CHURCH JUBILEE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19568, 15 August 1933, Page 9

CHURCH JUBILEE

ST. MARY’S, GERALDINE SUNDAY’S SERVICES Large congregations attended St. Mary’s Church, Geraldine, on Sunday when the jubilee services in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of the present Church were commenced. Holy Communion was celebrated by the vicar (Rev. Canon J. F. Coursey) at 8 a.m., and also at 11 a.m., when the Church was crowded. After the processional hyinn, the vicar intimated that it was but fitting on such an occasion that the Te Deum should be sung as an act of praise to God. The preacher was the Rev. O. Fitzgerald, of Christchurch, the Rev. Canon Staples Hamilton, vicar from 1898 to 1920, preaching at Evensong. Mr Fitzgerald read the Lesson at the morning service, and Canon Hamilton read Lessons at Evensong, Special anthems, hymns and psalms were sung by the choir, under the choirmaster, Mr E. White. Miss Hughes was at the organ. “I Will Remember.” Mr Fitzgerald toofc as his text, “I will remember the days of old,” from the fifth verse of the 143rd Psalm. Mr Fitzgerald expressed appreciation of the kindness of the vicar in inviting him to speak, but he really felt a fraud as he had not had any association with Geraldine other than the fact that it had been named after his father. He would not attempt to speak of the past, but would leave that to Canon Hamilton, the preacher at the evening servic, who had served them for a long period as the third vicar in the history of the parish. Naturally, he continued, they could not help but look back, and when they thought of the men who first came out to Canterbury they were proud of the fact that they were men of high ideals. They had not come out from England just to get what they could, but they were men who came out to give something in order to found a new colony. They had given it high ideals which they had conceived in their own lives, and they had got on because they had worked and deserved their reward. Their minds were full of memories of those who had lived and worked, and had been associated not only in Geraldine, but in the Church as it had been years ago. There were two ideals of life—the ideal of getting and the ideal of giving. Some people thought that the great ideal was to get, but they forgot lhat they had to give for the getting. They only had to look to Nature which gave in accordance with what It received. The ideal of getting in preference to giving was a selfish and wrong conception of life, to which they owed a certain amount of the unrest of to-day. People generally had an idea that history was only connected with great personalities, but they ought to remember that history belonged to everyone, not only to kings and great men, but to all. Their names might' not be recorded in history books or even in the newspapers, but all their actions were impressed in the hearts of others with whom they came in contact. "Footsteps in the sands of time” was a true saying as they were all making some kind of impression, and they were all making history, but the question was, what kind of history? They were all familiar with school honours boards, and what they stood for, but there were honours boards in the hearts ot all people and there was an honours board of the people of the Geraldir.e district and Church who had done good work in the past. The names might not be recognised publicly, but on the Honours Board of Almighty God. When they thought of the Church of the past they should think of themselves now, and not only of the past but also of the present, and ask what they were creating, and what would the result of their lives be on this place. Would it be good or evil? What were they going to hand on to those who came after? Our lives should be lived not only for other people, but also for God as well. Bt. Paul had said, while we have the time,' let us do good, and he had thus inferred that they should seize their opportunities. In conclusion, Mr Fitzgerald made a stirring appeal for St. Saviour’s Orphanage. As a parish they had been very kind; Geraldine had a great reputation not only for doing its duty, but, very often, for more than doing it. He urged his hearers to make it a personal matter in spite of the many calls to-day. They should take away such impressions from the Jubilee that it would not only affect themselves, but would result in added brightness and happiness for everyone with whom they came in contact.

"One Soweth; Another Reapeth.” "One soweth and another reapeth" from the 37th verse of the fourth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, was taken by the Rev. Canon Staples Hamilton, Vicar of the Parish from 1898 to 1920, as the text of his sermon at Evensong.

The Lord had spoken the words of the text at Jacob's well in the fields of Samaria when He had been speaking to his Disciples about the harvest. Even the Apostles were to be reapers as well as sowers, as there had already been preparation for them by the Prophets and by Jesus Himself; others had laboured before them, and they were to enter into those labours. They all knew how true the proverb was. For example, an inventor of an appliance which eventually proved of inestimable benefit to civilisation did not always reap a financial harvest. He passed away, and others who succeeded him reaped where he had sowed. Similarly, in spiritual matters a missionary might labour among the heathen for 20 or 30 years without securing a single convert, and die without seeing any result of his life’s work. However, others followed him and reaped the harvest of his labours. The Pioneers.

These thoughts had come to his mind, continued Canon Hamilton, when he had been asked to attend the jubilee. It had taken his thoughts back more than 50 years, and he had thought of those who had been the pioneers of the district, and especially those who had been the pioneers of the Church in this parish. He would like to mention names, but no doubt he would omit some who merited mention, and not only that, but some of them had rendered humble, patient, and faithful work. Their names were perhaps not remembered now, but they were remembered before God. When he had come to Geraldine he had followed in the footsteps of the Rev. James Preston, who had been vicar for 28 years, and, if, during the 21 years in which he (the speaker) had been in charge of the parish, he had been able to do any good whatever, it had been on account of the work Mr Preston had done previously. Mr Preston had not only been doing the work himself, but he had had a faithful band of men and women as helpers and fellow workers, who had established the church in this parish. They had had many difficulties and many hardships, but

they had achieved in order that their successors might have advantages which they did not have themselves. In Mr Preston’s time the parish had included Pleasant Point, Fairlie, and the Mackenzie Country, and to-day they thought of those long rides, and his return on a tired horse, only to secure a fresh animal and leave immediately for another part of his scattered district. Those of 50 and 60 years ago had worked sowing the seed in order that those who came after might be able to reap the harvest which they had not been able to reap themselves. “We do well to think of them, to keep their memory green, and to thank God for what they had achieved," he continued. “As the preacher at the morning service had said ‘if you have privileges you have also your own responsibilities.’ With many people to-day there was an inclination to'rest on the work of those who had gone before. Everyone had benefited from the work of those had had gone before, and as they had entered the labours of others so should they accept the responsibilities which those labours entailed. I want you to think that it is your responsibility to be working in order that you may produce a harvest so that your children and grandchildren and those who come after may find something better as a result of what you have done today. Sometimes in a parish too much was left to the vicar, but it was not simply the vicar’s duty to see to the sowing of the Word of God. Every man, woman and child in the parish were required to play their part. We all influence each other and we are all responsible for that influence. The sowing of to-day would determine the reaping of another fifty years. In another 50 years, the centenary of the dedication of the church would be celebrated, and those of that time would be looking back on what you have done, as well as the work of the first 50 years. If you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly, and if you sow bountifully you will reap bountifully. You should reap a great harvest; every bit of seed for God should produce something greater than that which we enjoy to-day. Whatever you are doing, for God, put your best into it, as otherwise you have not made a true offering to Him. We do not suffer such hardships and difficulties as the pioneers, who made it easier for us; we have many privileges which they did not enjoy. Let God see a fulfilment of the traditions they handed down and that we are carrying on." Lessons of the Jubilee. One of the lessons of the jubilee was to think of all the noble lives who held up high ideals of service while they were doing their work for God in this parish. He urged parents to take care that young people were brought up in the spirit of the lives and service which had actuated their fathers and mothers. There must be a succession of reapers and sowers, and so on from generation to generation until the final harvest came when God would gather in all who had been faithful to Him. He urged them to try to continue all that had been done for the glory of God in this parish; they should try to do more for God and His Church.