PRESBYTERIANISM.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 872, 25 November 1916, Page 14

PRESBYTERIANISM.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY. Press Association. WELLINGTON, November 24. At the Presbyterian General Assembly this evening the report on Maori missions was given in by the Rev. A. Douall. Work is carried on ■at Taupo by the Rev. H. J. Fletcher, at Taumariinui by the Rev. J. E. Ward, and Sister Alison, and at Nilhaka by Sister Jessie and Miss Walker, •while the Maori Girls' School at Turakina is under the management of Mr Hamilton. Reference was made to the eager desire the Maoris show for religious services and their appreciation of the work of the missionaries. The deaconess's labour was chiefly among women and children. A Sunday school was built at Matapuna as the result of gifts from the children of the Church. Mormonism is one of the chief obstacles to successful mission work. At the Turakina Maori Girls' School there were 22 pupils, whose work received the commendation of the Inspector of Schools of the Wanganui Education Board. A very interesting service was then conducted, when Miss Walker and Miss Henry were ordained, and set

apart to work as deaconesses, after which Miss Walker addressed the Assembly. A report on social service work was presented by the Rev. A. Cameron. In the four large centres of the Dominion there are homes for children, in which 317 are cared for, and the agent in each centre does most useful work in the Juvenile Court. Fifty-five of the boys are now at the front, and six have laid down their lives for the Empire. Mrs Mills, matron of the Wellington Orphanage, gave an interesting account of local work, and the Revs. F. Rule, R. Inglis, and E. A. Axlesen also spoke for Christchurch, Auckland and Dunedin respectively.