Congregational Union, Wellington.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 348, 14 February 1908, Page 3

Congregational Union, Wellington.

WOBK IN THE BACK-BLOCKS On Thursday evening a public meeting was held, the president of the Union j (Eiv. D. Hird) occupying the chair. There wbs a very large attendance of Council delegates and of the public, The meeuug was devoted to the cousideration of home missions. 1 HARDSHIPS C? THE BUSH. ! The Rev. C. E. Davidson (Kawbia) 1 described the terrible hardships with which ministers and borne missionaries in the back blocks had to put up. They often had to work hard with very little encouragement, and under such circumstances that people were often inclined to ask, “Is it worth while?]’ Of course it was worth while. Though progress was slow,it was certainly sure, and the Kingdom of Christ was being extended far into the bush. The people of the beck-blocks were often :aproOhed for their failure to observe the Sabbath, but they on old not be expected to do eo, until they were spiritually oared for in a thorough maniu . The danger which always beset a bush settlement was that- of drifting into God less indifference. Sunday was no dif ferent from any other day, except that the work on that d iy was a little differ ent from that of the rest of the week. But the presence of the missionaries in any district checked this drifting mt > heathendom. Did not this in itself make the missionaries work worth while ? THE NEEDS OV THE KING COUNTRY. The Rev. R. Mitchell (Te K nd) also gave a graphic do-crip ionol lb'’ work of a back-blocks mis-ionary. Such a man, he said, was a pioneor in the truest sense of the word The bush districts of the North I-land were scowly becoming more and more thickly populated. The need for workers was becoming greater every day, and tha need must be supplied by the Congregational Chii-ch. When a eulement sprang into existence and there whs n raligi ius worker to lo k after tl e -piri tual welfare of the inhabitant?, then grew up a deadly indiff -rtnce t'» religi cur matters. Bn 'he settler? con’d

not be blamed for his They b c»m indifferent not b c use they were b\ nature irreligiou-, bit b ctse the' never bad an I pp ■' um y > f i>-i 'g any thing else. The e p' u mnsi he help ed, and instead - f pointing the finger of scnrn them, church people of the city would do well t > afford them th« assistance they so b diy needed. Ir. the speaker’s own district there was much more work to bd done than ev?r he was ab/ *o do. He promised that if he coq/ two m >re men at Te KuitfbeA them three services every Sunuay, with one during th? week, and not lessen his own labours. According to him, the work of a minis ter in the King Country is by no means too easy. Mr Mitchell said that he often rode from 120 to 130 miles a week on duty, in addition to this he bad to look after the bodies as well as the souls of bis flock, and occasionally had to pay visits to about fifteen patients a day, taking the place not only of a physician, but.even occasionally of a surgeon.

A speaker waxed facetious in his own way. In his parish he said there were people belonging to many denomina-tions—-Anglican 0 , Presbyterians, Meth hodists, Agnost’cs, and even crookedsticks. 'Sometimes he had tn speak almost to empty benches —and wooden seats were not so inspiring as wo den heads.