GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23346, 1 November 1945, Page 4

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Presbyterian Church Retirhig Moderator’s Address (N.Z.P.A.) INVERCARGILL, Oct. 31. The first to be held in Invercargill for 26 years, the annual conference of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church opened to-day and will continue until next Wednesday. There are between 300 and 400 delegates from all parts of New Zealand, including women delegates to the annual conference of the P.W.M.U. The opening addresses were given by the retiring Moderator. Mr T. C. Brash, and the new Moderator, the Rev. W. J. McKenzie.

■There is a spirit abroad to-day which tends to have a deadening effect on deep spirituality. I refer to the demand for personal security,” said Mr Brash. They saw the social security movement firmly entrenched in New Zealand and spreading steadily all over the world. They could not condemn what had been and was being done, but neither could they be blind to the dangers in it. They could bring about changes in material things which were entirely good, but the effect on the spirit of man was a long process. The social security movement had its counterpart in the demand which he had personally supported among primary producers for a guaranteed price. With much justification there had arisen a recognition of the hardships of those who earned their living from the soil. They were at the mercy of fluctuating markets which had brought many to ruin. In the United Kingdom and all parts of the Empire there was growing up a system which would give producers a price which would enable them on the average, to continue producing and at the same time maintain the fertility of the soil. Every farmer who was present would no doubt say that was right and justifiable. Maybe that was so. Personal Security “What is it that brought about the sweeping victory of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom in the last election?” Mr Brash asked. “Just that very demand for personal security, not for national security. They all worked and fought for that and the leadership had been good. But the war had receded from the shores of Britain. They were giving thought to the ‘afterwards? They remembered, many of them, the hardships following the last war, unemployment and the years of depression. They decided, those millions of workers who had worked so strenuously during the war, that they would be safer with a Labour Government. Please do not misunderstand me. This is not a statement on political issues, but a question of motive. Security is, perhaps, a good thing, but what about the long view? Christ did not promise that we would be safe and secure on earth—the very opposite.” Mr Brash added that the conference held in Christchurch this year under the auspices of the National Council of Churches had spoken on the question. It had declared that while there was much in economic conditions even in New Zealand which was a hindrance to the full and free development of human personality, yet man in the development of that personality was answerable to God. Tire conference said, in effect, that it was the Gospel and not any kind of social gosnel which was the salvation of the world even in view of the economic situation. What was needed was not primarily Christian programmes but real Christian communities in which the spirit of God was a living force. Genuine faith and love which arose from such faith was the only creative and regenerating force in the sphere of economic ethics.