Suagested Special Day of Prayer.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 25, Issue 5, 1 May 1935, Page 1

Suagested Special Day of Prayer.

£un£>as, flDas I9tb, 1935*

My Dear Friends, — I wish to endorse the following appeal which has been issued by the Archbishop. The matter is a very pressing one and demands our serious consideration. Yours sincerely, HERBERT WAIAPU.

lii view of the continued dislocation of the world's economic and industrial stability, and the apparent powerlessness of statesmen and economists to devise any remedy for bridging the gulf between production and distribution of the world's commodities, for reducing the vast number of unemployed and for alleviating the distress and poverty caused by continuous unemployment, I earnestly appeal to all the Churches and to all men and women of goodwill to observe Sunday, May 19th,. as a day of humble prayer and supplication to Almighty God, that He will be pleased to give light and understanding to those who are earnestly seeking a solution of the present distress, that He will make known His* righteous will to rulers, statesmen, and all m authority, and that He will give to the nations an earnest desire to seek and obey His way for the solution of the problems which man has failed to solve. And inasmuch as the nations are endangering the peace of the world by vastly increasing their armaments and pursuing a policy of national exclusiveness and isolation, it behoves us to pray earnestly for a new spirit of goodwill and brotherhood m the world so that it may not again be plunged into all the horrors and futility of war. In spite of" the fact that the economic welfare of our own Dominion is bound up with the welfare of the civilised world, and is largely contingent upon powers and forces operating beyond our own shores yet we are bound to pray especially for the men, women and children m our

own country, who, m the midst of plenty, are reduced to poverty and are experiencing m more or less degree the sad and evil effects of long continued poverty, viz.: loss of morale, depression and physical and moral deterioration; and that the way may be revealed by which the unemployed may receive a more generous share of the world's abundant products. It is useless to pray unless our prayers are the outpouring of penitent hearts, and unless we really desire to know and do God's will, however much that will may transcend our own inclinations and limited vision. We need to pray for individual and national penitence, for the neglect of the righteous statutes and ordinances of Almighty God, for setting up a world order independently of His beneflcient and sovereign will, and for seeking to deprive Him of His rightful control over world affairs. So long as we are divorcing God from His Universe we are shutting the windows of Heaven against ourselves. A, W. NEW ZEALAND. (The following prayer is commended to readers for daily use m connection with the above appeal.) A PRAYER IN TIMES OF DISTRESS. O God, our Heavenly Father, we commend to Thy protecting care and compassion the m:en and women of our country now suffering distress and anxiety through loss of work. Support and strengthen them, we beseech Thee, and so prosper the counsels of thiose who are engaged m the ordering of our industrial life, that Thy people may be set free from want and fear, and be enabled to work m security and peace for the relief of their necessities and the well-being of this laVid, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

NOTES FROM THE BISHOP. On April 7, at Rotorua, I admitted to the Priesthood the Rev. W. F. Oulds, and ordained Mr. J. D. Hogg, Deacon. The candidates were presented by Archdeacon Chatterton, who preached the sermon — there was a large congregation. Mr. Oulds will continue to assist Mr. Hodgson at Rotorua, and Mr. Hogg has been, licensed as chaplain to Te'Aute College. The Church Army Column has just concluded its series of missions m the Diocese — the missioners have delivered helpful messages and have won many friends.