ST, PAUL'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 23 November 1899, Page 2

ST, PAUL'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

ANNIVERSARY TEA MEETING ANL CO .N CERT. Tire anniver-ary tea meeting aud concei-i in connection with St. Paul's l'resbyteiiai. : Church ..Was held in St. Pau.'s Hall lasl tvening, when there was a large attend ance, not only ot parishioners, but of tli. ' general public. The tables, seven iv num ber, were tastefully decorated with finwcr.etc, and loaded with the choic*. st viands, everyone exnressing them^e.ves as heartih pleased with the abundance of good thing--set down for their delectation. The tablet were presided over by the i'o lowing ladies, who were most'attentive to their gusets :- No. 1, Mesdames Grant, Brechin, Aii he i and McFarlane ; No. 2 (bachelors' table) Mrs Forbes and the Mi-ses Caiman ; No 3, Mesdames Tucker, McLeod and Bridge and Miss Thompson; No. 4, Mesdamc*; lei guson and Redmond, and Mis.ses Keen ano McLaren ; No. 5, Mesdames Ryburn, Fore man, Bell and Innes. No. 6, ladies of th* choir ; No. 7, Mesdames Alexander am Greig, and Misses A'fx-inder and Frusei After fuil justice had beeu done to the gou^ things on the tables, and the necessary clearing up had been finished, a commence ment was made with the programme whici i had been prepared. The first item on th programme was an antnem, very plerdng'j rendered by the choir, entitled "If ye lov*. ■Me." The Rev. R. M. Ryburn then deli vered an interesting address, clustering hi, words arpund three words — "Enthu-iasm Moderation, ami Co-operation." "It seemec to bim that no good work was possible ir a church where there was no enthusiasm. We might be praising this one or Ihat ont as being A good worker, when, our own hearts nre cold and destitute of enthusi 'asm. As to the second thing, it might, perhaps, appear to- be almost a contradic tion of terms,, but what he meant to sa) was that we ought to find out what work we could best do, and go on with a steady purpose, without fitfulness and desire fo: constant change. As regards co-operation, there was, he thought, no good work po? sib,le withont it. It took our angu'aritiei and roughness- off, and taught us to put up with our neighbours' peculiarities. Heaven he thought, would be the perfection of co operation. He had to thank the congregation for the hearty manner in which he haebeen supported, and he hoped that vc should go on with purpose and cnthusiasn. to the work of another year. Mr Andrew? then sang "The Holy' City," which wa? greatly appreciated. Mi,** Blair receivo? an undeniable encore for her rendering of the somewhat difficult! song "Cleansing Fires," and responded by singing the last verse. The Rev. H. Peters was then eallet; on, and delivered an address on Foreign Missions. He eu'ogised the kindne-i of St Paul's congregation in,, placing their ha!' for the use of Uie Baptist Conference on | the evening of Wednesday last. With re gard to foreign missions," he pointed out* that the. apparent failure which had attend ed missions did not in the least exonerate us from obedience to the command "Go yt into all the world and preach the Gospe to every creature." He showed by quotations from governors in, India and othei mission stations that missions are the say j ing of the peoples to whom they are sent He hoped that the Presbyterian boys whe were beforehim were going to be the sue I cessors of those who are now on the mis sion, field. When people criticise foreigr missions ' as; if they were impoverishing j home work they lost sight of the fact that ! foreign missions are the grandest guaran tee for home mission work. Misses. Arm strong, for theft' beautiful duet, "LifeV Dream is O'er," were encored, but did noi respond. The?. choir sang in fine style an anthem, "In Humble Faith," a pleasinr. feature of which -was a solo by Miss Mag gie Byres. The Rev. G. Bond gave a char acteristic address on Equality. He did not wish to advocate deacl level equality, be cause socially and intellectually there wasthe utmost inequality. But in the sight ol God every human soul was of absolutely the same value. Time was when the squire and his family and other notables were served first at the "Lord's Table, and the artisans and labourers had to wait til theii betters were served. But that "time hat' gone by. Aiid now in New Zealand we have political equality, and we have educa tional advantages which are free to all. A book which- he would recommend to all waslCitld's "Soci;t! Evo'tttion.'' What did the author of that book put tlown as the cause of the immense social improvement (which was nothing short of an upheaval)': It was Christianity. It was that which had levelled distinctions and. lifted the downtrodden." wished tfie congregation every prosperity and many happy returns of theii anniversary. Mr Rollingson sans "Tht Children's Htome," and Miss Roberts rendered the beautiful ballad "The Land o' the Leal." Mr A. D. Thomson was encored for his song, "Now comes the Springtime," and respontled- with a verse of "Hark the Lark." After the choir had sung the anthem "Lift up your Heads," the Benediction, pronounced by . the Rev. G. Bond, brought a pleasant meeting to a, close.