PRESBYTERIANISM IN LEVIN.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 11 May 1910, Page 2

PRESBYTERIANISM IN LEVIN.

» AN INTERVIEW. THE QUESTION OF BIBLE TEACHING. VIEWS OF THE REV. J. WHITE. •Presibyterianism in LeVin> is making steady -progress, and the Rev. J. White, who has been minister in Levin for tlio past two years, speaks hopefully of ite future —indeed of the future of all tlio churches. It is forty-four years since lie gave up the ehiargo of the church at Brighton, on the south const of England. In those days the pressure for missions on the gold fields on the west coast was very severe, and at that time Mr White was si member of Itho United Methodist Free. Church. About ■twenty-three, years ago ho joined the Presbyterian Church, and in various parts of Now /.ealand hu has given loyal and enduring work to that church. He was at Kelso for a period, and was supply alb Cromwell. In 1891 h<? w-ent to Pleasant Point, South Canterbury. He stivyeH there till two years ago, when ho came to Levin. Those two years hiavo proved eventful in solar as building up a, church is concerned. The church has a considerable number of adherents in Levin. There are some eighlty communicants on the roll, with a. corresponding number of non-communi-cants. There are about seventy or eighty members in ooniveotion. with the Sundiay School. Mr White ami his lieutenants are workings, away hard to establish a congregation on a Presbyterian basis, and so far with o- degree of prosperity that is, to say the least, hopeful. So far as the life of the district is conce-rned, itho rev. gentlemen says that ho is convinced there has -been an improvement. The churches have got into touch better with ono another, and a spirit of mutual sympathy has been engendered. Religious "bodies had certainly been stimulated and strengthened during the course of tho last two years, and he is strongly of opinion that there a promising outlook for church life in Levin. His own people have backed him up moat loyally. So far as the tone, of the town is concerned, Mr White does not like to commit himself to any incomplete or inaccurate statement, buft he •ays there is every ground for believing the tone has improved of late years. There is, he says, a social development going on which ilives promise of a. better state- of things. The necessity for training the children in a knowledge of scripture Mr White holds to of the first importance. His view ■ui the nuestion of Rible teaching in ithe schools is that the nresent minority in favour of Biblo teaching -must b'o made into a. majority. The system they were trying to introduce did violence to no one's opinions. Where the Xelson system Ind been tried there had, been no sectarian feeling arousi'd, and facts and figuros alike proved that where it had been adopted its results had been most beneficial. Mr White recognises that the task before tho churches is a difficult one. but he looks forward to the f ntnre with much con-..ence and; hope.