WESLEY’S CLAIM HAS BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS FOLLOWERS

Wanganui Chronicle, 6 November 1950, Page 7

WESLEY’S CLAIM HAS BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS FOLLOWERS

DUNEDIN, Last Night (Special). — “Wesley’s claim, ‘I look upon all the world as my parish,* has been justified by his followers,” said the Rev. E. W. Hames, M.A., principal of Trinity Theological College, Auckland, alter he was inducted into the presidency of the Methodist Church of New Zealand. He said the Methodist movement gave religious expression to the aspirations of the depressed classes, the factory operatives, the miners and agricultural labourers who were struggling to assert their right to political freedom and social justice. “One of the healthiest signs’ in the life of the Church,” said the speaker, “was the response being made to the call for candidates for the ministry. Never in the history of Methodism in this country has there been so many promising young men ottering for the work of the ministry. Surely this is a sign of that new life of the Spirit for which we long.” Mr Hames said that although the world was full of foreboding, where men felt a sense of Insecurity In this phase of a changing civilisation, the Church, while suffering in the turmoil and unsettlement, must not echo the defeatists’ note. “Our work is difficult. We might well be depressed if the Church was a business we were running. We might think it high time to get out into something more popular. No! The last word about the Church is with God and not with man. The Gospel stands or falls with God Himself. We Christians are a stubborn lot—we reckon we have eternity on our side.”