WOMAN MINISTER.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 18025, 21 May 1930, Page 5

WOMAN MINISTER.

— I THE REV. FA. ICE LAIDLAW. VISITING SOCIAL WORKER. A prominent Californian churchwoman and social worker, the Rev. Alice Laidlaw, a relative of Mr R. A. Laidlaw, of Auckland, arrived by the Niagara from Vancouver on a visit to New Zealand and Australia (says an Auckland paper). She was the first woman to be ordained in the Presbyterian Union Community Church, and resides at Ontario, California, 35 miles "from Los Angeles. In Los Angeles Mrs Laidlaw J? known as, an enthusiastic philanthropist. She is a leading figure on the committee that manages the Midnight Mission, an organisation that assists the “down-and-outs" of the city. .Between 1400 and 2000 men are provided with meals every day by this mission, baths and clothing are supplied and shelter acorded for the night. No questions are asked of those who seek sanctuary, and all persons of all denominations are admitted. Those who organise the mission accept no payment for their services, the motive that inspires their work being an intense desire to make Christianity practical. Mr William Laidlaw, her husband, is engaged extensively in the orangegrowing industry of California. Mrs Laidlaw will go to Melbourne after a short stay in the Dominion.