GOLDEN JUBILEE SERVICES

Southland Times, Issue 24368, 24 February 1941, Page 7

GOLDEN JUBILEE SERVICES

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH There were excellent attendances at the fiftieth jubilee services of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, South Invercargill, yesterday. The morning service was conducted by the Moderator of the Otago and Southland Synod, the Rev. C. J. Tocker, and the evening service was conducted by the Rev. A. T. Thompson, of Masterton, a former minister of the church. In the afternoon a special children’s service was conducted by Mr Tocker.

In the morning service Mr Tocker took as his text the words from Leviticus, chapter 25, verse 10: “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.” Mr Tocker outlined the provision in the Mosaic law for the observance of the 50lh year. This was to be a Sabbatical year of rest for the land and the people. It was to be a year of remembrance, of thanksgiving and jubilation, of returning to restoration, of social and economic readjustment; all this was to be a preparation for a new beginning. Mr Tocker went on to speak of the jubilee of St. Andrew’s congregation. He referred to the past 50 years as a convincing witness to the value of the church in the world. He spoke of those 50 years as a witness to the value of those spiritual and timeless realities which it was the church’s vocation to minister to the world. Mr Tocker also spoke of the testimony of those years and to the poweiof Christ to satisfy the needs of different ages and different persons. In the evening service Mr Thompson used as his theme the words, “Andrew, follow me and I will make you.” “These words,” said Mr Thompson, “were frequently on the lips of Jesus and may well be regarded as a summary of all He ever said and, indeed, all He says down through the ages today.” They were celebrating the 50th :■ annual celebrations of the foundation of their church, but St. Andrew’s; did not begin then. It began by the peaceful shores of the Lake of Galilee. Jesus had said to the fishermen, "Follow me” and that was the beginning of the great adventure, the greatness of which Andrew himself could not foresee.

"It was the beginning of a movement in an obscure outpost of the great Roman Empire and it was a movement which subdued and outlived the great empire itself,” said the speaker. “It was a movement which is destined to subdue all empires until the Kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.

“It began as a young men’s movement in which Andrew, the first home missionary, introduced his brother Peter to the Master,” said Mr Thompson. “Jesus makes the men that make the movement and so a new order in the world is brought to pass.” Andrew had gone on to become the first foreign missionary, introducing the Greeks to Jesus. He was also the first Christian social service worker.