MAORIS AND CHRISTIANITY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 12

MAORIS AND CHRISTIANITY.

OTAKI CHURCH REOPENED. (Fbom Oub Own Cobbespondent.) WELLINGTON, March 21. Yesterday Was a -great.'day. among the Maoris. They had come from all the surrounding 'jOuhtry as far north as Rotorua and Te«Kuiti, -and from various settlements in the South Island, to be present at the reopening of the historic church at Otaki. There must have been more than a thousand visiting Maoris, and as most of them arrived last,, Thursday and will stay until to-morrow it is scarcely necessary Jfp- repeat the familiar phrase that accommodation was taxed to the utmost. ...'y'Raufea.wa," the "big whare in the centre; of the town, which serves as..the main.'caravanserai on 'such occasions,".' has' been, occupied.: nightly by some 400' sleepers.".: Tents ana? marquees j>re erected on' neighbouring sections. Every Maori residence has its full quota, of guests, and all sorts of improvised dormitories afford . some sort of accommodation for' the overflow. » -Nearly all •the chiefs of the Ngatikahungunu from Wairarapa Lake to - Mahia, the chiefs of the west coast as. far as Waitotara, and others from further off were among the visitors. Mi -H. W. Parata, as chief of the Ngatiraukawa, Ngatiawa, and. Ngatitoa, led the proceedings at the ceremonial welcome oh Thursday. There was more speechmaking,. yesterday morning, when the Hon. J: Carroll (Minister of Native-Affairs) was welcomed.

Mr Parata, in appropriate Maori oration, told how his people looked to the ■Church and to the Government for help.

Mohi, Atahikoia, and Rawiri also spoke, while Waotu, Te Ua, and Purakau stood. by approving ~ The speakers recalled old memories of the builders" of the church, and spoke of the great changes wrought by the light of Christianity, which dispelled the gloom and darkness in whict the people dwelt in the days when human life .was slightly .valued arid, the tribes were torn by ware. The' central event- was the solemn service in the forenoon for the reopening of the church. ■■■ The quaintly beautiful building, with its Gothic windows and its Maori structure and decorations,' was filled with a numerous and reverent congregation. Almost all, the worshippers were Mabri6, and the service was conducted entirely in their, language. Every eeat was crowded. Mien were standing around the door and women and children sat on the floor. Those who could not gain admittance settled down in groups on the grass outside. Twenty-seven clergymen, Maori and European, were present. The Rev. A. 0. Williams conducted the service. •• ■.

Bishop Williams (who recently resigned the bishopric of Waiapu) preached an impressive sermon from Ist Corinthians vi, 19-20: " Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the living God." He•. instanced the - action of the Saviour in ' casting out the money changers to show the holiness of a temple of God, and j insisted on the divine demand for personal j holiness. The Bishop concluded with a ] reference to the fact of his own advanced-■■; age. He felt that'; his- days were num-'s bered, • and it' : 'likely ''that' he would ever speak again in that place. He wished,'therefore," Jo take* the opportunity to urge his hearers to be very careful in all their actions, and not to run needlessly into temptations or evil practices such, as people were' often -led■•■;' into through their own thoughtlessness. He asked them to try to realise the great issues that were* laid 'before' 7 , every one" of them. He hoped the restoration would prove to !r a beginning of a revived interest in religion. , The afternoon service in the church j was largely attended,, ...The Bev, F*. A. i Ben not t. of ■" preached; "from the ' text, " Build up yoiu battienj.i4nts," r i(Deut., _. xxii, 8):. ' There *had -been, two churches which\';cpurd'. have been looked upon as-national churches of the Maori people. One was the church at Manutukei, and the other was the one in which they were gathered that. day. Both were. chuiv-Jies that the Maori people, took great &

pride in, and both contained characteristic productions of Maori art. The church at Manutukei had been Burnt down, and now the Otaki church only was left. One reason for that lartge gathering was affection for the work of the old people of past generations. A church, however, was of no use without a congregation, -and it was to the Maori mission work that they looked for the special efforts that would make full use of such buildings. The 100th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity into New Zealand by the Rev. Samuel Marsden would soon be here, and he hoped that one way of commemorating it would be to place the Maori parishes on a basis of. self-support, and to adopt also the principle of self-expansion. Already some of the parishes in the Waiapu Diocese had accepted the principle of making themselves self-supporting, and he hoped that very shortly all the others throughout New Zealand would.- do the same. By way of self-expansion he suggested that the Maoris of the Church in New Zealand should send a representative to work in the islands under the Bishop of Melanesia. Already a suitable Maori minister in the diocese of Waiapu hid volunteered for this service, and now help was wanted, so that he could be supported entirely by the Maoris of New Zealand. The proposal had been well taken up during a tour that he (Mr Bennett) had recently made through the East Coast districts. In conclusion the preacher made a strong appeal to the young men. There were 20 students in the college at Gisborne, but not one of them came from this district. The Church would never make progress unless they looked to the future and trained men for missionary work.