CHURCH NEWS AND NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 257, 3 November 1906, Page 10

CHURCH NEWS AND NOTES.

Addressing a body of French athletes the Pope encouraged them to persevere fri athletic exercises, which gave the borly the strength necessary for the maintenance of the faith, now that so many ■were abandoning it, and offering up incense to unbelief. On Sunday the gymnasts gave a display in the Court of Han Demaso in presence, of the Pope, the members of the Papal Court, and. many guests. The leading Italian newspaper (says a Malta telegram) announced in its last issue that liberty of Religion is presently iv he proclaimed ..here, which may be taken to mean that the Protestant religion will be accorded the same, privi- ] i 'n-(.^ o except as regards financial support.' as the Roman Catholic religion. The former has been heretofore rather tolerated than recognised. The newspaper denounces the concession, and thinks, or pretends to think, that the Protestantising of Malta is contemplated. The official measure spoken of is ascribed to the Presbyterian mission held partly in the theatre many months a"O. The use of thu theatre was deemed a profanation by the Bishop and elergv. although Italian chorus girls occupy the stage during most of the 3<-ar. The Presbyterian Church in America made a record gain in membership last year. the additions on confeas'on of faith being 70,589, and the net gain for the year being 4.3,000, the total membership numbering 1.158,622. These numbers refer strictly to actual church membership. Sflby Abbey Church, Yorks, England (one of the finest example* of Norman ar.-biti-eture, ascribed to the early part of the 12th century), has been destroyed by fire, attributed to the carelessness of persons who wre repairing tne or-β-an. the damage being estimated at £50,----00fi. but the loss is irreparable.

The monks of Bu(ikfa?.t Abbey, Devon, announce that they have elected the lU'v. Father Anschar as Lord Abbot in jjlaff. , (if Abbot Natter, who was drowned in the Kino, which was recently ■wrecked in the Bay of Biscay. The new nbbot was born in Germany in 1875, and : s probably the youngest abbot in the world. He was at one time Professor of Philosophy at St. Anselm College, Rome, and is a man of great learning. The band of militant preachers has received a recruit in Canon Falles, who bas just preached his last sermon at Barrow. No man or woman, he said, who bad the ideals of Christ could say that bo or she was satisfied with the present condition of society. In 20 years every Church of England minister would have tc. preach Christianity down to everyday life.

Miss Mary McLean, Presbyterian Zenana missionary from Sydney, stationed at Shalinghur, Madras Presidency, India, writing under date September 17, says:—"There are wonderful revivals throughout India. People see visions and dream, and remain in trances for hours. One girl in Bombay, in the Church of England mission, speaks in a different language. Some say she has the gift of tongues. It (the revival) generally breaks out in the same, way— nrst simultaneous prayer, all praying and screaming together—falling down and confessing awful sins. Where, emotional people are in charge of stations, one is apt to think there is rather too much emotion, but when level-headed, staid Presbyterians arc. present they just confess they do not understand it. but dare not deny that it is God's spirit at work, and they dare not hinder it."

As bearing on the Lotteries Bill, the Anglican Bishops of Australia said in their pastoral last year: "We express our earnest hope that all who are concerned with bazaars and sales of work will dissociate themselves from the use of raffles, lotteries, and games of chance, as ministering,' however indirectly, to the evil (of gambling) which we seek to abate.''

A proposal to establish a second synagogue within the boundaries of the c.it.y of Sydney has been discussed by the Jewish community, but. apparently, with little prospect of consummation.

The Dean of Westminster has refused to permit a memorial tablet to Herbert Spencer to be erected in t!ic Abbey. The ''Kecord" thinks he was risrht in doing so. '-Mr Spencer did his work, and had Iris place in the world. It is a work which is steadily losing support, and his place in tho Temple of Fume is likely to be challenged with increasing frequency. But in any case Westminster Abbey is not the Temple of Fame; it is a Christian church. That being so. a Herbert Spencer memorial would be offensively, and even ludicrously, out of place in it." The London "Chrifttian World, ,, on the other hand, thinks the Dean was "misguided by ial=e logic.'' The. ground of refusal was "that he had wandered far from orthodox Christian belief. We can quite appreciate the Dean's compunctions, but with the commemoration of great Englishmen in the Abbey the question of orthodoxy has really nothing to do. any more than it would be right on corresponding grounds to refuse burial to a Rumble parishioner in the village churchyard." The "Daily Chronicle", is

canvassing public opinion as to a national memorial to Spencer, and many eminent scientist;: and others arc supporting the idea.

The annual report of the London Wesleyan mission furnishes the following striking statistical facts: —Thereare eight branches, 2.T ministers, 80 sisters, 25 lay agents, 40 buildings, 12,000 members, and from 25.000 to ;i(),000 peo pie gather in London Wesleyan Mission buildings every Sunda3 r .

Rev. J. T. Warlow Davies, M.A., who has ministered to th." . Congregational Church at Xewtown. Sydney, for many years, has signified his intention of resigning his long pastoral*: at the end of the yenr. He purposes to retire from active, ministerial work after a ministerial career extending over 4o years.

Bishop Welldon, now Dean of Manchester, preaching last month at Manchester Cathedral, said it was sometimes remarked that the working classes of England were alienated from the Church. He knew not whether that was so, but whether they were alienated from the Church or not, they were not alienated from .Testis Christ. He was reading the other day that curious book which had produced so remarkable an effect in the commercial and the political world of the United States, "'The Jungle," and hp came upon a passage in which one of the characters dilated upon the terrible corruption of the Church, The answer to the speaker was. "Oh, you must not judge Christianity by the Churches; judge it by Jesus, the Man of pain and sorrow;" and the speaker replied, "I will grant you Jesus." Tf they granted him Jesus they gave him ail he wanted. It was not a, new religion that the world needed. What, it wanted was to have the old religion a little better, and to follow Christ a little more eloselv.

The English Presbyterian missionaries are discovering that the higher education of the Chinese, is making it difficult to get good men as native, preachers because of the salary question. A young fellow trained in one of the hospitals in China, who sets up as a doctor, can earn more, and sometimes a great deal more, than a preacher. A clever boy, who passes through tho Anglo-Chinese College in Aruoy or in Swatow. and learns English, can get a good situation in a business house. It is not easy for a young fellow to decide to become, a preacher at, a small salary with little promise of increase. The missionaries are urging the native churches to contribute a larger proportion of their ministers' stipends, so that an increase may be arranged. At present forty pastors are entirely supported by their members. The Wesleyan authorities have decided to decline the C'rowlc legacy of £250,000 for temperance work. '(Tie simple fact is that the condition enjoining the raising of an equal amount in five years was an impossible one, as the financial responsibilities of the Wesleyan Conference are already very heavy, is understood, however, that the trustees may be willing to make a generous unhampered grant from the estate in furtherance of the object of the original bequest.