A CLARION CALL.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 31, Issue 2, 1 April 1940, Page 4

A CLARION CALL.

Appeal to Support Vitally Necessary

THE CHURCH ARMY

Now that we are at war a clarion call goen out to all Anglicans throughout New Zealand to respond to the appeal of the Military Affairs Committee for funds to provide the spiritual support to our lads and men while absent from their homes. During the last war the Church of England m New Zealand responded nobly to enable the various spiritual duties to be discharged faithfully. A similar response is again required to enable our chaplains and the Church Army to do the work of the Church military. The Church Army— the faithful handmaiden of the Church of England— is well and affectionately known to returned soldiers, who valued its services beyond measure. Along with the rest of the Province of New Zealand, the Diocese of Waiapu has a plain and simple duty to do its full part to enable Anglican chaplains to discharge fully their spiritual ministrations and the Church Army to provide the comfort and cheer for which C.A. huts are noted.

Thousands, representing the finest manhood m New Zealand, have responded to the call for men who will risk everything, even life itself, m the cause of Freedom, Truth and Justice. Many of them have left our shores already to join their brothers at the front, with no prospect of seeing their loved ones or their homes again until the war is over. We who stay m the safety of these sheltered islands owe them a huge debt. How can we discharge it? Half the men m the New Zealand forces belong to our own Church. Is it not our plain and simple duty to see that the Church does all it can to help and cheer them? What is the Church Doing Now? Here are some facts! At the outbreak of war the Church of England Military Affairs Committee had the sum of £1865 at its disposal. This sum was the balance of money, with interest to date, not expended after the Great War. With this money m hand, and to meet urgent demands, the Military Affairs Committee acted at once, and provided Church Army workers with marquees and furniture, books, games, hotepaper and light refreshments, m the various camps. When the transports left

with the First Echelon two Church of England Chaplains and one Church Army worker went with them, and the Church through its Committee had to see that they had all they wanted. To Carry on This Work. The Church of England, under the exemptions allowed by the Patriotic Purposes Emergency Regulations, has undertaken to raise the money for its own work from its own members without any help from National Patriotic Funds, though, of course, any man m camp may use its huts and take advantage of its services. It should be plainly understood, for this necessary piece of work, we cannot draw upon any of the funds raised by joint appeal of the Salvation Army and the V.M.C.A. This means funds must be raised by the Church and spent by the Church. Diocesan committees were set up to co-operate with the central executive and to be responsible for all work within its diocese, with the suggestion that parish collecting committees be formed and so help raise the necessary finance. At the moment the position is that Papakura hut is erected and the hut at Trentham will soon be completed.

At other bases a small tent is used as a chapel for private devotions and Holy Communion and a marquee as a recreation and reading room. It is agreed by all that the tents can only be regarded as makeshift and that something more stable and worthy should be provided. What We Have to Do. The aim of Military Affairs Committee is to build a permanent hut at each of the training centres. These huts will be under the management of the Church Army, as it is the intention of the Church of England Military Affairs Committee to take advantage of the wide experience of the Church Army gained during the last war for its present work. These huts will form a splendid base of operations for the spiritual ministrations of the Anglican Chaplain, and will provide a dignified and worthy setting for the celebration of the Holy Communion and for other services. They will give the men a place where they can read and write m that atmosphere of quiet which so many of them want and cannot find elsewhere m camp, and at the same time will provide them -%ith facilities for recreation and with simple refreshments. The expense of building to-day is such that, with all possible economy, a hut and its furnishings will cost more than £2000.