METHODIST ENTERPRISE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 792, 15 April 1910, Page 3

METHODIST ENTERPRISE.

CENTRAL MISSION FOR WELLINGTON. INTEEVIEW WITH THE REV. E, 0. BLAMIRES. A central mission for Wellington, on the pattern of the great central missions in the, large cities of the Old Land and in Melbourne and Sydney, has been' the dream of local.Methodism for a long time past, and now its consummation is about to begin.' The amalgamation of the old undenominational central mission in Herbert Street with the movemeut set up by the Methodist Conference took place a year ago, and an endeavour was then made to secure the Rev. Charles Tregear, of- the South Melbourne mission, to take charge. of the. work in this city. Mr. Tregear was. unable to come, and after vain attempts.to obtain a prophet from another country, this year's conference decided to appoint to the position one of its own New Zealand ministers, who yet is not without honour wherever, his past work is known. The Eev. E. 0. Blamires, who has just arrived in Wellington to inaugurate-this new departure, expressed the opinion, to a PoSiijuon representative yesterday, that the qualities most needed ior its successful conduct were enthusiasm and. common sense. Mr. Blamires has shown his enthusiasm by giving up a most enticing tour for the sake of starting the mission. He had intended to make this a holiday year, and had actually booked his passage to England, and America with intentions of attending the. World's Sunday Schools' Condition in Washington and the Worlds Missionary Convention in Edinburgh, and getting into touch with central mission work in the Old Country when the conference, which had previously approved this scheme, asked him to forego its pleasures for two or three years, and give his energies to Wellington. The mission will commence its work by holding services every Sunday evening in -the new King's Theatre, Taranaki Place, and the first service will be held next Sunday. ■ • ■ •

The Mission and Its Leaders. Already the Methodist Church has ceni B r llssltms | n Auckland and Dunedin, and Mr. Blamires has been connected for l°r me ™ me wit}l the Dunedin mission. Mrs. Blamires has also had experience of,central mission work in the Old Country, and was connected with the Helping Hand Mission in Dunedin. The services in the King's Theatre will be only the first movement in the Wellington work. It is hoped later to launch out in all directions of public helpfulness, till the mission bears at least some resemblance to those in Melbourne and Sydney, which have agencies for dealing with most of the social problems that perplex, philanthropists in great cities.; The central mission organisation, Mrl Blamires explained, is an attempt to bridge the gulf between the Churches and the masses, which has' been very successful in Great Britain. It might be called a "Church of the people," broadbased, adapted to the needs of the masses, and standing for plain evangelism, ■ educational up-lifting, and 6ocial activity. "To seek that which wae lost," ie the great object of the mission. "It is a recognition," said Mr. Blamires, "that democracy is going to stay, and the expression: in Church life of that fact." The services will not.be rigidly bound to formal ceremony, and the head of the mission, 'while guiding and controlling them, will.depend for help on those associated with him. - - -Stepping-stone to Churches. The mission is intended to be a step-ping-stone to the Church.' "I am a hearty . believer in Church work," said Mr. Blarnires; "and in the efforts (that are being made by. the Church in' general, but I also believe that the missions have a place, more particularly in" the ■ larger cities, and whether denominational' or. undenominational or interdenominational, there should be at least one largo mission in every city, to which the people"who' nro not attracted by the church services can go and feel, at home. We think that tho church, in the-popular mind, is associated with spiritual culture, emphasis is laid more or less' on ceremony and ritual, and I church services are imbued with a deeper thought than will be found in the mission. ' The mission does not ignore the need for deep thought and for educating the people, but it starts lower down, and yet aims in the same direction. The , Sunday evening services, more particularly, are distinctly evangelical, so that whilst: there is a diiference from the ordinary church service the principle is the same—thero is the.same loyalty to Christian ideals, and, as I think, the recognition of the fact that thoro may be flexibility .of form quite in keeping with fixity of principle." '■ . As illustrating the! way in which the mission may serve as a feeder S the Church, Mr. Blamires' stated that the Dunedin Central Mission had just sent out a man into the Church's homo mission work, who, it was hoped, would eventually become a' minister. He was converted five years ago in the hospital by a deaconess of the Helping Hand miesion, and not having been accustomed to tho ordinary church services, had thrown m his lot with the Central Mission. There his gifts for evangelistic work were given exercise, but ■he recognised the need for educational advancement, and though six years ago he did not know what a noun was, he was'able, as the result of study-' ing in his spare hours, to sit for the matriculation examination last year. A probationer from the Dunedin Central Mission is commencing work this year, and one of the men ordained for ministerial, work at the last conference was also a product of the mission. *

Organisation and Scope.

The Wellington Mission will be managed by a committee consisting of the Methodist ministers of Wellington and Johnsonville, prominent Methodist laymen, and members of the Central.Mission. It is hoped to form very soon a brotherhood,' which will meet on Sunday afternoons for the discussion of, moral, political, and other questions which are argued about by men in workshops and factories. It is believed that the discussion of these questions, does good, and it is only by acting as a safety valve, and. lets the people' know what the "churches are thinking and the churches know what the people are thinking. The brotherhood will assist ■ members in sickness, and help unemployed members to find work. Next year a Central Mission will be started in Christchurch, and the work will then be carried oh in each of the four cities of the Dominion.