BAPTIST CHURCH.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11422, 2 December 1904, Page 2

BAPTIST CHURCH.

Twenty-second Anniversary.

1 The anniversary^.^celebrations'- were con--timed and Voncluddd eVening, when," notwithstanding the inclement weather j» geedly number were present. ' , . . The iirst- item Av.ro^the^.toa, which waa' held at 6.30. Tha tables were in charge "*TTf~%fee % " following : — Mrs" '"Dewdney, -M» Gaze, .assisted by,- Miss .Thomson ; Mfl* Stevons, assisted by Mibs J. Gaze; Mrff C. A. Snow, rssisted by Mis 3N. SanoMfcj Mrs Carrad, assisted by Mrs Howe; *•*.*& Tremewan, cr/jistja^ .by* His J. Harpeig Mrs W;. J. Carsoju; assisted! by Mrs _Jar« reli;" *i£xs^trisf aj&isted-'by **Siaf <& HoraW t-l^ioloj*' fflolfc isknas *L C* 1 Barker ahcl 'Wl JO;lwresJ O;lwres assisted "by 'Mr C,' W. Gaz?. The public meeting commenced at 7JJO' and was a quite enthusiastic one. • '*•? The secretary; Mr 1 ' C. AY. Gaze, gave^H;' short account r of the ,work of the yeaf, which showed that the sChurch5 Church had made very satisfactory- progrels^ despite the aaven3e.vgircumstances^.. The Young Men.^ Bible" Class under the able leadership .of Mr J. K. Harper had grown so much. as to neceiiiitatp the erection of an adjunctit© buildiirg. Another reason why this had to be done was the large increase in meffl- . bership of the Young v Women's Bible Clasts more room having to "be made for it. On the whole there was every reasdn. for gratification. •''/'■ . ' , Th»- balance-sheet revealed: ri yxsry-. satisfactory : stafa of- affaitfii • ■•■ ' The pastor, Rev. Arthur Dewdney, in speaking to the reports, said he wished to taka the opportunity of publicly and haartily thanking the Church for the enthusiastic and zealous-, support 4t .had *c-, ; corded him, and for the exceeding generosity which prompted it to grant him a long holiday, home, besides a present of ,£SO, and paying the cost of supplies in his absence. * But for the last consideration there would have been but an infinitesimal Dr. balance to report. Next came a speech by the Rev. E. Drake who commanded, by an eloquent eulogy ,on the history of the Free .Churches and a stirring summons to, do .^tUl greater things in the future, the absorbed attention of all. He was glad to iin.ow and to acknowledge that the first ■jjcrcSption and. the first assertion of re--Tigious ffeetfoV,'.^ liberty of conscience, .caftieVirom', the- small Baptist Church in 1611', and it "had- ever since been faithful to that principle. He considered that the largest contributor to making the Empire what it is to-day was the spirit of Puritanism. < Ifrat Great statccman, John Bright »; said that the Non-conformists we're •tlie h'ope^-'of the future; and so they are now.,' Tlre^ repeal of the Education Act in Engfeq^'which was causing such bitterness and^feuch suffering; was mostly, if "not entirely," their responsibility. -It was a recurrence of medicevalism, in. that ,it invaded the realm of conscience and sought to compel "free" sien to support any pay for sectarian teaching — teaching with which Non-conformists greatly disagreed. The Liberal party was only half-lj?axted in i-bs opposition and its .Renunciation the measure; but it was being compelled by the Free Church to take up the renal of the Act as one ofits~pla'fcr forms. Earl Grey, one of the leaders of this party, admitted a day or two ago, that it was: the party's fduty. to take* ftp that attitude. ' Indeed, it would be the party's first business when it came into, power. Then the Free Churches had -[to continue the fight to the last for the cause of temperance.' "In this colony this 1 irioveV; ment was originated by the free churches,- : and small ones many, of .them; and.JMOT,... thfr larger dHSrehes.? had 4 <»ught *?**>' «f--j lection,* andt'were doing a' share ih'tnepromotioln, of th& rjighteous cause. jTh« proposition that religion should be taught in tho day-schools emanated, for the meet part, from the same mind& -'Then- also, .it* Lad, out of a sense oi repugnance, to set : ' it? face sternly against and endeavour to remedy the enormities' of injustice and social evils that so commonly prevailed. It. was for Protestants to preach and to show that me* could be all the more; manly and freer and bettor, citizens, becatj^e-^of their acceptance of, and acting, uppn^'the principle of Christianity. "Gambling /was another curse that would have ,*Jio Mac'" strenuouslsy warreJ against. •The- Christian Church had a duty to perform also in as iiuu'hiVfi possible, sweetening the relations between labour and .capital. ... Politics" should be. taken part in ariVTjkept on a high pedestal. The Calvinistic doctrine of. a, partial gospel was quite- unscriptural. The gospel was free to all men,' and not only so, but it was ior' the' salvation of the whole man. It was hyper-cailvinism that waa the cause of the recent disruption of tho Presbyterian. Churches. The Protestant Church's chief aim and destiny should be to fulfil the,; principle -that goodness is gieatness. The Eev. genthnnan concluded with a thrilling peroration, and resumed his seat amid the heartiest applause. The Eev. Eybum was the next speaker, and said that he agreed with"- Mr Drake that Plritanism was responsible |or much of the goo,d and progress that had been achieved. The timer was past for quibbling over trivial matters. The 'different denominations^ were* 'more "sympathetic with one another as was shown in. move* , ments for union. It was /most gratifying to notice, too, that the youAg people werfe T taking a greater interest in church life, and v he considered! tlMfc.one of.;the most important branches of\ church work were the Bible classes. - ,-*-•• Mr G. vCanson, ex-President, then gave an account of the recent Baptist '.Conferr ence, which was ntfcst interesting^,- Among,, numerous other matters he mentioned the proposal for "union by the Church of Christ, which was referred to a committee to report about at the next conference., Dr Charles North, the Union's chief missionary, in India, who is on furlough, was present at the Conference, and reported that the wprk was becoming so great that more missionaries were -urgently '.wanted - and hundreds of pounds more money to meet the increased demands. We regret wo cannot, by reason of shortness of space, , giveva" fuller report' ""of- Wf- Carson6'"~a'c-' 1 count, full as it was of matters ,o_f- interest. The choir rendered yety acceptably several anthems..y f "• *\ N .