METHODIST CHURCH

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 46, 24 February 1930, Page 7

METHODIST CHURCH

CONFERENCE SERVICES

CHRISTIANITY'S MISSION'

A well-attended fellowship meeting was held under the auspices of the Methodist Conference at Wesley Church, Taranaki street, on Saturday evening. The service was conducted by the Rev. J. E. Parsons, of Palmerston North; and addresses were delivered by the Rev. E. T~Olds (Auckland) and Mr. R. C. Clarki M.A; (principal of the Paerata Wesley Training College). The speakers emphasised the fact tliat, while with ftepwjg of the years the methods oi Christian:, evangelism changed, the message ever remained the same in its power to touch human lives to finer issues. They earnestly appealed to their hearers to cultivate in their lives a vital experience of Jesus Christ,-to enable them to translate emotional fervour into the service ot their fellow-men. ' . ,n t ■■ The three leading executive officers ot the conference took part in the -morning service at'Wesley Church, Taranaki-street, yesterday. The service was conducted by the president, the Rev. A. X Scotter, 8.A.; the vice-president (Mr. A. Peak, honorary organist for 19 years of the Epsom Methodist Church, Auckland) presided at the organ; and the Rev. J. 11. lHaslam, conference secretary, sang • ths recitative tenor solo from , the oratorio "Elijah." There was a large congregation present, and also at the evening service conducted by the ex-president, the Key. J. F. Goldie. In his sermon at the -morning service, the Rev. A. X. Scotter, dealing with the mission of the Christian Church, stated that, as great causes centred in . great leaders, so the Christian Church centred in its Divine Founder, Jesus Christ; and the live consciousness of that fact •was essential to any really vital and effective impact of the church upon the age and its problems, both social and spiritual. Christianity was not, lie stressed, a matter of creed and formulae, but consisted in an experimental knowledge of the living Christ. . ■ ; " ' The Rev. J. F. Goldie, speaking in the evening on the parable of the prodigal son, emphasised the wastefulness, meanuess, and derangement of sin. Special anthems were sung by the clioir at each service, and solos-were also rendered—in the morning by the Rev. J. It. Haslam and in the evening by Gina, the newb'-appointed native minister to the Solomon Islands. . A largely-attended Bible class rally was held in Wesley Church on Sunday afternoon. The Rev. A. X. Scotter presided, and addresses were delivered by .Miss h. Sewell and the Rev. B. R. Hames, travelling secretaries, respectively, of the xoung Women's and Young Men's Bible Class Unions. , . Upwards of 500 people attended the conference picnic at Day's Bay on Saturday afternoon.