THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY IN NEW ZEALAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 822, 15 September 1870, Page 4

THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY IN NEW ZEALAND.

£ s to the work of tjie ministry in New Zealand, it is not sp different'from the work in this country as is sometimes Imagined. Jn the ojder settlements, it j 8 very much the saline. There is, in&§%4i !8 %os| of the coloyiesj this great

advantage, that the Presbyterian Church is one an<J undivided. There ig no Established Church; tell your hearers they need to be established in graee and godliness. There is no Reformed Presbyterian Church; tell them tfcat there are none so good but that they can stand a deal of reformation. There is no United Prosbyterian Church; tell them that the more they are united to Christ and to one another, so much the better. There is no Free Church; tell them that they are sufficiently free without the name. And remind them, "He only is the freeman whom the truth makes free, and all are slaves besides." And others also not connected with any Presbyterian Church, often form part of our congregation, and may sit down at the same communion table, although they naturally prefer their own section of the Church of Christ. And I cannot see why that which is a symbol of unity should ever be made a symbol of division among those that love the Lord and are interested in the common salvation. The lesson for those who have to minister to such in holy things is plain. They need to cultivate a catholic and loving spirit—to endeavor, amid manifold diversities, to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, remembering that " There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called ia one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, the Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Eph, iv. 4 6.)—From; •' Christ's Ambassadors to the Isles of the South, their Character and Work," an ordination charge, by the lie v. P. Barclay, M.A., late Minister of St. Paul's Church, Napier, N.Z.