GREAT PEACE GESTURE BY U.S. METHODISTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 18, 10 November 1948, Page 5

GREAT PEACE GESTURE BY U.S. METHODISTS

Free Education For Europeans

Twenty-seven million dollars were raised in America by the Methodist Church Commission on World Peace to put European students from war-devastated countries through American Universities and Colleges as a gift from the Church in America.

That was cited on Monday by the Rev. G. I. Laurenson, Methodist Mission Superintendent who was visiting Whakatane, as an example of practical Christianity in action in the United States, through which he recently toured extensively. Tracing the development of the. Commission, Mr Laurenson said that between the two World Wars the Methodist Church in America had a very strong peace emphasis. It had established the Commission. on World Peace to gather authenticfacts on international affairs and had become the spearhead of the present organisation which gathered that information and issued it in the form of bulletins to the congregations so that Church adherents could form informed Christian .opinions on questions of the day.

Now the organisation had reached out into the more direct type of action of helping those in devastated countries, and its Director, Rev. Charles Boss, had already investigated economic needs in the devastated areas, and was at present investigating the facts regarding the work of the Church behind the “Iron Curtain”. In addition to the work his own Church was doing, Mr Laurenson said all the Churches in America had formed the World Council of Overseas Relief and had sent enormous quantities of money, food and clothing to war-torn aregs. They had also done a great amount of work in restoring colleges and Churches.