INAUGURAL MEETING.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 33, 7 February 1913, Page 5

INAUGURAL MEETING.

OFFICERS AND VISITORS

[Special Correspokdent.}

WELLINGTON, Feb. 6. Tlie Conference opened its sessions m the Taranaki Street Methodist Cfturdi on Wednesday evening. A.s was expected, there was a larg.i attendance of ministers and laymen from almost every town in the Dominion, about 300 ministers and laymen being present. . The retiring president, the Rev. W. .Heady, of Auckland, delivered a very timely, practical, and comprehensive adoross, touching on the- trend of modern thought, and the great problems that- wero facing the Christian Church of to-day. Tho Rev. Samuel Lawry, of Christchurch, was elected president for the ensuing year by a very substantial vote. Mr Lawry took a prominent part in the agitation for separation from the General Conference of Australasia, which has been new granted to the Mothcdist Church oi New Zealand. It was largely in recognition of his valuable services in. this direction that he was elected to the chair of the Methodist- Church on Wednesday evening. The Rev. E. H. Laws, 8.A., was elected secretary of Conference by a very large vote. Mr Laws vnelds a facile pen, and is one of the best secretaries tho Conference has had. The election to this offic-3 was a very popular one.

The Conference- was favored in having on- its platform the Rev. Dv Youngman, president of the Genera] Conference of Australasia, and the Rev. Or Aloricy, of Melbourne. Tiiese gentlemen were present to represent .Methodism in the sister Colonies, and to convey fraternal greetings on the historic occasion of union with the Primitive Methodist Church and separation from the General Conference-. The deliverance of I)r Yovmgman on Wednesday evening was of ;■« veiy liigh order. It was described as bringing "warmth to the heart and iron to tho blood.'

Tho Rev. Dr Morky was for many years a well-known and prominent minister of the Methodist Church in New Zealand. Some eleven years ag<3 he was transferred to the "Victorian Conference to fili one of the most important positions of the Conference. Ho roceived a most cordial welcome as ho stepped upon the platform. j)r Morley drew" a contrast between the stat-a of the Church 60 years ago and today. .showing what colossal strides the Church had mado and how she was proving worthy of her best traditions. The meeting was a memorable one, and augurs well for one of the most important and far-reaching Conferences that' lias been held in New Zealand.