METHODIST BIBLE CLASS UNION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 53

METHODIST BIBLE CLASS UNION.

YOUNG MEN'S.CAMP. The sixth annual camp of the New Zealand Methodist Young Men's Bible Class Union commenced operations at Tahuna Park on Good Friday morning, when about 100 men, representing Methodist • Bible classes from Auckland to Bluff, met in the "concert hall" of the A. and P. Aesociation Buildings for Bible study. After the Rev. F. Rands bad opened the meeting, which was marked by its hearty singing, Mr C Haynes, sub-leader of the Central" Mission class, read a portion of Scripture from Acts 2, and gave an inspiring tMk on the power of the Holy Spirit. The campers, after an adjournment for breakfast, spent a short time in business, and then marched to the St. Kilda Church, where an earnest service was conducted by the Rev. W. Grigg, of Cargill Road. , In the afternoon an interesting paper was read on •' The Claim of the Church on the Young Men of the Bible Classes," contributed by the president of. the union (Rev. G. S. Cook, of Auckland). As a result a very profitable and interesting discussion resulted, in which a large number participated. At 6.30, to the tune of well-known hymns, the campers marched en masse to Trinity Church, where they were treated to a tempting tea. YOUNG MEN'S CONVENTION. The r fifth ' annual convention of the New Zealand Methodist Young Women's Bible Class Union was held in Trinity Church on the 25th. In all between 50 and 60 delegates were present, representing classes from Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago. Mrs Blamires (president of the New Zealand Young Women's Methodist Bible Class Union) was in the chair. Mrs Blamires (Sister Annie) welcomed the delegates to Dunedin, her words of greeting being endorsed by Sister Annie (ex-president), and Mrs Boyes (of Hawera) on behalf of the delegates. Excellent reports of the work done in the four districts were read by Mies Harvey (Auckland), Miss Bassett (Wellington), Mrs Hampton (Canterbury), and Miss Mayall (Otago). / r An interesting discussion took place on the Bible class work carried on? during the year. The Rev. A. B. Cbappell (organising secretary to the Young People's Forward Movement) gave a short address.

During the afternoon session interesting papers were read. These were written by Miss Griffiths, Christchurch (" Practical Bible Class Work") and by Miss Maedonald, of Wellington ("Ideal Womanhood "). ' Helpful discussions followed these papers. Sister Nellie gave an instructive and practical address on her work as ness to the Maoris, i Sister Lizzie acted as accompanist on the 'organ. WELCOME TEA. The Young Women's and Young Men's Unions assembled at Trinity Church Schoolroom in the evening for tea, as the guests of Dunedin Methodists. The schoolroom was packed in all parts, fully 300 persons being present. The ladies who presided at the tables were: —Mrs Blamires, Sister Lizzie, Miss Walton (secretary), Miss Rosevear, Miss Kay, Misses Mayall (2), Miss Hetherington, Misses Sparrow (3), Miss Burnard, Miss Bardsley, Misses King (8) Miss Bull, Miss Moore, Miss Matheson, Miss Runciman, - and Miss L. Walton. At the conclusion a hearty,vote of thanks, proposed by Mr A. Holden (Christchurch), and seconded by Mr H. S. Hart (Wellington), was accorded the hostesses, together j with a rally of the camp war-cry. PUBLIC MEETING. I At 7.30 p.m. a public meeting under the auspices o£ the combined Bible. Class Unions *was- held in r. Trinity . Church. There was. a large attendance. The chair I was occupied by the Rev. E. .0. Blamires (president of the Otago Young Men's Bible Class Union). . The Ch/airman said they were gathered i together that night under most favourable auspices, and the meeting, he was sure, would be long remembered for its spiritual uplift and blessing. They represented the I young life of .the Methodist Church of New Zealand. It had been said the Church had not been ready J/1 recognise the young life and to give the young people opportunities to display the abilities they possessed in the service of their Master But' with recent developments in work for young people this charge could be no longer made. They as the young men and young women of the Church had plenty of scope, plenty of opportunity, and plenty , of chance to use the powers they had given to them in the Sabbath school, Bible class, in the church, and everywhere, and he trusted they would live up to their opportunities and not let them pass. " The Rev. P. W. Fairclough said this was the festival of the "crown of thorns.'' and he wished to speak to them that night, on the glory and the power of the "crown of thorns." In this world, which seemed to be dedicated/so much to the winning , of bread and butter and material things. 'there, were innumerable cases of _ splendid heroism—of people wearing their crown of thorns. Looking back a little one : could see multitudes of them among the early settlers of this land. In Christchurch, when it was a village, a man kept a : general store. His stock was amazintrlv small, but bis customers were not numerous. There was no tunnel through the hill and no road round by Sumner, and it was a difficult thing.to get goods from the port. This man. having sold what he could during the day, would tramp to Lyttelton and bring back a pack of jroods. Surely that was a l ; fe of slavery. Surely life was not worth living under those conditions. Who was the man wearing that orown of thorns? The story was told of the Tate George Gould, wbp finished up as iJ>"< ruerchj"** *t Cki-istchurch, and

who was one of the most trusted and honoured men in New Zealand. And there were some before him that night, he was sure, who were wearing their crown of thorns and going through their Gethsemane. They would emerge like stars from the darknese and be men and women of grit hereafter, and as they prospered in life might they have grit, enough to stick to the Methodist. Church.

