The Primitive Methodist Church.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 220, 18 March 1895, Page 2

The Primitive Methodist Church.

(Ashburton Guardian.) On Sunday evening the Rev. James Cocker preached his farewell sermon to the people of his charge in the Primitive Methodist Church. (The Rev. Mr Cocker succeeds the Rev. Mr Clement's at Feilding.) In spite of the boisterioua weather the church was full, and a pleasing feature of the congregation present was the fact that fully twothirds of the people were men. Mr Cocker preached one of those sermons which have been so characteristic of his ministry — earnest in his appeal to those who have not yet accepted ; comforting to the mournful ; encouraging to the faint hearted ; giving words of salutation and greeting to the strong workers. A short biographical notice of the gentleman who is about to leave us, may not be uninteresting. Mr Cocker is but thirty-three years of age. He was born in the village of Calver on the Derwent, in Derbyshire. His family were farmers and lime burners. At sixteen after acquiring such education as Calver could give him he went to work at the Buxton lime works. Six days in the week he was away from home at the kilns, but the seventh he spent with his parents and worshipped in the old Methodist chapel in the village in which his father and grandfather before him had worshipped. It was here he was converted. He had great misgivings about opening his lips as a preacher of the Gospel, but by-and-by circumstances occurred which forced him to enter upon the work. He became a local preacher, and there were occasions on which he did not shrink from a twenty mile walk to preach twice on a Sunday, and on other occasions between Saturday night and Monday morning he covered forty miles on foot to preach the gospel. His church decided to recommend him for the ministry and he began to study. The examiners were fastidious, and would have none of a man who spoke a dialect like that of Derbyshire and with an accent as broadly marked as an Aberdonian. But if the " elders of the people " rejected the young provincial, the people did not, and soon the Church at Ashton-under-Lyne asked him to be their home missionary. An offer of free training in a university had been made to him if he would enter the Church of England, but he preferred the Church of his fathers, and went in the humbler capacity of home missionary. Ultimately Mr Cocker was accepted, and entered the Church College, with the object at the close of his curriculum of coming to New Zealaud, which he did. He labored for a few weeks in Auckland and at the Thames, and arrived in Ashburton on November 7th, 1890. This was really his first charge. His success in Ashburton has been phenomenal. He had only been two months in harness when his people were forced to take steps to enlarge the Church to find accommodation for the congregations. From an ecclesiastical point of view the work of Mr Cocker has been •minently satisfactory, over 100 conversions having been recorded during his Ashburton Ministry, and throughout the town he has made troops of friends. Mr Cooker has won the good opinions of even those who have no love for the cause he champions most, and they give him the credit of " fighting fair," and there are very many in this town who will miss the sturdy little figure with the hearty smile on the broad honest face.