Home Mission Work.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume VII, Issue 1, 1 July 1916, Page 6

Home Mission Work.

(Extracts from a Paper read by Rev. J. Pigott, at a meeting of Poverty Bay Clerical Society.) I would divide my paper under two main heads — Spiritual and Practical. I. SPIRITUAL. A. General spiritual conditions of Home Mission areas. — The chief danger which people m the " backblocks " are exposed to is materialism. Often people are cut off for long periods from the means of grace, ahd with no services, no sacraments, no family prayers and perhaps no devotional life, it is not surprising that materialism flourishes. It is not that there ate

no exceptions to this, for there are; many, but the fact remains that a spiritual condition bordering upon paganism is only too prevalent where the daily life and even speech, show that belief m a God or m the. Atonement or m a hereafter are matters of no concern. It is a cause for thankfulness, however, that even m the remotest corners there are devout Christians, men and women living most devoted lives who are an inspiration to all who are fortunate enough to come m contact with them. Besides materialism there is also another difficulty to deal with^undenominationalism. If a ny religious services are to be maintained it is almost inevitable m some parts that with the infrequent visits of ministers people should attend sometimes one kind of service and sometimes another, resulting m a kind of non-descript religion which must be more keenly felt as the generations go on. B. Methods of Work.— The hardest work of all is to keep up one's own spiritual life at a high level. Learning to be m the world yet not of the world is one of the most difficult lessons to learn. We are bound to carry out the command, 44 Feed My sheep." One of the best ways to do this seems to be to keep the names of all the devout people whom l it is impossible to minister to regularly m one's private Book 0 f Devotion, and to try to visit them even m the most remote parts three times a year, and, if communicants, administer the Blessed Sacrament to them. It is also a good thing to make the fullest use possible of the pen, press, and post. In places where there are large sheep stations, employing a dozen or more men, regular week-night services, saiv once a month, should be held m the men's quarters. This is an invaluable opportunity of getting m touch with a class of men who seldom, if ever, enter a Church. It is also important to keep the Church life m one's centre as keen as possible by having well-kept Churches, regular administration of the Holy Communion ahd with various organisations that can be carried on , even with very few people. C. Apparent Reasons of Partial Failure of the Church m Home Mission Areas. — (a) Supply of Clergy.— Generally speaking, the kind of man most suitable fpr Hqiiip Missiofl 4is-

tricts is the country-born clergyman. Why is not the squatter's son offering for Holy Orders ? The English priest as a rule is not suited for this work though there are undoubted exceptions. (b) Physical Fitness.— The strain of exposure to all kinds of weah ther and long hours m the saddle proves too much for many who would otherwise do good work. (c) Slackness.— lt must be admitted that much valuable work is left undone through the slackness of individual priests. D. Causes for Thankfulness.— There are many evidences of the labours of faithful clergy a nd other Christian workers not being m vain. Energy, devotion and faithfulness always leave their mark. 11. PRACTICAL. Diocesan Organisation. — In this Diocese we have the Home Mission Fund out of which grants are made to clergy m parochial districts. The whole Diocese is divided into Parishes and Parochial Districts. In the Diocese of Auckland a different system is adopted. There are two funds instead of one, viz., a Home Mission Fund and a Country Clergy Fund, and the Diocese is divided into Home Mission Districts (the back-blocks), Parochial Districts a nd Parishes. It is the duty of the Home Mission priest to work up his district into a Parochial District. He receives his stipend from the Home Mission Fund and all offertories are paid directly into that Fund, so that he is relieved of the wtork of organ-! ising the collection of his own stipend. The Vicars of Parochial Districts have their stipends augmented from the Country Clergy Fund. In this Diocese we only have the one fund for such purpose and the scope of its usefulness seems to be rather limited. For example, we have no fund for securing sites for Churches and vicarages where they are much needed. In some places land is given for Church purposes, m other places not. If we had a fund to secure sites where and when they are urgently needed grants could be made according to circumstances. The opportunity is often lost through lack of such a fund. There are several cases m the Diocese wh ; ch could be mentioned. Aflo + Her ppint fleedp tQ bg insist;-

'ed upon. More money from the present Home Mission Fund should be allocated to purely Home Mission Districts, especially those that are m the infant stage of their development. Where the great majority of people m a District are pioneer settlers who have put their all into breaking m virgin country with no hope of gaining anything foi a lew years, they cannot possibly do ihuch to support their Church. Often, too, there are only few who are more than nominal Churchmen, and they need a good deal of tending and building up m. the faith before they can be expected to take a ikeen interest m the Church. Older Parochial Districts or Parishes might often do much to help these struggling new Districts by supporting them more liberally or m other ways showing an interest m them. Old established Parochial Districts also could help considerably by striving to make their Districts self-sup-; T>ortin<r pnd thereby release Home Mission Funds for developing flew Districts.