METHODIST UNION.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 26, 13 January 1912, Page 7

METHODIST UNION.

Tiie conference of the Primitive Methodist Church which is being held in Christchurch at present, and at which the Rev. B. Me Ison, Stratford, is present, will, says the “Lyttelton Times,!’ be one of the most important in the history of that denomination in New Zealand. The proposals that have been made for the union of the Primitive Methodists with the Methodist Church are to bo submitted for approval, and the conference will have to decide whether the labours of thirty years are to be permitted to boar fruit. The most serious obstacles to union in the past have been the dependence of the Methodist Church in New Zealand upon the parent body in Australia and the difference between tlie Primitive Methodist and the Methodist system of business control, if the use of a secular term may be permitted. Happily these obstacles have been almost removed. The reparation of the Methodist Church from Australia is on the verge of completion, and the difficulty associated with the policy of the churches has been overcome by the remarkably generous concession of those members of the Primitive Methodist body who have represented the conference in its negotiations with its Methodist friends. The joint committee of the two churches has agreed upon a basis of union, and the success of its efforts should furnish a strong argument in favour of the proposed change. The discussion of the scheme

will bo taken at an opportune i time, since the spirit of unity appears to bo at work among the. evangelical churches in many parts of the world. In our own country there is reason to hope that a joining of the forces of the Baptist Church and the Church of Christ may be effected within the next few years, and in Australia Presbyterianism and Methodism both are moving in the direction of union. Wo hope ourselves that the Primitive Methodist conference will see its way to adopt the scheme that has been prepared. The Primitive Methodist Church is a. particularly virile body and lias reasons to be proud of its fine record of achievement in Now Zealand. It cannot bo expected to give up its distinctive identity without some very righteous regrets, but we trust that its leaders will be able to discover in the proposals placed before them the promise of benefits that will far outweigh any mere, matter of sentiment. Union should be a means of strengthening both churches to continue the splendid work they have been doing for the uplifting of the community.