THE CHURCH

Southland Times, Issue 21431, 27 June 1931, Page 10

THE CHURCH

NEWS AND NOTES. FROM PULPIT AND PEW. The Rev. J. Carlisle will be the preacher at the Esk Street Baptist Church, ihe evening service will be a baptismal service. Everybody will be welcomed. The Baptist Union Council of England reports that there are 3178 Baptist churches in England, 406,342 church members, and 2051 ministers, besides 5521 lay preachers. According to Dr G. L. Kieffer, Church statistician of The Christian Herald (New York), the ratio of church members to population in the U.S. is 10 in 25. How can one pray without ceasing? This will be the theme of the Rev. C. H. Olds, 8.A., at the Central Methodist Church, Leet street, on Sunday morning. In the evening he will speak on “Freedom in Captivity.” The anthem will be Woodward’s “The Radiant Morn.” Has it not been said in the East: “Thou art Brahman?” Has it not been said in the West: “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect?” So splendid is the object of human evolution; man is a Seed of God, which shall grow, when sown in the soil of earth, into the likeness of God.—Mrs Annie Besant.

“A Lost Opportunity” is the title of the subject for the Sunday evening service in the Citadel, Tay street. The speaker will be Captain B. Stott, from Dargaville. The enlarged songster brigade will sing and the Citadel Band will play. Other services announced are for 7 and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. A welcome is extended to visitors.

You think that by segregating yourself in a small room you will be able to meditate. It is much easier to meditate in the open where there is life, where you come into conflict with life at every moment of the day. Do not meditate just for half an hour, but, if you are wise, make the whole day full of meditation, consideration and thought.—Mr J. Krishnamurti. Writing of the future of Sunday in England, the Church Times remarks, “Society is passing through a phase of unrest., of fidgetness, of a craving for incessant amusement ; but it is only a phase, and, when it has passed, and when conditions have been radically reformed, there will be a recovery of the ideal Sunday; of worship and praise and reflection and friendship.” Mr J A. R. Cairns, the London Stipendiary Magistrate, made a scathing attack recently on present-day literature, and spoke of many of the cinematograph films that are exhibited as nauseating and revolting. He spoke bluntly of some writers and disseminators of films as fouling civilization, an.l asserted that Hollywood was earning a reputation only second to Gomorrah.

At First Presbyterian Church the subject at the morning Diet of Divine Worship wi.l be “Lift up your hearts”—the call of the Christian faith for present-day difficulties. At 6.30 p.m. the subject at the Eventide service will be ‘They let down the anchors and prayed for the day.” The anthems selected are: Rejoice in the Lord (Elvey) and I will magnify Thee, O God” (Sir John Goss). Members and adherents are reminded that this is the last Sunday of the First Church financial year. A special musical service will be held in the St. Peter’s Methodist Church to-morrow evening. The choir will render Shelley’s “Hark! Hark! My Soul,” and Forrester’s “Softly in the Silent Night.” Mrs J. D. Campbell will sing “I will come unto Thee,” and Messrs Farley and Hensley the duet, “Watchman, what of the Night,” and Miss Cleveland a violin solo. The Rev. O. S. Pearn will conduct the service and his theme will be “The City of Twelve Gates.” The church is well heated and a welcome is extended to all visitors.

On Wednesday, July 1, in Victoria Hall their will be a great event in the history of Invercargill. Temperance workers and friends will celebrate the closing of the last 16 open liquor bars 25 years ago. Mr Malton Murray, general secretary of the New Zealand Alliance, Wellington, and the Rev. Douglas Smith, of Dunedin, .will be the speakers, the latter being the son of the Rev. Gibson Smith, at one time pastor of the First Church, Invercargill. Members of combined choirs will lead the singing and a male quartette and songs will be given, also a very striking tableau by children of the Bands of Hope has been arranged. This very charming and effective item will be given on the rise of the curtain and friends who desire to see it should secure their seats and be punctual. Mr Alan Gardiner, of Knox College Theological Hall, who will conduct the services in the Winton Presbyterian Church on Sunday, is well known in certain parts of New Zealand and Australia as an enthusiastic and efficient youth worker. As a young man in Gisborne Mr Gardiner distinguished himself in local Bible Class work until he was invited to New South Wales as travelling secretary to the Union Fellowship of that State in 1915. This position he filled with marked success until 1918, his work being then interrupted for •three years while he was on active service with the Australian Imperial Forces. In 1921 Mr Gardiner returned to New Zealand as general secretary of the Palmerston North Y.M.C.A. and in 1926 he was appointed to the position of youth director in Knox Church, Dunedin. He left to study for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, and at the end of this year he again enters the field of active work as a qualified minister in which capacity his wide experience of life should find scope to make a valuable contribution to the needs of his church. Salvation Army News. General and Mrs Higgins have just concluded a month’s campaign in the United States, during which congresses .were conducted at New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco with most encouraging results. The General was received by President Hoover at the White House, Wash ington, and was assured that the Army was considered a most valuable asset to the nation. In a Press interview the General said that revivals of religion ran in cycles, and added that times of adversity had had a beneficial effect upon the church in the past. He said that cravings of the heart were what really counted and if seeking pleasure in worldly things failed in satisfaction, people would inevitably turn to religion. Asked what he believed was responsible for the present depression throughout the world, he said he believed it the natural aftermath of the war; extravagance in the war; standards of living changed, and the cost of living going up. He concluded that' the financial disarrangement that war caused could not help but have its ultimate effect.

The new Government of Spain having declared for religious freedom, the Salvation Army is making plans for a reconnaisance of that country. General Higgins has despatched Colonel Benwell, chief secretary of France, to Spain to investigate conditions there and if it seems likely that the Army will meet with reasonable success, the work will be started at once. Up to the present opposition has proved too strong for the Army to get a footing in Spain. A Rumanian who became a Salvation Army officer in Canada recently went on a visit to his homeland. At the border he was stopped by customs officials, who never having seen a Salvation Army uniform before, took the “S” on his collar to represent “Soviet.” He had some difficulty in persuading them to the contrary. On reaching his village he was summoned to the presence of the village priest, who has even greater power in the land than a magistrate, who told him that he was “possessed of evil spirits.” Wherever he went he was eyed with wonder and suspicion and policemen and officials were always stopping him and asking for his credentials and why he wore uniform. In spite of all this, however, he held meetings, had many converts, and dedicated two comrades as the first Salvation Army soldiers in Rumania.