ANNIVERSARY SERVICES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 70, 31 March 1913, Page 6

ANNIVERSARY SERVICES.

t . TB* UNITED-METHOD IST ti CHURCH. vm •.», big day in the his**7 W«*tey»n •*Hi Primitive ChUfeilM, and the services celebrating i»nipn were, largely attfaded th® .xcejient;.w«*k accomplished by the choirs being a special gin thf merging the Began street «jh«vcl| ~waa crowded, when the Rev. % . Uetrim preaqhe<| his farewell, ecrl mom to a Stratford congregation. He. his . fr»% Acts XL, verse f J|ft; “Ai»4 th«, disciple*; were called t#b” the couree of his. remarks, Ik* preacher said that the name of ; r hound s U» together more than any denmaainatipnal tie; mors should be thought of our unities than our differences, and lea* should ha thought of thp incidental,s. than thi fundamentals. In the United Cjknrch it mfist he 'the endeavour of to’ be Christians above all t|paga,‘ and there ahoidd be no desire to put the name of Methodist above the name of Christian, The name “Christy implied » serious , task; I it,! imposed, a Ufa-long devotion to our Lord. But Christian life must be ’* , known by its fm»ts. In the world te-day, there were four types of Christians—the “minimum Christian,” who Would era;?!} , Heaven as cheaply as possible;, the “speculative” or “theoretical Christian,” who was good at* talking at meetings, though his talk was as' the chattering of magpies; the “narrow-minded Christian,” and the “surrendered Christian,” who gave all there was of him to Christ. There were, ‘.said the Rev. Metson, these four types in the Church to-day, but in the United Church no minimum Christians, no theoretical Christians, Ugd no. parrow-mipded Christians should And p place. ,-A big prooesrion of the Sunday School children was the chief function in the afternoon, when an address was delivered by, the Rev. Reader. 4. Again in the evening there was a big congregation, the seating capacity of tbe |lroadwa.Y Church being taxed tO tha ntipost. The Rev. Reader conducted the service, and w;as assisted by the Rev. Metson. Mr Reader preached from John, chapter 17, verse • "That they .all may be one as Thou Father are in me, and in Thee, that they may be one in Us that the world nay believe that Thou hast sent Ma.” The speaker spoke on the ikrse ties mentioned in the passage—the tie which hound Jesus to his Fath- *, the tie which bound the disciples

to Jcdils, and the tie which bound the disciples to each other. In the tie between Father and Son there was perfect rhythm, harmony and concord ;, the disciples were bound to Christ by the same indissoluble love. In the . new Church, he hoped these ties would be very strong and that the people would go forward, determined to be characterised by the spirit of brotherhood and love. Special anthems were rendered by the choir, and a solo was finely given by Miss Cameron. Communion was celebrated at the conclusion of the evening service, there being a vety large number of Communicants.