OPENING OF THE NEW UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCH.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1085, 3 August 1871, Page 2

OPENING OF THE NEW UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCH.

TEA MEETING. A tea meeting was held last Tuesday eveningin the new place of worship erected in Emerson street for the United Methodist Free Church congregation. Tea was commenced punctually at the advertised hour, 6.80 p.m., at which time the room was well filled. For a long time, however, move visitors continued to arrive, and during the latter part of the evening the building was crowded. A plentiful supply of good things had been provided, the excellent quality of which reflected no small credit on the ladies in attendance who had prepared them. The following ladies presided at the tables :—Mrs J. W. Neal, Mrs J. Martin, Mrs J. LeQuesne, Mrs H. Wil Hams, Mrs J. T. Johnson, Mrs W. Burtton, Mrs G. Rymer, Mrs P. Badley, Mrs Chicken, Mrs Charlton, Mrs Tuxford, Mrs Beagley, Mrs Stephens, Mrs Simon, Miss Close, Miss Graham. The tables having been removed, the chair was taken by Joseph Rhodes, Esq. The proceedings were opened by singing the hymn " Come, let us join our cheerful songs," after which a prayer was offered by the Rev. R. Taylor. The Chairman said that it gave him great pleasure again to address a meeting of this kind, so much more num.rously attended than on the last occasion. He was gratiQed to see that the zeal of their minister had been rewarded in the first place by the erection of the substan* tial building in which they were now assembled, secondly, by the large attendance on this occasion, and thirdly, by the prospect of a speedy clearing off of the debt. From the report they would find that out of the .£6OO which the building and land originally cost, about one half had been paid off; and he had no doubt that every shilling would be paid by Christ* mas. (Applause.) Mr Rhodes then gave a brief history of the progress of Methodism from its beginning in 1729. About that time infidelity was perhaps more rampant in Europe than either before or since, and he considered that Wesley and his colleague Whitfield—and about the same time Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravians—were the chief instruments, under Providence, of its downfall. He need scarcely observe that no nation could be in a more hopeless or deplorable condition than when abandoned to infidelity. This had been illustrated in France, the senate of which country, in 1792 or 1793, passed a blasphemous edict, setting forth that there was no God, and appointing a Goddess of

Liberty. The horrors of that time were well known, and by our latest news we found that infidelity had again shown its head in that country, and that horrors, such as had not been witnessed even in Few Zealand, bad transpired in unhappy France. Happily England had hitherto been spared such a fate. He had been told that the minister of this congregation was a teetotaler. Now, he had been trying to find who wa3 the first teetotaler, but was unable to do so. John Wesley, at any rate had some claim to the title, for on a voyage to America it was recorded that he abstained not only from intoxicating liquors, but from flesh meat. One remarkable fact in connexion with the Methodist body was the remarkable rate at which their numbers had increased. At the date of the first conference in 1806, the total number in Great Britain was 133,000, and in America, 134,000 —a little over a quarter of a million altogether, and they had reached this number in the face of persecutions such as could scarcely be imagined in these days of liberty. Among the dark places to which the light of Methodism penetrated in those days was Cornwall, in some parts of which there had previously been neither law nor order, and where murders and other crimes were rife. No small share of the opposition with which Methodism had to contend came from old and wealthy churches; but this state of things had now long ceased. He hoped his children would see the day when sects and parties would be abolished among Christians, and there would be a single United Episcopal Primitive Christian Church. He should like to preside over the inaugural meeting of such a body, when, all little party differences set aside, one and all would strive solely for the furtherance of the Kingdom of Christ upon earth.

