METHODIST CONFERENCE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13372, 14 January 1907, Page 7

METHODIST CONFERENCE.

The Conference adjourned at 4 •'clock on Saturday afternoon. OPEN AIR MEETING. There was a large concourse of people at the corner of Broughamstreet on Saturday night, when an open-air service was heldi The Salvation Army joined in the service, and the collection taken was on behalf of their funds. The speakers included ministers,, laymen, and Salvationists, all delivering earnest and appropriate discourses. OPENING ,OF TE HENUI CHURCH. On Saturday jthe opening services in connection with the new church at Te Heriui, which has been erected on the site of the old building, were oreachecL- There was a very large congregation a;t the morning service, all the available aecq'mmodation.being requisitioned. The pulpit' was- occupied by tlie President of tlip Conference, (Rev. C. E. Ward). The preacher; expressed himself ai very pleased with the new churcl and its surroundirgs, and said thei belonged to the rrost live, church ir New Zealand ; that was if !the censu* was of any value. The Primitive Methodist, Church, -according to the returns^ was iWrr/bst vigorous in the colony, and;he.'Varited them lo keef up tjie record of t their own church a1 Fitzrby,notoh!y 6n the opening day but (throughout the week^ihe year always.' They were on the spot oi the old founders, and he urged them to give their prayers for the ministers, the church, the Sabbath schoolteachers, and for an onwaid movement in God's cause in their midstHe took forhis-textthe/nd Epistle of Peter, Ist chapter, 15th verse.. " Moreover, I will endeavour that you may be able, on my decease, to have those things always in remembrance." He need not teil them they were on an historic spot. It was an historic land mark, especially to their own Primitive Methodist Church there. There was rock ed'the cradle of Methodism.. in. New Zealand,, It was there the first Primitive MethodJsfrGtarch was>; built in the colony — not the first church worshipped in. however. The first crurch was that .of the Eatly. Bible Christians, who landed 'ovefv'fthteir t uilding to his father,' as representing the Primitive 'Methodists. There laboured an 4 worshipped the founders of tfyeir connection, men who gave the'strongest years of their lives to .t&e cause. 'Their labours had not been in vain. .Their colony was only youfigi and iyet there we're departed from their .■midst men wbese memory would •never die. * The influence of these Tnen was not going to die. It was the names of the wicked that would rot, But the names of the just would be held jn r everlasting remembrance, fit was his (the preacher's) association with the old*«eh»rch there that 1,-was one of the great factors in the moulding of his life, of his chaiacter. "{The only way they could show their gratitude to these noble men and gracious .women was by honest endeavour to imitate their example. VHepai^JsL'high tribite tothemesnory tof the " late Sir William Fox, and. ■speaking- of the . latter years of his life, said what a noble thing he did gathering together^ all his experience his eloquence and influence, and placing them on the side of the drink-sodden ones. Fox saw the . working of the drink evil, of this social fiend. He saw it converting rational men in the course of time into lunatics, setting loose the wildest passions whicn generate all crime, an 4 made .aeigbfyourhoods , unfit for peaceful men and women; He sawwives made worse than widows, and children worse than orphans, 1 he saw the drink traffic in its deadly consequences to the -best interests of society. To him the publichoujue? was the college for the making oi drunkards. ! Special hymns were sung wr& raueh Heartinessj led by an efficient choir, and the cellection was on behalf of the building fund. TJie evening service was conducted by the/ Rev. W-S. Potter. ~Sp.eciaJU.-seJ^ices were held at Queen-street, iadjn the irorning the pulpit was occupied- by the Rev. J. B. Olphert, who preached from the text," Christ our Passover." In the course of his sermon he said, the Passover represented a new era both for the nation and fcr the individual. By the separation^ the Lamb the} were taught that holiness was deserved by God, and that they must give to Him of their best. The flesh of the lamb was to satisfy and give the Israelites strength for theii journey, just as Christ alone strengthens and satisfies! their life. The Passover was to be eaten in families, so they must learn that religion must be fostered in the home that it may spread in ever widening circles tc society, and also to the nation. , It had been arranged for a camt meeting to be held in the Re,creatjcr. Grounds in the afternoon, but owing to the unfavourable weather an a] fresco meeting, was out of the ques tion, and it was held in the Queen street Church, the Revs. J. Dawson E. Drake, and Messrs Huffey art E. W. Hall taking part. The evening service was conductec by the Rev. W. Laycock, assisted ty the Rev. J. Dawsgj^ s subjec was chosen from EpheSus i. 2, *' I] Whom we have redemption througl His blood the forgiveness of our sin. He saidlthat people underestimate

the fact of sin. Many different viewsof sin are held,. some denying its ex istence altogether. But sin is a fad that cannot be denied. The Bible says that sin must be punished, thai whatsoever a man soweth that sbal he also reap. Nature teaches the same lesson. Scepticism speaks U the same effect. It declares that sii must be punished. Retribution an< pardon seem to conflict, but they cai be reconciled. The Bible prove: tjhat sin can be pardoned. This i: opposed by scepticism. But th< Bible is the JBook- of Hope. It an nounces pardon for all. Nature pur sues the sahie method. Society, b> its practice, shows a dispositioj to forgive, , and the love of Go< is simply a larger love than that o. Society. Love always means the apacity for .suffering, and God in thi death of Christ shows, that in Hin this capacity enabled Him to redeen mankind and v make forgiveness pos sible. . The Rev. ,G. H. Maiari conductec the after meeting. :