MINISTER’S FAREWELL

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 987, 2 June 1930, Page 16

MINISTER’S FAREWELL

THE REV. D. C. HERRON TRANSFER TO DUNEDIN The Rev. D. C. Herron, who has been called to the pastorate of Knox Church, Dunedin, the largest Presbyterian church south of the Line, preached farewell sermons in St. David’s yesterday before very large congregations. The attendance at the Communion service in the morning constituted a record. Preaching his final sermon from the text: “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching unto those things which are before,” Mr. Herron said they would realise that another epoch in the life of St. David’s Church was closing. He had come there fresh from the war which had, as in the case ol' so many others, cut his life in two and turned its current in another direction. He had been working as a railway clerk when he felt the call to enter the ministry, and although he was older than the average student at the time he had made up his mind that he would not undertake the great work until he was properly equipped, and to that end had spent eight years at college. At the end of that time he had hoped to devote himself to the scholastic side of religious work and with another New Zealand student had arranged to spend some time at a German university. However, their entry into Germany was much later, and in very different circumstances from those they anticipated. END OF CHAOS After dealing with the events which led him to St. David’s and the course of his ministry there, Mr. Herron said there was evidence that the period of chaos into which tile world had been plunged by the war was nearing its end and the reconstructive period was beginning. With that was coming a fresh realisation that man is a spiritual being. St. David’s congregation had all the organisation and equipment to face that epoch, but they must remember that it was the spirit alone that could give it life. They must not be content with their past achievements but ever press forward. He recalled that the first sermon he had preached in that church was on the words: “Where there is no vision the people perish,” and he would like to end on the same note. “You worship here on this hilltop looking down on a great city,” he continued. “Your church stands at the gateway through which the tide of its population daily surges. This very building is a constant testimony to thousands of your belief in God. It commands a wide prospect and you who gather here to worship should be able to vision and idealise. Tonight at the parting of the ways I look down the stream of the future years and trace the influence of those who have here heard the call of Christ. A NEW BROTHERHOOD “I see men who will forget their own aims and interests in the task of guilding the affairs of this beautiful city and the wonderful land God has given to us; men whose names will be honoured, whose motives are above reproach, men who will fear God and know no other fear,” said Mr. Herron. “I see business men who will have learned here new standards of commercial integrity and who will take into city marts a new sense of brotherhood between master and man. I see doctors, who, following the spirit of the Great Physician will pour out their strength to aid humanity. I see teachers who have gained their inspiration from the Great Teacher and who, whether they labour in lonely backbloek schools or in great city colleges will carry with them that spirit. I see missionaries in far-off lands who have gone out to plant the banner of Christ through scholarships provided by this congregation. “I see little childi-en looking at the names of those who died in the war which we have written in marble on our walls, and growing up to struggle for the better life for which our soldiers gave their lives. When I think of the influence this church will exert on the life of the community I am proud that I, too, have been a St. David’s man. It is possible for all of us to lift life to a higher level. So live that St. David’s will be all that I have tried to show you tonight. Press toward the mark for the prize of the calling of Cod in Christ Jesus,” Mr. Herron concluded. ENTERTAINED AT TEA

Before the evening service the Sunday school and youth organisations entertained Mr. Herron at tea. Miss J. Hyland, president of the district committee of the Bible Class Union, presided. Representatives of the main and branch Sunday schools, and of the district committee, expressed thenappreciation of what Mr. Herron had done for the movement. As a mark of esteem, the Young Women's Bible Class presented the minister with a picture.

The congregation will say farewell to Mr. Herron at a special social in St. David’s Hall this evening. The induction service in Dunedin will take place next week, and Mr. Herron’s ministry at Knox Church will commence on the following Sunday. The Rev. D. Scott, of Onehunga, will be in charge of St. David’s during the vacancy. TOUR OF HOLY LAND IMPRESSIONS OF VISITOR At the Balmoral Presbyterian Church last evening, Elsie Lincoln Benedict, noted lecturer and writer, gave a descriptive address on “What 1 saw in the Holy Land.” Bible class members, with their leaders, together with the Sunday School teachers, were present in large numbers, and profited as a result of the interesting and descriptive talk given by one who had toured the country where Jesus had lived. For more than an hour the speaker held the close attention of her large audience, as she described the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, Bethany, Bethlehem, Capernaum, Tyre and Sidon, the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. Mrs. Benedict took opportunity to bring home many lessons drawn from the incidents of Jesus. At the conclusion of the service 500 copies of a poem. “The Garden of Grief.” written by the speaker, were distributed. The Rev. William Gilmour, who conducted the service, thanked the lecturer for the contribution she was making to the life of the City, and particularly to the district of Sandringham. He advised every one to bear the free lectures to be given in the Town Hall concert chamber, beginning on Tuesday evening.