THE CHURCH

Southland Times, Issue 21073, 3 May 1930, Page 12

THE CHURCH

NEWS AND NOTES. FROM PULPIT, AND PEW. I The Rev. S. Bailey will conduct both services at St. Peter’s Church on Sunday next. A hearty welcome is extended to all. The World’s Student Christian Federation has a membership of, 300,000 students. Such a fellowship means immense possibilities for the future of the world. Presbyterian Churches in some of the smaller Scottish towns are now kept open daily, from 10 a.m. till dusk, during which time they are available to the public for prayer and meditation. In the course of a recent lecture on the New Testament in Glasgow University, a professor mentioned that when the authorized version of the Bible made its appearance in 1611 it met with violent opposition. Many people did not wish the existing versions to be superseded. The services at the Esk Street Baptist Church on the Lord’s Day will be conducted in the morning by the Rev. J. Carlisle. The evening service will be a united memorial service to the late Rev. R. Robertson. The preachers will be the Rev. Stanley Jenkin, of Dunedin, and the Rev. J. Carlisle. Mrs Schroeder will sing “Crossing the Bar.’’ The Revs. C. N. Lack and H. S. Conway, of the China Inland Mission, who have been addressing meetings throughout New Zealand arrive in Invercargill to-night and will conclude their campaign by services and farewell meeting as advertised. Mr Lack leaves Bluff for Australia on Monday night.

An executive committee, with the Earl of Mar and Kellie as chairman, has been elected in Edinburgh in connection with a memorial to the late Anglican Bishop of Edinburgh, Dr Walpole. It is proposed to raise £lO,OOO to provide the memorial. Dr Walpole was at one time vicar of St. Mary’s, Parnell, where his son Hugh, the well-known novelist, was born. Mrs Constable, co-minister with her husband of the Unitarian Church, Auckland, is the only ordained woman minister in New Zealand. There are three Unitarian Churches in New Zealand, one in Auckland, one in Wellington, and one in Timaru. The Auckland Church, which, with the Wellington one, is a regular ministerial charge, was founded some 30 years ago. The first minister, the Rev. William Jellie, who was the incumbent till 1910, is still living in Auckland.

A recent writer on the subject of the woman minister remarks that women have now entered most of the professions, and it seems not a little strange that the Church, a sphere in which, of all others, their influence might be felt most advantageously, should remain closed to them. The Church, she says, is still rather afraid of making innovations, being inclined to hark back to the advice of St. Paul, instead of adapting itself to the changes of the times. Is the time not come, she asks, for it to rid itself of some of its more conventional ideas and superstitions?

There were largely-attended young men’s and young women’s Bible Class camps near Auckland week-end. No fewer than 300 young men were in camp at Pine Island in connection with the Methodist Churches, and 60 at Rawene, while a number of young women were in camp at Paerata and Te Kopuru. The Presbyterians spent the week-end at ■ Hunua, close to the falls, Pukekohe and Whakatahe. The Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rev. George Budd, conducted the morning service at Hunua on Easter Sunday, and the Rev. D. C. Herron the evening service. On Saturday evening Mr R. A. Falla, who has just returned from the Antarctic, gave the young people an interesting talk on his experiences.

A river is constantly, sedulously seeking the shortest way to the sea; that is its aim. But to arrive at the sea, it must have great volumes of water —otherwise it disappears in the sand. So the life of man is constantly seeking experience, to give it great strength that will guide it, which will urge it towards that which is free, which is eternal, which I call liberation or any other word which you like to use. If you have that purpose which is liberation, which is the poise between reason and love, which is the incorruptibility of the self, of the mind and heart out of which are the issues of life, that, to me, is the standard which is eternal. Experience, which knocks at your door every minute of the day, has value. Desire is all the time seeking experience because that is its way of fulfilment, so you cannot kill desire. Experience is all the time waiting, anxious that you shall utilize it and thereby destroy your limitations and be free. Because if you are not free there is no bliss, no serenity, but constant strife, and whatever you do only adds to the confusion, to the chaos which exists in the world.—Mr J. Krishnamurti.

The jubilee of the Methodist Church in the Port of Bluff will take place to-morrow and on. Monday next. The .spirit of gratitude prevails for the good work faithfully performed these many years by a large number of devoted men and women. The preacher all day will be the Rev. George Clement, now of Dunedin, who was over 40 years ago a Primitive Methodist minister stationed at Bluff. Many old-time friends are expected Jo gather for worship in the old church. The choir will sing at both services suitable anthems and some old choristers will be taking a part. After the evening service the Lord’s Supper will be commemorated and a cordial invitation is I extended to visitors and friends who may be now attached to other churches to share in this form of Christian fellowship. A jubilee gathering for devotional and social purposes gives opportunity to review and if found ' necessary to readjust one’s work. Those who are privileged to lay the foundations of a church or any worthy institution and live to see the “issue of their toils” Lave much cause to rejoice in the production of Christian character and in guiding the course of human conduct and affairs. In the final analysis this is the test of any institution and of all service. What effect will this have on the next generation ? Will it survive the shock of time? 2k complete and satisfactory" answer will be manifested at the jubilee celebrations on Sunday and Monday. The banquet in the Town Hall is of a public character and tickets are on sale the proqjeds of which will be applied to the renovation fund.