CHURCHES LEARNING TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

Wanganui Chronicle, 31 October 1946, Page 6

CHURCHES LEARNING TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE

The existence of the Inter-Church Council had led the Government to realise that the churches were learning lo speak with one voice and were worthy of consideration, said the Rev. P. G. Hughes (Wellington), moving at the General Assembly of tile Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in Wanganui last night that the report of the Public Questions Committee be received.

The Inter-Church Council consisted of all churches in New Zealand, including the Catholic Church, and had already given invaluable service, Mr. Hughes added. Ministers of the Crown and heads of Government departments had been approached on various questions and on every occasion members of the Council had been treated with great courtesy. “We did not get all we asked for, but we were always well received,” said Mr. Hughes. The Public Questions Committee t)f the Presbyterian Church worked in close co-operation with the InterCouncil of Churches and would main, tain even closer relations in future.

Earlier in his address, Mr. Hughes said the Public Questions Committee of the Presbyterian Church had a range which was not limited in any way. It was supposed to deal with every subject under the sun and members of the committee were under no delusions regarding their own limitations. The subjects which the committee had been invited to deal with, and which were dealt with in the present repot t, ranged front atomic energy to the conduct of funeral directors and ministers at burials.

One of the presbyteries had asked the committee to look into a bool: entitled “Mothercraft.” It was stated that on page 29 here was a paragraph dealing with baptism, but after a careful look through the latest edition no mention was found of this subject. There was no reference to an earlier edition and nothing to indicate that the Plunket Society subscribed to the doctrine of baptisimal regeneration. Mr. Hughes added that another question for the committee came from

Auckland. It was suggested that there was a growing tendency for contempt of the law. and greater use of direct action. The Church was asked to make a pronouncement on the ethics involved. The committee felt, however, that it could take no definite action on such a question. Passing resolutions would not save the world. The only way to deal with such a matter was by drawing a deeper appreciation of Christianity. "There is a tendency to use direct action and it is intolerable that the foreign or domestic policy of any Government should be dictated to by a section of the community,” said Mr. Hughes. Any Government which did not stop such a thing would ultimately cease to exist as such. Mr. T. C. Brash (Wellington) said that many of the recommendations made by the Public Questions Committee were accepted almost in their entirety. "We ate moving ipward definite unity among the churches,” Mr. Brash added.