Church Work and Life

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 727, 29 July 1929, Page 14

Church Work and Life

Messages from the Pulpits

SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY LACK IN YOUNG PEOPLE APPEAL BY ARCHBiSHOP “Probably the greatest thing lacking in-young people today is a sense of responsibility.” This view was expressed by Archbishop Averill in addressing a large j number of members and associates of • the Girls’ Friendly Society in the : course of a festival service in St. j -Matthew’s Church last evening. The ! rvice was conducted by the Rev. Carew Thomas. “Probably the greatest thing lacking ' in the young people of today is a sense | «'f responsibility,” said the archbishop. ‘ If you have ever visited Horahora or Arapuni, and seen the way the River Waikato has been restrained and liar- j nessed and made to serve mankind, ! you will have seen there in operation | a parable of life. Perhaps you will have realised something of the truth j that the great river of moral and spiri- ; lual power needs to be controlled and > directed into useful channels. The j young life is possessed of a wonderful \ power and usefulness if only directed into the proper channels. "It is so futile to drift aimlessly j along the river of life, and then to j realise that life, with all its opportune- * ties, has been wasted. Real happi- j ness was the outcome of unselfishness | .-ind concentration upon service fpr i others. The underlying principle of 1 tiie Girls’ Friendly Society was the > responsibility of friendship, and if they • «-ould only understand that principle they would be taking the first steps t toward realising their responsibility to j the world SACREDNESS OF FRIENDSHIP “Try to value the sacred responsi- j bility of friendship, arid the fact that j the real happiness of life is not found | in selfishly pleasing ourselves, but in ! seizing and using the opportunities of ; realising the deep obligations of friendship.- ’ the archbishop continued. “Just as there are ample opportunities for us as individuals to develop thoughtfulness—and how much of the sorrow «►£ life is caused by thoughtlessness—so in such a society as yours there is the opportunity of developing the full meaning and responsibility of friendship. 1 ’ The archbishop appealed to the young people not to waste the opportunities of life, or allow the vision of life’s meaning and pin-pose to become blurred or dimmed by the cataract of self. It was one of the greatest mistakes to think that the beginning and assurance of real happiness lay in set*king to have a good time. The service concluded with the singing of the Te Deum and the Hallelujah Chorus.

ASHES LAID TO REST MEMORIAL SERVICE AT ST. MATTHEWS THE LATE REV. W. E. GILLAM The ceremony of depositing an urn containing the ashes of the late Rev. W. E. Gillam was performed by Archbishop Averill during a memorial service to the late vicar in St. Matthew's Church yesterday morning. In tho absence, through illness, of the vicar. Canon Grant Cowen, the service was conducted by Canon J. Haselden, of Epsom. The. large congregation included parishioners of the late Mr. Gillam’s second parish, that of the Church of the Ascension, Point Chevalier, and members of the Auckland District Fire Brigades’ Association, to which Mr. Gillam had been honorary chaplain. After the urn had been deposited Chopin’s Funeral March was played by the organist, Mr. J. H. Phillpot. In the course of his sermon Canon Haseldin, who was associated with Mr. Gillam in the early days of his ordination, spoke on the late vicar’s ministry. The choir sang “Crossing the Bar’’ and special prayers were said. The service concluded with the playing of the Dead March in “Saul” by the organist. SERMONS ON “TRUTH” CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCHES Adherents of Churches of Christ, Scientist, yesterday discussed the subject of “Truth,” which was the basis of tho lesson-sermon in all their churches throughout the Dominion fpr the day. The golden text was from John xvii. 11,17: “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me, that they may be one, as we are. Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth.” Among the citations which comprised the lesson-sermon was the following from the Bible: “The lip of truth shall bo established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” Proverbs xii: 19. The lesson-sermon also included the following passage from the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures,” by Mary Baker Eddy: “Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and darkness cannot dwell together. Light extinguishes the darkness, and the Scripture declares, that there is ‘no night there.’ To truth there is no error—all is truth.”