OTAGO’S GREETINGS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26713, 6 March 1948, Page 6

OTAGO’S GREETINGS

CENTENNIAL MESSAGE

SPECIAL SERVICE IN EDINBURGH

The Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland has sent a cable message to the Rev. A. M. Elliffe, the clerk of the Synod of Otago and Southland, asking for a message to be read at the service which will be held in St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, on March 21. Mr Elliffe has sent the following reply, to the Rev Alexander King, the secretary of the Colonial Committee: —

“The Synod of Otago and Southland has heard with considerable appredation of the intention of . the Colonial and Continental Committee of the Church of Scotland to hold a special service in St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, this service will coincide with the centennial celebrations of the Synod, and undoubtedly the bonds which have united our countries in so many ways during the past 100 years will be strengthened by this expression of worship and our common fellowship.

The Synod acknowledges, with thankfulness and gratitude to Almighty God, its great debt to the first Scottish settlers. Faithful to the heritage bequeathed to them by the Reformers and the Free Church leaders these pioneers sought to found in our land a community that would be loyal to their ideals. The emphasis given to religion, education, and moral integrity in commmunity life has proved itself on numerous occasions to have been of the utmost value. Although the settlement has passed through difficulties, it has sought to remain faithful to its founders. It is no mean achievement that Otago has. been accepted throughout the Dominion, as a centre of religion and culture—due in no small measure to the solid foundations laid by the pioneers. “The Synod is deeply conscious of its great debt to the Motherland. Today, situated in a highly privileged land untouched by the ravages of war, and where want is almost unknown, we have heard with considerable grief of the burdens which face so many in the Homeland near and dear to us. We trust that at such a time it may be possible for us to repay something of the great debt we owe and so be knit still more closely together by bonds of fellowship and mutual aid.

“ We rejoice that at our celebrations we shall be honoured with such worthy representatives of the Mother Church as Dr and Mrs John Baillie, and Sir John Falconer, and we look forward with keen anticipation to the messages thuy will convey. “ We are confident that at this time, inspired by our glorious heritage, our church, will be encouraged to go forward into the second century of its life and work building on the foundations which have been so well and truly laid, and determined to be a more effective instrument for extending the Kingdom of God in this new land.

"May your service in Edinburgh be a time rich in precious memories, and may this token of gratitude from the Edinburgh of the South strengthen our spiritual ties and enable us one and all to go forward in the conviction that the God of our fathers will be the God 'of their succeeding race both in the Homeland and this land far away in these Southern Seas.”