kennedy and Hugh Graham. Among the visitors were the Mayor of Mosgiel (Mr W. P. Hartstonge). the Rev. Professor John A. Allan (moderator of th« Dunedin Presbytery), and several local ministers, all of whom congratulated the minister and congregation on the forward step being made. It was taken in the interests of the training of the children, in religious knowledge, the speaker stated, and it was fervently wished that all those who had made the building' possible would see the fruits they longed and hoped for. After Psalm- 100 had' been sung, tha minister read the lesson from Ist Chron., chapter 29, verses 10-18, and offered, prayer. Moderator's Address Mr Jupp addressed the assemblage. < He acknowledged the welcome extended to Mrs Jupp ahd >himself, and recalled the names of the ministers who had laboured on the Taieri and in Mosgiel and their work. The erection of this building,'he said, was but a step further ahead, building on the good work of former, years. The old building, being a wooden one, haa served its day and the new one would be more solid and lasting.. He rejoiced with the minister and congregation on its erection. Mr Jupp made reference ±o his work among the youth of the church in 19081914, and exhorted his hearers to realise the importance of the work amongst the young. He quoted from the Book of Revelation—" I have set before you an open door, and no man may shut it." If the interest of the were secured in the infant classes and maintained through the various stages until they were entering the adult stage, it could be confidently hoped that throughout their lives the spiritual side would be in the right perspective. He spoke encouraging words to school teachers. At times they might think: " Was it worth while?" but he assured them of th 6 value of their noble work. Men had been forgetting that there was a God over, all and in all. The teachers were inculcating into the lives of the children—which would in turn become the life of the nation—that God was their Redeemer and their King. He counselled parents and guardians to have a prayerful interest in the children and thus assist in winning them for Christ and for the extension of His kingdom. Laying of Foundation 'Stone An adjournment to the site of the foundation stone was made after a hymn had been sung and an offering to 1 the building fund taken up. The actual ceremony of laying the stone was performed'by Mr Jupp. Mr Miller, on behalf of the architects, presented Mr Jupp with a gold trowel as a memento of the occasion—a gift which the recipient gratefully acknowledged. Mr Miller also extended greetings and congratulations to > the congregation. Mr Jupp expressed his pleasure at being asked to lay the foundation stone, ana with customary - ceremony declared the stone well and truly laid. He sought God's blessing on the work of erection, ori the opening in due time and on the instruction the children would receive within its walls. A most impressive ceremony—and one that marks another mile* stone in the history of the congregationclosed with the benediction.