CITIZENS' SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 56, 4 September 1944, Page 4

CITIZENS' SERVICE

A NOTABLE GATHERING

| Responding whole-heartedly to the King's request for the observance of a national day of prayer and thanksgiving to mark the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of war and the mounting successes of the allied arms, citizens of Wellington almost filled the Town Hall yesterday afternoon for a special service arranged by the leaders of the churches in conjunction with the City Council. A notable gathering included the Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, and Lady Newall, the Mayor (Mr. Appleton), the Prime Minister (Mr. Praser), Cabinet Ministers, and other members of the legislature, members of the Consular Corps, representatives of the Judiciary and the Armed Forces, the Bishop of Wellington (the Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland), and councillors The order of the service was -- as follows:—National Anthem; invocation the Rev. J. Thomson Macky, Moderator °<k Presbytery; hymn, m of Bethel" reading from the Old Testament, his Excellency; prayer of thanksgiving and confession, Commissioner J. Evan Smith; hymn, Holy fa^r, in Thy Mercy"; reading from the New Testament, the Mayor; hymn Thy Kingdom Come"; address, the *cvi jf • Nortn; hymn, "Man True of Heart ; prayer of intercession, the Rev. R. W. Simpson; prayer of dedication and the blessing, the Rev J Thomson Macky; the New Zealand National Anthem. „In h?f. address Mr. North spoke of the striking change, that had come over the world since 'first Mr. Churchill issued his ringing challenge when the Nazi hordes were sweeping all before! them with seemingly irresistible force.. The past five years had been years of fluctuating fortunes, in which the British- nation had known both the tenseness of imminently threatening victories Snd the exultation ot great! THE MESSAGE OF THE BELLS. "And now we gather 'with thanks--4 S5 and hopefulness,'" said Mr North "The bells have rung again for the setting free of another great people from the tyranny of a ruthless oppressor And they will continue to ring with even louder and more Dubilant tones until the triumphant peal of final victory. They are the bells of hope that ring their way into the hearts of men and women of good will everywhere. They herald the passing of the night of suffering and dread, and the dawning of a new day of opportunity." • y There was something tremendously storing in the ringing of bells. Down through the centuries they had spoken to the people in hours of national joy or speaking of approaching 2 gt r',, or telll"g of great victories^ £h w^t^ way into human ?rthf^ North asked his listeners to think what the 9 o'clock chimes of Big Ben meant to the people of the Empire and to people in other lands 3.S WGII. ■A jiiew age could be rung in only by the bells of faith, hope, and love the bells whose tones spoke of trust in Almighty God, of loyalty to His will iWl c' t and of generous-hearted i Th£*Tn^ l J 3l tween man and There could be no new age apart from new and better men. Conferencesan™ leagues, pacts, charters, treaties—all were powerless to destroy prejudices and antipathies and to avert the horroS tL r Ce Uakn ng nf Warh' ? e remedy la^ thJt^Sf v the human s Pirit. an<* came T* Th ere °Ur / eliSious faith fn^ffp tn ere Sl eml d t0 be so much mpnt J% C3U? e- doubt and embitterX hnM d + cysiClsm- X was not easy to hold steadfastly to a lofty ideal when appearances seemed to be al if took eofX 33*11117 Of its attainment History recorded that when Ca'nponi Mayor of Florence, refused to Sown» t* wU? have my trumpets «o?Vl~« r --«-eff bZ BVe^u^e^rieaa^e Sffl •let Christ?'" 8 '»'=.■"«»»•* fi • X ~lstian men and women rhW national prayer let us humS and sin c£rely dedicate ourselves anew to Him' <-dim as it is m heaven. CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE sincere purnose an/i «* * iaixn, ot tearitv ™,v£ *?' • ■ of utmost inScfw'Sl S? g&V* an°i houri of wL» Pr°Vlng itS6lf in war, our finest hon?vements in the JLet ,our answer