News and Notes.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIV, Issue 4, 1 October 1923, Page 309

News and Notes.

We are glad to know that some of the medical fraternity m Napier are most sympathetic towards the coming mission and are giving their active co-operation. Mr Norman Burton (Editor, Auckland "Chui-ch Gazette"), m reply to our request for a proof from his October issue re the " Glaucoma case, ' ' has kindly replied that the m- . formation asked for from Sydney is not yet to hand but will be available for the November issue. We are asked to call attention to the invitation to all churchpeople to help m defraying the cost (£250) of the Primatial Cross— to be, used by the Archbishops of New Zealand present and future. Further information can be obtained from, and subscriptions sent to, the Dean, Deanery, Napier. The Bishop's Commissary is issuing a pastoral letter inviting help towards the fund for relieving distress m Japan. By resolution of Synod each parish is requested to collect donations m whatever way it pleases and to send them to the Diocesan Treasurer, Box 227, Napier, during October. During the debate on the report of St. Winifred's School, Gisborne, the hope was expressed that Poverty Bay would rise to the occasion and help to wipe off the mortgage of £3050. Hawke's Bay has been doing its share. Buck up Poverty (?) Bay! . The excellence of the Auckland and Waiapu pension scheme has at-, tracted the attention of the Southern dioceses. Clergy m the Wellington and Nelson dioceses are anxious to join it and share its benefits. A bill was passed m Synod providing for their admission, the bill must be passed by the Auckland Synod as well before it becomes operative. There seems to be a good prospect of a .provincial pension scheme being evolved with our Fund as its foundation. Very much of the credit of the soundness of our fund is due to the financial

ability and business acumen of ..the. representatives of the Waiapu diocese on the. Pension Board. It will be a splendid thing if the much-longed : for but often-despaired-6f Provincial Fund becomes a reality. It has been arranged to hold a retreat for clergy at Te Aute College beginning Monday, February 18th, .1924. The name of the conductor will be arinouuced later. Miss Webb, the principal of St. "Winifred's, has. received word of her success m obtaining, the degree of A.L.A. of St. Andrew's University, Scotland, with honours m English and History. Mr Nigel Williams, son of Archdeacon Herbert Williams, has been successful m winning the Lady Eaye Scholarship, open to students of Theology who obtain a first or second class m the theological tripos at Cambridge. Mr Williams . obtained honors m the first part of the tripos. Various clergy m Synod expressed grateful recognition of the work of the Gr.D.F. organising secretary. The visits of Mr Turner Williams are much appreciated m the parishes. The Bishop is still forbidden to doany work and his engagements are all cancelled, at least till after the-heal-ing mission. The Choir Festival Committee met on Tuesday, September 18th. The committee decided to hold the next Festival on Labor Day, 1924. The services are to be on the same lines as at the last festival. Some of tlje music was chosen, the rest to be chosen at a future meeting. It is suggested that a lecture on church music be given at the next festival. At the close pf the Synod the . Bishop 's Commissary congratulated the members on the orderly manner m which the proceedings had been conducted. There is still, however, room for improvement. However dry and uninteresting a speaker may be (and some are!) he has a right to be listened to attentively — there may 'be (and sometimes are) grains of gold to be gathered from the dust and other members . should save their conversation for a more convenient season. Going to Church. — It is; said that Roosevelt was once twitted by a friend on the subject, of going to church. The gentleman coiild not understand why the ex-president went to church every Sunday, and said so. Roosevelt replied, that he. went to church to worship God. His friend said: "I can worship God m 'my automobile, as . I spin through the country on a Sunday morning." "Yes," said Mr Roosevelt, "but no one would ever suspect you" of it." Choirs often have their difficulties. I remember some years. ago meeting

a blacksmith who was choirmaster of a,,little village church m the Midlands. He told, me he had been choirmaster for forty years, and had never had- the slightest trouble m the choir. I asked him how he did it, and he said that it was due to perfect justice. "They join as boys. When their voices go bust, w^makes cm altos. After a bit we* promotes em to tenors; and at thirty-ftv¥ they joins the basses. ? ' I asked'iiim whether a man with a natural tenor voice did not find it difficult sometimes to; compass a bass part, and he replied, "We get a bit o' shandy-gaff sometimes." I thiuk I know what he meant.— "The Guardian." The method of announcing the Easter Offering differs.^ various places. "The object ■ on^ Easter Day will be tho Vicar, " is ;:; :. crude and rude. "The offerings on Easter Day will be placed at the disposal of the Vicar for his Personal Sustentation Fund", looks ; well, but is grandiose, especially as. m the village, m question the offerings amounted to £2 7s ■6d; ','The offerings on Easter Day will be given, m: ; tne morning, to the Vicaiy and m the evening to the. really deserving poor," makes an unfair distinction. "The offerings on Easter Day will be handed to the Vicar" is quite sufficient. Curates are usually, employed to give out notices relating to Easter Offerings, as the Vicar naturally feels shy m the matter. Curates, do not get a great deal of practice m giving out notices, and it is best ! to "write it down for them. A reader at Bournemouth has told me of most 'unworthy suspicions aroused m the minds of a congregation m a parish where the over-worked Vicar is a. very strict accountant, ans iiisists on all accounts being made up within a few days of the close of the' year. The curate announced, "All who have missionary boxes are requested to send them m to the vicarage at once, as the Vicar wants to go for a holiday."— The " Guardian." The Coming Manhood of Woman. — "Teacher (interim female) wanted at once. "—Advertisement m "The Scotsman." . • ' ' Parlormaid wanted for Sussex ; under parlormaid kept; Roman Catholic and spectacles objected to." Our own preference is for a Plymouth Sister with pince-nez. ' - / They had had the B hop of Buckingham among them, and he was sure they would wish to greet him ■under his new title, and say how greatly they looked forward to an increase of spiritual activity m the Church owing to his appointment. ' '—Report of Oxford Diocesan Conference. Where the B hops, there hop I.