Mrs Blamires (Sister Annie), president of the New Zealand Union, who was received with hearty applause, spoke briefly upon a subject that had been much impressed upon (her mind ever since the convention! at Auckland —the need constantly for the renewal of Divine strength. It was said that some men were " too old at 40" for the positions they held. It was said that young men and young women were wanted for work. Of course, to all of them there would come a time when age would write lines on their faces oi stoop their shoulders, and they would riot have the vigour they' had to-day. The mental and spiritual strength need not fail. Their spiritual strength could be renewed from day to day. It was not necessary that with age their minds or their hearts should be less young and that thev should deteriorate in tlie spiritual part of their lives. She hoped that, as members of the Bible Class Union, as they grew older they would not only jfill the positions they filled now but other positions as well. God had griveiv them a position in the life and work of the Church, and they were thankful for it. Let" them be loyal to their Chu.rtfh and to their Bible class, but, above all,' loyal t& God.

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Sister * Nellie, Mrs Grigg. and Miss Jessie Kirk (past presidents of the union), and two vice-presidents of the Young Men's Union —the lie v. Hugh Beggs and the Rev A. B. Chappell. The Rev. Mr Chappell; who was the next speaker, said he appeared that night" as a prophet of warning. He was not a pessimist, But he believed that those who were concerned about the future of their Bible class work would be wise to think about some of the perils that might beset them. ■ There were three outstanding perils at this stage—(l) The danger of their becoming self-satisfied; (2) the danger of becoming self-centred; and (s}_Jh& danger of becoming self-sufficient. During the evening Miss Ferens sang a vocal solo and Messrs Simpson, Hopkins. Lawn, and Gordon contributed a vocal quartet. Miss Hartley presided at tibs organ. SjSATURDAY'S SPORTS MEETING. - Saturday was visitors' day at the New Zealand Methodist. Young Men's Bible Class Camp at Tahuna Park. As usual, the day was commenced with devotional exercises, led by the >B«v. F. Rands. Breakfast was followed, after : interval, by the preliminary heats in connection with the sports which were held in the afternoon. At 2 p.m. the delegates to the Young Women's Convention, also being . held in Dunedin during Easter, with their friends, arrived at the Park by special cars as the guests of the campers. A tour of inspection of the camp was made by the visitors, who were greatly interested in the very complete arrangements made by the committee for the comfort of the men.

The annual sports meeting, held in connection -.with the Bible Class movement, was then commenced. Large entries had been received, and some interesting racing and exciting finishes- added zest to the afternoon's proceedings. Mr A. H. Williams, sports secretary, and his committee, spared no pains to make the gathering the unqualified success it undoubtedly was. Messrs H. Murray and N. Anderson kindly acted as judges. All the races and competitions were decided from the same .mark, as handicapping was out of the question. Following are the results :

High Jump.—R. Fordham (Devonport) 1, J. Morris (St. Kilda) 2, W. Gibbs (NorthEast Valley), 3. Height 4ft oin. Hundred Yards.-F. Hardy- (East Belt) 1, L. Ahfeld (Central Mission) 2, Fordham 3. Time, 10 4-ssec. Half-mile.—A. Gordon (Trinity) 1, A. E. Haynes (Central Mission) 2, H. J. M'Naughton (Wanganui) 3. Time, 2min 22isec. , Long Jump.—J. Morris 1, S. Thomas (St. Kilda) 2, Fordham 3. 14ft 84in. 220 Yards.-Jlardy 1, Fordham 2, Gibbs 3: Time, 26 3-ssec. Hurdle Race--Morris 1, Fordham 2, E. "Withers (Rangiora) 3. Mile Flat.—-M'Naugton 1, Hardy 2, F. Broome (St. Kilda) 3. Time. smin 29 l-ssec. Hop, Step, and Jump. —E. O. Blamires (Central Mission) 1, Morris 2, Gordon 3. 34ft 9in. Quarter-mile. —Hardy 1, Thomas 2, M'Naughton 3. Time. 63sec. Relav Race. —East Belt 1, Central Mission 2, St, 'Kilda No. 1 3. TEA AND CONCERT: At 6 o'clock the campers and their guests assembled in the dining-room under the pavilion, and sat down to a dainty repast, the result of the efforts of the Commissariat Committee. After tea the annual speech competition and a camp concert were' held in one of the buildings, where the seating accommodation was hardly sufficient for the size of the audience. Five entrants appeared • on the platform to deal with the subject for the speech competition, " The Use and Abuse of Fiction," one of the sneakers supplying an element of humour. The Revs. Slade and Grigg acted as judges, and awarded Mr Hampden first place with 133 points, and Mr G. M. Spence (Blenheim) second with 127. The following ladies and gentlemen contributed to the, programme : —Mr Rainsford, violin solo: Miss Keppell, song; campers, quartet: Mr RoV Gordon, song: Mr H. V. Brown, mandolin solo; Mr G. M. Spence. song: Mr A. E. Lawry, recitation : Mr Gibb, song. The presentation of the trophies won during the day was made by. Mrs E. O. Bajnires and Mrs Boyes. The Rev. A. B. Chappell, who presided over the meeting, took the opportunity of chankina: the donors of special prizes ;or their gifts, and the Revs. Slade and Blamires also spoke. SUNDAY AT CAMP. Morning service, led by Mr M'lndoe, camp captain for the day, was held at 7.45, and at this meeting a paper by Mr J. H. Ford, of Wang-anui. was read. The campers attended the St. Kilda Methodist Churoh in fdrce at 11 a.m.. where the Rev. E. O. BLamires (president of the Otago Union) conducted the service. In the afternoon a model Bible class, conducted by the Rev.. A. B. Chappell

