A Church Of Peace.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 19 December 1918, Page 1

A Church Of Peace.

WELLINGTON ANGLICAN CATHIiIDRAL. hi the beginning of the political, commercial and social life ol' New Zealand, there was 110 central city in which were stored the country 'fi records, a nil where the legislators and business men foregathered periodically. It was a scattered community in those days. The capital was Auckland, the cihief busincsi centre Dunedin, while Canterbury and Nelson and Hawke's Bay were powerful provinces which desired recognition as such. But, one by one, the secular interests of the country—private and; public—transferred their headquarters to Wellington, the geographically central port. And as the secular affairs now have their direction in the main from Wellington, so the headquarters of the Church of England will almost certainly be transferred to Wellington. Witih this idea before them Anglican Church people and well-wish-ers are expected to respond nobly to the appeal now being made for funds to erect a beautiful cathedral as a memorial to the men who died for freedom ; and, also, a.s a thank-offering for peace. After the splendid responses which have been made to worthy causes during the war period, such an expectation may bo regarded as an accomplished fact.

The war lias taught many lessons, and one of these is that the strength of a nation does not. lie in its material wealth, its army or its navy, but in the spiritual richness of it« people—tlie eternal principles of truth, justice and equity. A fine cathedral is more than a mass of masonry or a triumph of the architect's and builder's arts. It is a sign and symbol of a faith which lifts men's thoughts to the highest planes — a faith in God. which when matched with the enemy's gross materialism, vanquished materialism. Thib appeal for people to send their free will offerings to build a cathedral in Wellington is a call to all churchmen and wellwishers to immortaH.se this triumph, with its attendant losses and) glories, in the capital city of New Zealand. Full particulars of the project are obtainable from the lion. organifiino- secretary. llev. €. F. Askew, St."Mack's Church. Wellington, to whom all contributions should be made.