25 YEARS TOGETHER PIONEER CHURCH MOVEMENTS RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31119, 23 July 1966, Page 14

25 YEARS TOGETHER PIONEER CHURCH MOVEMENTS RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

(By the

, assistant general secretary. National Council of Churchei in New Zealand)

Rev. R. M. O GRADY.

It was just twenty-five years ago today that a handful of church leaders came together at Bishopscourt, Christchurch, to found a new organisation. It was a modest beginning to a movement that in a very short time was to catch the imagination of thousands of people and affect the very life of the nation.

At this meeting the articles of the National Council of Churches were formally adopted by representatives of the Church of England, the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Congregational Churches and the Churches of Christ. Coming at a time when separate denominations were often in fierce competition the Council was the result of years of patient work and a clear vision on the part of some of the greatest churchmen New Zealand has produced. The pioneer nature of this action is seen in the fact that New Zealand was the first country in the Commonwealth to form a national Christian Council and some other countries were to wait many years before the same step would be possible. A Daring Decision Looking back over a quar-ter-century it is hard to realise what a daring decision these people took. At the beginning there was some opposition in every church and a good deal of indifference. Those who had begun the task however set about with a crusading zeal for the establishment of the Countil and they formed an intimate and dedicated circle utterly convinced that the church needed reformation from within and that the path of co-operation and unity was the means through which this should be achieved. At the time few envisaged the essential part the National Council of Churches would come to play in the church and national life of the country. It was an act of faith—faith based on experience, knowledge and the conviction that it was God's will.

In these early years the pattern of the Council’s life became formed. It was to be a truly national body and this quickly received expression in a Campaign for Christian Order which did much to consolidate the life of the National Council of Churches in the churches and incidentally helped greatly in the post-war recovery of national life. Grass-roots Movement At the same time the Council became a grass-roots movement. Local branches grew up and flourished in the main centres and these soon became the focus of inter-church activity in the cities. Combined services of worship took place and Christians long separated by denominational walls started to meet their neighbours in the community. At the head of this activity were the chairman, Archbishop West-Watson, the national executive in Christ-

church and the first full-time general secretary, the late Herbert Newell. Mr Newell travelled widely in New Zealand to help the infant Council become known. When he resigned in 1947 to take up a post with the newly formed World Council of Churches, he left a legacy of a strong organisation whose Influence had begun to be felt in every parish. The new secretary of the was the Rev. Alan Brash who left a suburban Presbyterian Church in Wanganui to bring his many talents to the ecumenical scene. Apart from a brief period when the late Rev. Alan McNaughton acted as secretary, Mr Brash gave leadership to the Council from 1947 to 1964. Years of Change These were years of radical change with the impact of the secular society beginning to make itself felt in every facet of Christian life. Television, the space age, international crises and shifts of power, acceleration in church union moves, the new theology and new morality, medical and educational reforms, were among the many factors transforming a country’s way of life. While many churches dragged their feet in the face of such change, it was the genius of the National Council of Churches that it always remained one step ahead. Exciting new challenges were continually placed before the church and in every way the Council remained a pioneer leading the Christian community into the new age. The dynamic preaching and leadership of Alan Brash could never be doubted, but among a whole host of new activities one significant emphasis stands out. It was the discovery that in the changing pattern of events New Zealand had found some new neighbours to the north —in Asia. An Asian Outlook This insight became a characteristic of the National Council of Churches. When most of the country was still only dimly aware that countries like Indonesia, Malaya, and the Philippines existed, the church began to remind the nation that these millions could not be ignored or forgotten. The church was of course in a good position to do this. For a hundred years young people had gone from New Zealand as missionaries to these lands. The ties were already there and now the hour struck for an even greater link to be forged.

The creation of the East Asia Christian Conference in 1957 gave the opportunity. To the great astonishment of Christians in Australia and New Zealand, these two countries were expected to come into the East Asia Christian Conference as full partners. The issue could not be avoided. New Zealand must find her destiny in the Christian Councils of her neighbours in East Asia.

From the outset, the National Council of Churches took up the invitation with enthusiasm. Mr Brash himself became one of the first officers of the East Asia Christian Conference and took his place with a Burmese, a Tamil and an Indian as the fir*: Secretariat. The church sat up and took notice and within a short time preachers throughout the country were speaking with authority of New Zealand's place in the Asian scene. While all this was taking place another significant movement was sweeping the churches. It was the programme of Inter-Church Aid through which Christians in all lands combine to send aid to the places of greatest need.

Thousands of pounds are raised annually in New Zealand alone, and one of the greatest service programmes in church history has swung into action.

| Today a world-wide programme of relief and service brings new hope to millions. Refugees in Calcutta; war victims in Vietnam; wounded in Agadir, amputees in Korea, tuberculosis sufferers in Hong Kong. The church is there on the spot and a world vision has emerged. Two years ago the Rev. Alan Brash transferred to Singapore to work full-time with the East Asia Christian Conference. His extensive travels in Asia had already made him a prophet in his own country and for his service to both church and community he was awarded the 0.8. E. The growth has gone on and at present the Council faces new opportunities on every side. The General Secretary is the Rev. David Taylor a thoughtful scholarly man who served the church as an Anglican vicar and theological teacher and more recently with the Australian Council of Churches. Increased financial support from the churches has meant much expansion and two other secretaries are employed with the Council to carry out specific functions. Service to Refugees One of these new activities is the Service to Refugees programme which is conducted in New Zealand for the World Council of Churches. In its two years of existence it has assisted the Government, the United Nations and several voluntary agencies to resettle families under church sponsorship in many parts of the country. A major step was the settling of 73 Russians of the Old Believer sect on farms in Southland —an operation which brought favourable comment from many parts of the world. Other new aspects of the National Council of Churches work emerge daily. Chaplains represent the churches in prisons and universities. Full-time directors work in television and a new field began last year with the appointment of an Industrial Chaplain at Manapouri. Commissions are active in a dozen fields from international affairs to home and family life. There is a Maori section, a youth and women's department. Conferences and consultations take place regularly on a great variety of themes. Looking back on the years since 1941 one can only be amazed that so much has been accomplished in such short time. But much remains unfinished. The Council carries on into its next 25 years with a conviction first expressed in 1952: “Christians ought always to seek to do together everything which conscience does not compel them to do separately.” Personal Items The Canterbury Education Board yesterday expressed regret at the death of Mr F. L. Turley, a West Coast member from 1942 to 1954. Mr B. J. Wilson was congratulated by the Canterbury Education Board yesterday on his appointment as district senior inspector of schools in its area from next October.

Mr J. W. Watson, the Apple and Pear Board’s London manager, has been elected to the British Fruit Producers’ Council, which also represents Australian, South African, Canadian and British growers.— (P.A.)