(38), with little girl at school, wishes quiet situation as housekeper to business gentleman or tradesman, Christian or Church of England home preferred."—"Edinburgh Evening News." isn't' this ■ distinction just the least bit invidious, eyeri m Scotland? "The marriage was of the 'quiet' order,' there, being no bridesmaids or bridegroom. ' ' — " Cleckheaton Guardian." But the presents were numerous and handsome, so we dare say he was not seriously missed. The Humorous Side of Clerical Life.— There is much m the work of the clergy which saddens their hearts, and it is a great blessing that so much unconscious humour, dwells m the minds of our parishioners and helps to relieve the strain. It comes out often iu '.visiting: The poor old woman who was very ill and assured the vicar that she was looking forward to a life of "blessed immorality" is a case m point. I remember m a country parish seeing another old woman who was ill and asked her what the matter was. She told me she suffered from "slugs m the liver." It sounded a horrible complaint and she asked for my advice. I told her that gardeners used salt to destroy slugs, and she had better take plenty. She did so and made a rapid recovery, and Avas profuse m her gratitude. • Meeting the village doctor afterwards and discussing the case with him I asked what he had told her. "Oh," he said, "I told her she had got a sluggish liver." A Missioner once told me that after a Mission a man who had been a notorious evil liver proclaimed with enthusiasm: "I used to fear neither God nor the devil, and now I love them both." There is a sad side to the incident of a melancholy looking man who came to a vicar who was also a surrogate, and asked wearily: "Are you sure it was a' ' marriage license you gave me a year ago ? ' ' The vicar assured him it was. ' ' Well, " he said, "I have led a dog's life ever since." The minister who gave out that the address at the Men's Meeting next .Sunday would be on "Hell," and that Mr Jones would sing, "Tell Mother I'll be There," should have been more careful. A prominent tradesman was killed m the war, and the Tradesmen's Association of the town made a handsome memorial gift to the Parish Church. The vicar unintentionally stirred guilty consciences when m announcing the gift he said: "We all owe a great deal to the tradesmen of this town." "The bride and bridegroom, left for a short honeymoon, the latter travelling m a tailor suit of deep dahlicolored cloth trimmed with skunk and worn with a picture hat of black

"panne and handsome overcoat of musquash. "—"The Queen." He must have looked a. perfect dream. f Fifty years or so ago no loyal Evangelical would dream of preaching, m a surplice. Yet his modern successor has long since learnt that not only a surplice m the pulpit, but also m the choirs, musical services, flowers, etc., represent neither high nor any other kind df_ churchmanship: They have no more to do with the real point at issue than whether your church is- roofed with tiles, or slate. They simply do not touch the question. Beyond . all doubt the Evangelicals have learnt much, very much, from their high church brothers. . • " ''But it is none the less true that high churchmen have learnt from evangelicals.. The keystone of the faithful evangelical ■ has always, been the conversion of the individual soul to Christ. Now, judged by the main, stream of high churchmen of, say, the last 50 years, it is nothing less than marvellous, the welcome stress placed by Anglo-Catholics on conversion. I say the "main stream," because I do not forget such men as Bishop Wilkinson or Canon Body. But,, speaking m general terms, I think it is only during the last decade or so that this school has been preaching conversion m the splendid way we are all, I hope, familiar with. Not only so, indeed, but many at least are putting it m its rightful place, i.e., the beginning of the Christian life."— The Bishop of Bendigo. Metaphors often lead us into traps. I heard a preacher once compare the church to a ship sailing along, meeting all storms and tempests, but not sinking, then he raised his voice arid asked why, adding impressively: "Because it is founded on. a rock." I also heard a preacher about the time of the University Boat Race remind us that "life was like rowing m a race, and we should take part with our eyes fixed on the winning post. SOME RESOLUTIONS. Laugh wherever you go; it is infectious. ■ , Don't lose your temper lightly, but when- you do lose it, let it rip. Look every man straight m the eyes. That is the quickest and surest way to a mutual understanding. Never be ashamed of your opinion simply because you are m a minority. Look at marriage as the beginning, not the end of an adventure. Never use the words ■ ' settle down, ' ' until you are at least eighty years of age. To settle down is to stagnate. Get into the fresh air; When you are depressed, summon the body to the help of the mind.

Think and dream on the grand' scale. 'Never, admit that you are beaten, until you are battered to bits. Thengo away, heal your wounds, and fight again. Rise every day like a man who isgoing to battle. .Don't be .ashamed o£ being air idealist.