The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30,1946. PRESBYTERIANISM

Wanganui Chronicle, 30 October 1946, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30,1946. PRESBYTERIANISM

IN the thirteen years since the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand met in Wanganui the world has experienced depression and prosperity, has skirted the rocks of disaster to enter more peaeeftd waters. The Assembly to-day confronts a world entirely different in kind and in character from that which it faced then. It would be interesting to know the extent to which the Churches have influenced the trend of events. Have they modified the asperities of life, cushioned the shocks of disaster and inspired high endeavour? If they have, to whom is the credit due? If they have not, why the failure?

On the occasion of the previous visit of the Assembly to this City “The Chronicle” wrote:

“The atmosphere of Wanganui is particularly devoid of sectarianism. It may almost be said to be non-existent; for the people are looking more forward than backwards. Sectarianism seems to thrive-with those who occupy their time more in looking backward over the path of history than in looking forward in wistful endeavour to discern the prospect of achievement. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the past has nothing to tell to the present. No one who appreciates the trend of events of to-day would assert such a thing. The past has much to teach, but the past should be studied in order that the future may be approached with greater sureness of touch.”

It is as true to-day as it was then that sectarian strife finds no place in this community, and in this it is not unique in New Zealand. This is evidence that the churches nave been in the hands of wise men who have been aware of the past but w]io have been concerned to build a better future. The Great Depression, from which the world was emerging in 1933, was an experience which has not yet been forgotten: but it is to be remarked that the outcome of that experience is a keener appreciation of the corporate responsibility of the community for the individual. Would that impulse towards placing welfare before wealth have operated so strongly had the seed not been in the ground when the springtime of economic revival came round once more? That seems to require no proof, nor does the fact that it was the Churches which implanted that seed. It is in essentially Christian communities that human welfare has been placed in the forefront of community objectives, and where church influence is strongest there the impulse has been greatest. During the war recently brought to a close there was no false enthusiasm. The people met it with a grimness that found no parallel in the years of 1914-1918. Realistic thinking prevailed. There were no music-hall ballads, no effigies at which to jeer. Yet there was no faltering in the face of the ordeal. It is difficult to imagine a world in which no religious impulse exists, but who can say that the world would have weathered this second storm in the lifetime of one generation without the consolation of religion? If is .significant that the one great irreligious nation in this modern world is the most fearful of the post-war situation and has to be assured that those who helped to save it from the invader do not wish her destruction. Can this lack of confidence be attributed to the faith it has put in propaganda and mass production as means of salvation? It is a tenable theory, to say the least.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in his address was able to paint an entirely different picture of conditions in modern China. There the conflicts of sectarianism have been decently buried and the larger idea of a Christian China under native direction has been made manifest in the Church of Christ ki China. That which can be achieved by missions in China can be done by Churches in New Zealand, and to a degree not generally appreciated has already been accomplished. The Christian message was carried to China where it displaced Confucianism and Buddhism. In New Zealand the Church was the result of many streams flowing down through different historic channels. None has been enriched with a greater heritage than the Presbyterian Church. From the tremendous personality of John Knox it inherited a theory of the Christian Ministry to which the. world is turning more and more, basing its justification therefor in the New Testament wherein is to be found warrant for only one “order” of Ministry. But the great strength of Presbyterianism lies in its power to employ its laymen. It does this because it gives them status within the government of the Church. Only recently a layman was elected to be the Moderator of the Church in NBw Zealand. The Presbyterian could never contemplate such a phase as “Church and People,” for he knows that the people are the church. It is for this reisoti that Presbyterianism remains racy of the soil on which it lives and inspires the national life in high measure. Prcsbyt eran ism to-day has a great opportunty and it is fulfilling that mission in New Zealand in a manner that is commendable. For that reason the proceedings of its General Assembly are important public- business, meriting the attention of those who belong to other folds, or to none. In some quarters there is a desire for a greater union of the churches in this Dominion. There is now a general accommodation which effects much that union could hope to achieve without losing those historic impulses which enrich the various streams that flow into a general confluence. Heritages are not lightly to be laid aside and to this historic heritages are no exception. Presbyterianism has strong reason for clinging to that which has come down to it from the past. Long may it prosper in its present way.