Mr T. Johnson then brought forward the report of the committee. The site for the church had cost ,£2OO, and the building <£4oo. Of this sum J 5253 had already been raised by subscription, and it was expected that the meeting of tonight would add a little to the funds. The committee desired to express their gratitude to the public for the liberal manuer in which they had come forward with their subscriptions. In no case where the committee had made an application had they been sent empty away. The ladies of the society had also a bazaar in contemplation, for which great preparations had been made. A sewing circle had met weekly for a considerable time, and bad provided a surprising quantity of beautiful and saleable articles. There was no inferior work in them—they might depend upon that—and in fact it was worth paying sixpence to see some of the little frocks and other articles of clothing, By these and other means the committee expected soon to have the debt entirely cleared off; their prospects were good, and they regarded the past with thankfulness and the future with hope. (Applause.) Mr Colenso, who was received with applause, said that be was happy to have the opportunity of addressing a lew words to the meeting, for the cause in which they were engaged had had his hearty sympathy from the beginning, and he had determined if the weather or his infirmities did not prevent him, to be present at the opening of the church. He was now an old man, and in his time he had seen many of the blessings of Methodism, particularly in the West of England, from whence he came. It had been his privilege in Cornwall to hear many old Methodists —now at rest —speak of the days of good old John Wesle;, and the great work he had done in their part of the country, Cornwall was indeed a dark place before Wesley commenced his labors, but the light penetrated even there, —and so it would ever be where the truth was spoken faithfully and freely from heart to heart. In his youth he had attended many of the services of the old Wesleyans, and had derived much good from them. He remembered once being present at a meeting to inaugurate a new chapel —a meeting similar to this, only more largely attended. Among the speakers was a foreigner— Dr. Giustiniani. Englishmen always liked to be addressed by foreigners, but this gentleman's address was more than ordinarily impressive. He took as a text the twelfth verse of the second chapter of the first epistle of John, and he completely carried the audieuce with him. He C.) reruembere4 W illustration he

drew from the violin-playing of Paganini,. the great master of the instrument, who had never heen surpassed, before or After describing the principal parts of the instrument and their use, he said there was one very little necessary thing—so* necessary that if it were absent, not even Paganini could play upon it. Tbat part was the bridge. Such a bridge, he said, was supplied by Methodist societies*. He had heard an allusion made to the difficulties the early Methodists had to contend against. He could bear witness that it was uphill work they had to perform—in fact, it would take him a whole evening to describe it. Since he had been in this town he had always desired. to see a Methodist place of worship erected, and ic was now his privilege to address them in the substantial building in: which they were assembled. He was glad to see that no money had been frittered away in nonsense, and he did not doubt that the present plain building was more acceptable to the Divine Being for Whose service it had been built, than if it had been adorned with unnecessary ornamentation and decoration. He (Mr C.) could remember many chapels in England, built on a very similar plan. He would show the reasou whyhe in particularsupported the cause of Methodism, It was not only from grateful recollection of the good he had himself derived from it, but because.he believed it was one of the means of giving the people an open Bible, and placing no one between the sinner and the Saviour. He sincerely hoped the Society would flourish. Tbat it might do so, however, the members must act in the spirit and follow the example of the old Wesleyans, and their Church would be a power and a blessing. Let them bear in mind St. Paul's words to the Galatians, " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." " And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Let them combine to support their minister, and let no slander or idle tattle pre* vail, so that it might be said of them, as of the church of old, " See how these Christians love one another." They had met to-night to raise their Eben ezer, to acknowledge that "hitherto hath the Lord helped us," and he trusted that in the future many might say, " This house has proved a Bethel to our souls." (Ap«* plause.) An anthem was then sung by the choir. The Rev. R. Taylor said that in coming forward this evening he was not a little troubled by his natural timidity, They might smile, but it was with some little palpitation that he came before them to night. Perhaps it was through seeing so many faces before him. He was much pleased with the remarks of his friend Mr Colenso, whom he bad the pleasure of hearing for the first time to-night. He hoped both to see him and hear him often again. He (Mr T.) loved Methodism, but he loved Christianity more. He loved Methodism for its purity of doctrine, for its simplicity of worship, and for its strictness of discipline. In this latter respect the society had somewhat fallen away since the days of John Wesley —inconsistencies were now too much winked at, aud he hoped another man would arise, imbued with Wesley's spirit, who would either arouse the church to a fuller sense of its duty in this respect, or cause a fresh division. He had not intended at first to refer to this subject, but it was one of great importance, and could not be too often referred to. If the Methodists were to make their mark as a Church, they must be men of consistent sterling piety, with a fixed determination to carry out their laws, which laws, he believed, were founded on Scripture. In speaking as he had done on the advantages of Methodism, he did not mean to say that Methodists were pre-eminent for either of the qualities he had mentioned, for he was happy to say that they possessed them in common with many other Chris-: tion Churches. The great object of each Church was to restore in man the image of God, which he had lost by the fall. He had read an anecdote illustrating this truth. A certain man left his wife in England, and went to a distant Colony, without telling her where he was going, He sent her no letter, and the only relic he had left was a large and beautiful painting of himself in the best room. At first she used to look at the portrait two or three times a day, but as her love cooled down s\e only looked at it once QJ

