CHURCH UNION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26606, 31 October 1947, Page 4

CHURCH UNION

FURTHER STEPS TAKEN PREPARATION FOR VOTING P.A. CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 30. Further steps towards a decision on the question whether the Presbyterian Church will unite with the Methodist and Congregational Churches of New Zealand were taken at the session of the Presbyterian General Assembly in Christchurch today. The report of the Assembly's Church Union Committee was presented by the Rev. J. M. Bates. On the committee’s recommendation, the Assembly approved the following resolution: “ The ' Assembly declares tliat, in accordance with the church's present practice, duly certificated communicant members of the Methodist and Congregational Churches will be received as communicants in this church on production of a proper disjunction certificate, it being understood that a person cannot be a member of two congregations at the same time.” The committee also made the following recommendation on which discussion was adjourned: “The Assembly authorises the Committee on Church Union to take a vote of communicant members of the Presbyterian Church during June, 1948, according to the procedure outlined in the report.”

The Rev. J. M. Blight, acting president of the Methodist Conference of New Zealand, and the Rev. W. M. Garner, chairman of the Congregational Union, were welcomed to the assembly bv the moderator, the Right. Rev J. D. Smith, and remained as observers during the discussion on church union. Methodist Plans Addressing the assembly, Mr Blight, said his church proposed to have before it in March the proposed basis of union, to expound it to members of the church during the following three months, and to take a vote on it at the July quarterly meetings of the church. That would give an indication of the mind of the officials of the Methodist Church. The ministers hoped to give their people a fair and unbiased exposition of the basis for union and that the vote would reflect the considered judgment of the people. “The movement towards union has gone so far that will never go back to where we were a few years ago. said Mr Blight. •* The movement mf.st go forward. There is no reason to suppose that we are making a mistake. The direction in which we are moving has already been determined, and any such movement is in accord with the general movement of our times There was formerly a time when individualism came to the fore, but the movement of our own times is away from that to collectivism.” He felt that in the union proposals, however, the negotiating parties were giving too much attention to detail at the present stage. It was the general question which should now be considered.

Congregational Attitude

Mr Garner said the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches moved together in a common stream theologically and in separate streams ecclesiologically. Apart from one clause about which there had been much discussion, the members of the Congregational Church felt very happy about the proposed basis of union. Moving the reception of the Church Union Committee's report, Mr Bates said he hoped the Church would vote solidly for union. The churches throughout the world were beginning to have a conscience on this matter, and were beginning to feel that it -was not right to continue in a divided state. The Church must be able to preach the Gospel unitedly. This was not to say that the Church must be all uniform or that there must be wholesale amalgamations of congregations, but they must walk* together and be known by one name. Replying to questions, Mr Bates explained that a new Book or Order or a Book of Laws would be necessary and the approval of the assembly and presbyteries would be needed before union could be consummated Then, an Act of Parliament was required enabling the disposal of property, etc., by the churches. If the Presbyterian Church voted next year in favour of union there would still be a long way to go before union was a fact.