(organising secretary), took place at 2 o'clock, after which an open-air meeting,, at which Messrs S. J. Campbell, H. S. Hart (Wellington), C. C. Sandford (Christchurch) spoke, was held at the St. Kilda Band rotunda. A large crowd gathered round and appeared to appreciate the singing and speaking of the campers. In the evening the delegates marched to the Garrison Hall, where service was held at 6.30, the Rev. A. B. Chappell being the preacher. The delegates occupied the platform and led the singing, taking the body of the hall during Mr Chappell s forceful address. After the service holy communion was administered by the Revs. Slade, Chappell, and Blamires to the delegate; to both camp and convention.

WOMEN'S BIBLE CLASS UNION. Jn continuance of the gatherings conneoted with the Methodist Bible Class Union the annual meeting of the New Zealand Methodist Young Women s Bible Ciass Union was held in Trinity Church on Saturday morning. There was a very satisfactory gathering over which Mrs Blamires (nee Sister Annie) presided. The report of last convention and the balance sheet having been adopted, Miss Walton (secretary) read the annual report of the union 7 which was unanimously adopted. It war resolve.-?, that the next convention be held in Wellington, and that the New Zealasid Executive be located there. .Mrs Skmires was then elected to the position o>" for.the coming year. P \706 also resolved that a new union be. formed, to be called the Wangamu District Union, io extend from New Plymouth to Pa.lm'erston North and have Hawera as its centre. YOUNG WOMEN'S UNION. A meeting was held on Sunday afternoon in Trinity Church in continuation of the Young Women's. Bible Class Union Convention. Prior to the commencement of the service, about 150 members partook of ho-lv communion. Mrs Armitage then read an inspiring paper on " The Indwelling Christ," written by Miss Trewarthen, of Auckland. Mrs Armitage .then delivered a deeply spiritual and impressive address from the text, " What owwst thou*" Mrs Blamires, who occupied tfie chair, followed with a few words of telling appeal, which were listened to Witt deep interest by all 'present. ■ \ ' ' On Monday "afternoon the visiting delegate® were taken for a delightful ramble to the reservoir, and'then entertained at tea in Trinity Schoolroom. Following this was held a meeting for praise and prayer, which, in the earnestness of its tone, was a fitting close for the convention. At this meeting it was unanimously resolved that a petition from the N.Z.B.C.L 1 .. protesting against the non-registration of births, deaths, and marriages amongst the Maoris, be forwarded to Parliament as soon as possible. ,',»'. -■ T > It was also resolved that Miss Jessie Kay, Miss Walton, and Miss Winifred Iwtt be 'the B.C. representatives, on the Sunday School Board; also that those already acting in that capacity in Wellington be asked to continue in their positions It was also resolved that Mrs Greeni. oi CJhristchurch,. be appointed co-sub editor with Mr M'Bain of the 8.C.. page of the New Zealand Methodist Times. At the close of the gathering the delegates moved a hearty vote of thanks to the hosts who had so hospitably entertained them during their stay in Dunodin. The vote was carried with evident appreciation. The convention closed with singing a hymn and with prayer. It was omitted from the report of the business meeting that Miss MacDonald and Mis* Williams, of the Wellington L mon. had been appointed to the positions o, treasurer and secretary respectively on the New Zealand Executive. CAMPS AT TIMARU. . TIMARU, March 28. The annual conference and Easter camp of the Young Men's Bible Class Union of the Presbyterian Church are being; held at, the Timaru Show Grounds. About 200 are present from all parts of the Dominion. The conference decided that the next, camp be at Wellington, and that an extra £IUU a vear" be raised for a-.second-agent:for Bible class work, the Women s Bible Uass Union and the General Assembly to find the balance; also that the Outlook be induced to add a Bible class supplement monthly, in place of the defunct Young Man's Magazine. St. John's (Ly-ttelton) team won the championship banner. The camp breaks up to-morrow morning.