twice a week, —once a month—until at last for a whole twelvemonth she never tnrned her eyes to the picture. (Laughter.) At last she became so indignant at his absence that she obliterated the face of the picture with black paint, and turned it to the wall. Soon after doing so she received a letter from her husband stating that he would be home in the course of a month. She then became extremely anxious to restore the portrait before his return. To re-turn the portrait was easy, but it was not so easy to remove the black paint. However, she heard of a clever artist, who could remove it. She offered him any money to do so, and he tried, and succeeded in restoring the picture to its original condition. Sin, like the black paint in the story, had disfigured and defaced the image of God in the human soul, and the grand object of every Church was to remove that sin and restore the soul to its original purity, by the blood of Jesus Christ. We often heard that the Church was in daDger; but he was convinced that that danger was magnified. So long as the Church was true to herself, and guarded against enemies within, she had little to fear from infidelity or any other enemy without. (Applause.) Above all things he would charge them to avoid slanderous reports and scandal. Let them hold up the hands of their minister by prayer. He was pleased to see this place of worship so soon after bis friend's arrival, and hoped it might soon be too small to contain those who were turning their faces heavenward. He hoped the blessing of God wonld be upon them, and that they might have many auother happy meeting within this building. (Applause.) The choir then sang the anthem, *• Awake, awake." The Rev. Mr Redstone said that the next name on the chairman's paper was that of Mr France; but as Mr France did not appear on the platform, he must act as that gentleman's representative. Mr Franco had acted so liberally in this matter that he might be excused if he did not come forward and make a speech. He was deeply gratified at the large attendance —so large as to cause some palpitation to his friend Mr Taylor; but for his own part he should have felt much more palpitation if the room had been empty. Twelve months ago, when he left England, he little thought that in one year so nice a place of worship would have been erected for his congregation. His duty to-night was to move a vote of thanks to the ladies, to whom the success of this gathering was entirety due. Ali present would acknowledge how deeply they were indebted to the ladies, but he would leave Mr Moore, who was no doubt letter qualified than himself to speak upon this subject, to do so in seconding the motion. (Applause.) Mr Moore said he had been caught but he would do the best he could. He «ould fully sympathise with Mr Taylor's palpitation, lor he now suffered from the same symptoms. He was sure he conveyed the feeling of the meeting when he said that had it not been for the ladies they should indeed have had a poor tea. Mr France had been fortunate in having an able spokesman, but he (Mr M ) was not so well off. For his own part he was very fond of the ladies (applause), aud he had great pleasure in seconding the proposal. (Great applause.) Choir : " Thine, 0 Lord." Mr Redstone moved a vote of thanks to the choir and to Mr Colenso. He was glad that the latter gentleman had had this opportunity of showing his sympathy with them, more especially as he had recently been made the scapegoat of a very unhandsome thing in relation to their cause. He would also announce that his friend Mr Taylor, who had delivered so interesting an address to-night, would conduct service morning and evening in the church next Sunday. Mr Neal seconded the vote of thanks, which was unanimously passed. A vote of thanks to the chairman having also been passed, the proceedings were closed by the choir singing the anthem, " How charming is the voice."