THE ANGLICAN MISSION

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 931, 26 September 1910, Page 8

THE ANGLICAN MISSION

TOWN HALL AND CONCERT CHAMBER BOTH CROWDED. PLAIN SPEAKING BY BISHOP JULIUS, • IMPRESSIVE ADDRESSES BY . CANON STUART. ■ • Judging by the impression made by its opening meeting the General Mission of 1910 will long be remembered by the Anglican Churchpeople of Wellington. A good while before the time for beginning the service it was evident that the accommodation o,f tho great Town Hall' would be inadequate to contain the enormous gathering; .that . rapidly assembled. . To meet , the occasion it was, therefore, arranged that ■•' an overflow meeting: should be held in the Concert .Chamber, which was also crowded to its utmost-capacity by the time the service began. To this gathering Canon. Stuart and Bishop Julius;,leaving in turn the principal:meeting, delivered, brief ,'addresses.' .In the Town Hall itself every available'seat was filled. Among'those present were his Excellency the Governor, . Lady. Islington, aiid tho Hon. Joan Dickson-Poynder, ' and . Captain Hamilton, aide-de-camp. The Bishop of: Wellington(Dr. Wallis).' presided,' with him \on: the .platform . being; 'the speakers of the day, tho Bishop of Christchurch (Dr. Julius) and Canon Stuart, , also Archdeacon :Farioourt, and a number of . Anglican clergymen. Opening of the Service. .Keen,interest:was to be noted in the faces and the attitude of tho great congregation, but there was nothing of a- sensational . or. hysterical character about tho service, though it was from start to. finish deeply'impressive. ■ Led. ;by the organ .'and the great' combined choir-; that filled the organ-gallery above .', tho ' platform, • tho congregation poured out -a grand volume of sound during tho singing of the well-known hymns. ■The- order of the .service , was quite simple. Following on the .singing -.of tie opening thymn by tie choir,-. the Bishop of. Wellington offered a - short prayer'.- •- . Then .when" choir; and cbngre-1 gation had sung "Rock of, Ages," the. : -chairman called, on BisKop- Julius to speak./.' i,.'/- . K

"A Poor, Dull Lot." ; !' , The Bishoo of Chnstetarcl, who:! addressed, his "hearers,-as : "my: brothers" (apparently forgetting the.ladies), seized, his audience at the star.t; and fold ; them in ,'ari easy, grasp, while discourse lasted. In torso phrases he " pictured the weaknesses of the Church in' New Zealand,'. and : his great -desire--;that -;it should": show ■ more' ofthe ;; aggressive spirit'of the : early Christian Church. Was the Church' of God fulfilling its task;in this,. land?.he.<asked.;The Church had not utterly, failed.';. A "great 1 deal had, indeed; '.been done, but if asked ■whether.,the Church .was doing' all j she might- do then he Answered straight out, "Certainly; not." There were, many failures to regret. ' They, got hold' of' little : children, ■ : only to,''lose" them when- they grew up.; . ■ ;Theh the bishops, clergy,- and. communicants, in tho very heart of the a poor, dull; crowd they, were compared with what they might' be.' : Mere onlookers . were plentiful. : There were thousands and thousands of them. At least tfao-thirds of -the people of Wellington,. whether.. they', professed Christianity or not,' did not do much at' it." It'was not a now or r .younger Church: that was : wanted; The promises of ..G<xl ;given-',to his .Church were as potent in Wellington to-day as on', the' day. of' Pentecost.. ',;There, i.was weakness at the : heart .'of the;■ Church; partly because they thought .ted. much about',the mac'hinery--the .running-' of the Church.:: ■ They were always trying to make the thing run, and .forgetting ,what: : :the thing - f0r."... Not 7 only were: they, dull, but' they were too. often. < afraid'to assert themselves, and only hoping that-they might be permitted■' to exist for a littlelonger time. This was not God's purpose. He put His .Church; in-, the: world; to overcome the world. . The weakness of the Clmrch was that she had lost that sense of aggressive should inspire her to go : out-into." theVworld and win> it.' -'.'We ihave;- asked these .: missibners" : to come out and help us because we are a dull lot," asserted Bishop Julius, and he concluded by expressing his desire that the mission might bring; strong men';within the fold of tho Church,.men too honest to profess a belief , they did riot hpld,.;'-: Bow-he yearned' for;.such men! These were the men that .must bo. won for God. , ■ 1 -. •, Another- hymn by the choir was followed; by. the "Parable of . the . Lost Sheep, read by the Bishop of Wellington, and: then, Canon - Stuart rose to address tho congregation., ; > • >An Impressive Address. : Canon Stuart; who has .the-' aspect rather of. a;scholar than; of an -aideht nussioner,. commenced-by' asking the' congregation to-: join with; him in,prayer. His opening, remarks; seemed - very.' quiet ana.;solemn,- after'the keien" and .! racy' criticism of.-,.the- Bishop of Christchurch. : But. this impression; quickly passed as preacher proceeded;with.hissubject,': (speaking .with -a restrained force which fcoon. compelled.the-deepest attention of ' his hearers. The;;address 'was-- ih"'the main a series of .word-pictures, vividly drawn and, full of earnest appeal. At the outset he dwelt" on the; Old'..Testa--raent appeal of man' : to ; God—"Turn, 0 God and -the New Testament answer to that , appeal—-"and . He . -turned." Passing from an impressive description of - some outstanding :features in the life,: prucinxiori-, and..earthly ministry . of Christ, .the preacher, set. before' his listeners, in. a new and striking, way, the meaning of some..of those. New, Testament incidents' so familiar to every. Christian. It: was altogether a deeply impressive- evangelical address. the conclusion of . his address, Oanon Stuart ' invited ■ the ' assembly ' to; kneel . and . repeat alter him the genera! confession from the Prayer Book, but with plural ("we"): altered to the singular ("I") so that, as he', explained,; it became in each 'case an individual personal confession of.sin.' . Canon. Stuart then pronounced the benediction, after which the great congregation dispersed while a hymn was sung by the .choir, - • • v. : As some money was - found in the boxes placed at the. doors for 'receiving communications intended for the mis sioners, we are requested ,to state that it is not intended, to take up any collections at the mission services. MEETINGS THIS WEEK. . A great mass, meeting,w'iU be held in' the . Town; Hall every, evening: at 8 o clock, commencing this eveninc, and until Friday next, October 7. In addi tion„ during -,the period stated above special meetings for women will b s held in the Missions, to Seamen Hal] dn.ilv from 12.25 p.ni to 12.50 p.m., and from J.J>. p.m.. to -1.50- p.m. - Coinoidently special meetings for men will bo hplrl at the. Town Hall; Canon Stuart will take the women's mooting at 12 25 while the Bishop of Christchurch takes the men s-meeting at the Town Hall At the 1.25: meetings the missioned will exchange places. : ' .