MOTHER CHURCH OF CITY CELEBRATES 87TH YEAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 419, 30 July 1928, Page 14

MOTHER CHURCH OF CITY CELEBRATES 87TH YEAR

SERVICES AT ST. PAUL’S BEAUTY OF HOLINESS With all the beauty and solemn dignity of occasion, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, mother church of Auckland, commemorated yesterday the 87th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the old church. The ceremony was performed by Captain Hobson, first Governor of the colony, on July 28, 1841. T\F.BPITE a wet morning there was D a good attendance at the early celebration of the Holy Eucharist held nt S am At this service members of the Guild of Servants of the Sanctuary a world-wide fraternity of the church made their corporate communion. The celebrant was the vicar, the Rev. Cecil A. B. Watson. At the 11 a.m. solemn high celebration the celebrant was again the vicar. The Rev. George Coats, vicar of Epiphanv acted as deacon, and Mr. r. o. _ ■ Little as sub-deacon. The service began with a long procession headed bv a crucifix and acolytes, followed by thurifers and then the priests. Tne choir brought up the rear. living epistles Tho Rev. Coats, who preached, conveyed greetings from his parish and congratulated the mother parish on tho attainment of another milestone of history. Taking the text, Wnatnoever we do do all for the glory of God ” he referred to the wide influence of St. Paul’s throughout the diocese. He exhorted the people to be living epistles to be read by the world. It made life immensely hard, but a iite of witness was never meant to be easy. The people of the mother church had been able to accomplish much for the glory of God because they felt the Holy Spirit working in them. A notable feature of solemn evensong was the large number of men in the congregation. Special choral music, assisted by trumpets, trombones and drums, Yyas arranged by Dr. \V. E. Thomas. A fine setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, lus own composition, was given with magnificent effect. As is customary on festal days, the Magnificat was solemn, that is, during its singing the altar was censed. The anthem was “I Was Glad” (Elvy).} “WORLD OF MONEY WORSHIP” Canon H. K. Archdall, headmaster of King's College, was the preacher. He drew a comparison with the fall of ancient Israel and the lamentations in Babylon, with the trend of the present day. “We live in a world of moneyworship,” said the Canon. "We pride ourselves on being democratic, but we are certainly plutocratic.” The desire of an easy-going happiness was a poor happiness. Pleasures to-day ended in satiety. Thousands of people believe they could build a 'Civilisation without God, but the world was not further advanced than it was in 1914. The great cataclysm of the war had not brought home a realisation that democracy cannot do without God. The sin that was besetting the civilised world was the readiness to sit down amid the ruins, as Israel did at Babvlon. fold the l ands and do nothing. Just as Jerusalem went to ruin so the crowds to-day were just as ready to throw away the valuable things of the past. As a famous French writer said, the world is without roots. “Because it is without roots it will be without fruits,” said the preacher. There was a Jerusalem in every parish church. Religion must not be allowed to become merely something to titivate and amuse the people in groups or as individuals, but must be of that stern stuff that made them men and women of the world in the best sense. After a procession similar to that of the morning, solemn Te Deum of thanksgiving concluded the service.