CHURCH JUBILEES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 121, 24 May 1937, Page 7

CHURCH JUBILEES

CELEBRATIONS BEGIN

YHORNDON METHODIST

First opened for worship on December 20, 1872, the Thorndon Methodist Church. Molesworth Street, began the celebration of its post-diamond jubilee on Saturday, and further celebrations will be held this week. A prayer and preparation meeting was held on Saturday night, and the two services ye* terday, which were conducted by th« Rev Dr. C. H. Laws, of Auckland, • past minister of the church were well attended by past and present members o the congregation. At the morning service a -cello^olo was played by Mr. Hamilton Dickson, and at tha evening service Mr. Roy Hill sang a "Everything shall live, whither the river cometh.V was the text Dr. Laws took from Ezekiel for his mornmg address. This visionary stream, he _ explained, flowed from the sanctuary into the desert, and thence into the Dead Sea. Prosperity and fruitfulness sprang up wherever it went, • the prophetic symbol of the life-giving power. STREAM OF CHRISTIANITY. The preacher traced the course of this vital power of the. early Christian faith through the pagan world, in which weariness and sated lust made human life a hell. He cited the^transXormation wrought in Great Britain in more modern times by the Methodist revival, and the changed- 'conditions effected by missionaries' labours m many parts of the world. ■ . Religion was a leaven in the Hie oi today, awakening concern at false standards and evil conditions, assisting man to reach towards world righteousness and 'brotherhood. The deepening river of vision suggested a deepening faith experienced by those obedient to the spirit of God and the leadership; of Christ. Pure religion ministered to .childlike faith, was an inspiration to the ardour of youth, and proved all-suffi-cient for the maturity of age. In Christ was found inexhaustible fullness and satisfaction for the individual and for the race. In the evening Dr. Laws preached on "The Wind Bloweth Where it Listeth," dealing with the varied expression of the spirit of God in the lives of men and women. After the service a friendly hour was spent in the schoolroom, the women's Vailima Club providing supper. The jubilee thanksgiving fund for church renovation yesterday reached the total of £200. The full programme of commemoration is as follows:—Tuesday, May 25, presentation of Biblical play,. "Amor Christi," by the Bible classes; Thursday, May 27, social reunion and address by the Eev. F. Copeland, president of conference; Friday, May 28, Sunday school social; Sunday, May 30, services at 11 a.m. (the Rev. sF. Copeland); at 7 p.m. (the Rev. J.jßichards). At the latter service the choir, under the conductorship of Mr. Hamilton Dickson,'will render the cantata "A Joyful Thanksgiving."