THEN AND NOW.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 4, 21 August 1911, Page 7

THEN AND NOW.

THE PEOPLE AND SPIRITUAL LIFE. GET HOLD OF THE PARENTS. “The relation of the Church to the Homo” was the title of a paper road at tlie Congregational Conferanco in Wellington on Thursday last W the Rev. M. Bawden Harris. The speaker said ho could not help contrasting the spirit which prevailed in the homes of his boyhood with the spirit which prevailed in many homes to-day. In those days one saw the family gathered together daily around urn iainiiy altar, with Scripture reading and prayer, and hymns of praise being raised to God. One really felt there was a current of worship pervading the home, not only on the Sabbath but through all the week. Then on Saturday preparations were made for the Sabbath in every department of household work. Nothing that could lie done on Saturday was allowed to remain undone. Even the Sunday dinner was cooked on Saturday, and the boy who dirtied his best boots on Saturday must needs wear them uncleaned on the Sabbath. Hence the Sabbath was a day of rest in our homes, and reverence for the

lav and its -associations was paramount. People went to ..church and

Sabbath school regularly, and looked upon these functions as duties wo ought to discharge, and did not think of shirking. How well one remembers how the younger ones had to repeat the text with 'chapter and verso while the elder ones had to tell what they could remember as the chief points of the discourse. This .patechism tended to strengthen the naqmory and promo^, j( concentration of thought. Some people nowadays contended that that style of ,training was too Puritanical and straight-laced, but certain.,}! >v;&s that people could do with a little rtiore of that . training to-day. Childreh.,should be taught f :,o he loyal to the; principles for wbjicli they stand. Another point that needed emphasising was the spirit of carping criticism indulged in before thq members of families; the sermon was dissected by the heads of the household as if they were qualified critics, .when as a matter of fact they were often totally ignorant. i ~ ; ; Discussion followed''the paper, and. the chairman, Rev. W. A. ,Evans, stressed the fact that, the great proidem now was to get hold of the parents. There was a tendency now to go “week-ending,” and instead of spending the Sabbath as it should be

spent, many people did their gardening and out-door work on that day. That sort of thing could not hut have .1 detrimental effect upon the younger people. Mr F. T. Red man, of Masterton, read the next paper on the “Enrichment of the Church Services.” He so id that the subject was one in which he was intimately concerned.. Ho had tried, to bring the subject down to the conditions and needs. There were roughly two classes, of worshippers : those who hunger and thirst liter spiritual life—for the sake of these then let men have nothing that was useless. There were the others

who recognised the need for a service which was attractive, beautiful, rad well-ordered. There was a tendency to be too indifferent to the physical comfort of our worshippers. The time had passed when it was necessary to conduct religious work in barns and other out-houses. It should be possible to make a place of worship as comfortable as a first-class railway callage or the saloon of a steamship. Regarding tbe musical part of the service tbe speaker mentioned that anthems and voluntaries could hardly be called part of divine wor-

ship. They Idled in gaps but they could nut inspire, though they might please. it was a curious fact that whereas anthems were rather inclined to leave confused impressions on the mind, soli as a rule ministered clearly co the sense of worship. A short discussion followed before the sitting adjourned.