CHRISTIAN ORDER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 32, 23 March 1942, Page 5

CHRISTIAN ORDER

UNITED CHURCHES MESSAGE

FOUNDING A BETTER WORLD

In common with all newspapers in the Dominion, we have been asked by the National Council of Churches in New Zealand', to publish the message which was read in all churches in this country yesterday. We lare glad and privileged to do so.

"At this moment of crisis- avc are watching day by day the nearer approach of a poAverful enemy to our shores. The vanguard of our nation is OA'erseas. Here at home we are standing to arms and are resolving to acquit ourselves Avorthilj' of our gallant troops and of the men and women of the Homeland. God helping us, Ave will not be found wanting in the hour of trial.

But avc are not contending only

for our country and our ciA'ilisation, dear as they are to us. The issue is far greater than that. The issue is whether liberty, truth and justice are to survive as ruling principles in human affairs. On this issue our free life and ; the spiritual fate of mankind depends. Therefore, in this fateful hour Avhile .avc still time to reflect and act, aa t c call upon you "to buy up the opportunity." We speak under a deep conviction of our fundamental unity in Christ and of a common purpose never before realised so A T iA T idly-

In lighting to hold our land we believe that Christian civilisation must have ground to root in. Wei cannot do this honestly unless as citizens we are prepared to face the implications of Christian principles for our own way of living. The past has not been without signs that our democracy has been sorely weakened by the decay of a sense of individual responsibility and of the Avill which alone can translate ideals into realities. Is not the source of this decline to be found in a widespread denial and neglect of God and of the Divine law ? Whatever happens to us in this present anxious time there will be a day of reckoning unless Ave make up our minds to seek a radical cure.

Our civilisation, cam not resist these onslaughts nor can: it regain its health unless we are determined to root out the cancerous growths which have brought it to the ve'rge of collapse. It is* not sufficient to lament this sickness. Action must be taken. The necessary will springs frpm a living faith and from that alone.

To-day we are roused and united by a common abhorrence of ideals and systems which we are convinced would make our life intolerable.. This incentive may unify and support us in time of war, but cannot uphold us in the prolonged labours and sacrifices to which peacc will call us. Now therefore, while these needs press upon us, Avhile energies are unloosed, while great sacrifices are being made, is the time to examine the ends for which Ave are striving and to lay afresh the foundations of our life. For great movements are born in agony of spirit. To this- task we must set our hands now, lest the end of this grim struggle find us morally exhausted, dispirited, without purpose and without the will to rebuild a new life out of the ruins of the old. When the war is over, it will' not be possible to recall the past. We shall face a future in which decisions must be made and action taken by .which the destinies of whole nations will be shaped.

This grave issue has led to a decision to embark upon a National Campaign for Christian Order during this 3'ear. God is not an impotent spectator of the world's tragedy. He is always seeking to express His will through human striving. It is the faith which springs from obedience to God's active will which can bring man's dreams of a better order to fruition. We could wish that a united Church were here to set an example to a distraught and divided world. But we are realising increasingly that in Christ we have a unity which is more fundamental than any differences. So we 1 are determined, each faithful to the truth as Ave have received and know it, earnestly to seek the message of the living God for to-day, and then to declare it to the nation. !

Each Church is preparing itself for this task in its own way, but the Churches will each be thinking and praying in a spirit of fellowship as the weeks and months of

preparation pass. This work of preparation is now beginning. We implore you to give yourselves to it wholeheartedly.

We speak with a deep sense of urgency for the time is s(hort. Let us pray; let us think; let us prepare; in the spring Ave shall endeavour to proclaim our message. This message will set forth the challenge of God's judgments to 'a tragic and disappointedl world, and also the living hope which this faith offers for the solution of our problems, personal, social, national and international.

Will A T ou join in this Campaign? Will you renew .your vows of ]03~ alty to Christ and His Church? Will you give yourself with strong devotion in prayer and service and witness to securing the allegiance of your fellows to Christ? Will you resolutely strive to live by this faith »n all your actions and thrust forward with us to- endure the present and shape the future?

Campbell West-Watson, Archbishop of New Zealand; J. Davie, Moderator, Presbyterian Church of New Zealand; W. Walker, President, New Zealand Methodist Conference; H. T. Falla, President, Baptist Union of New Zealand; J. Evan Smith, Commissioner, The Salvation Army; J- G. F. Richards, Chairman. Associated Churches of Christ; F. de Lisle, Chairman, Congregational Union of New Zealand,