BISHOP AVERILL'S VISIT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 3, 21 August 1914, Page 3

BISHOP AVERILL'S VISIT.

MEETING AT STRATFORD. 'K missionary meeting was held in the Parish Hall on Wedned'say evening, the Bishop presiding. There was a good attendance. Mr Smith, at present on the Home Mission District, spoke on behalf of that Mission, and made a strong appeal for the prayers and sympathy of the people who were, comfortably settled in a paroclnal district or parish for those who were out in the ijackhlocks". Archdeacon Hawkins dealt with his work in the Maori Mission field, and the Rev,.! F. ,A. Cnawshaw (New Plymouth), who had spent four years in the Melanesian Mission, appealed on behalf of the mission i .to the people of: the Isles ; of , the* Sea, who being oat of sight were very often also ■nit of anind.i > ■.i : The Bishop said' it ; was very" disappointing when he camo to Auckland to find that the Maori Mission fund was £SOO in debt, and that the assistant-superintendent, Rev. MoWilbain had to resign his work amongst 1 the Maoris because the funds would not support,,him. . But he (the iiishop) had recalled him to Ids work, and his fujtb, was,. «uqh ; that lie believed the, people of the diocese would support hii'h- Continuing) the Bishop said the pakcha had taken the Maoris' land from, them and taught them much that was evil'; for instance, Ilo-toi-ua was a scandal and disgrace on account of the evil influence of many of the tourists. The Bishop gave an instance of a Maori in the Bay of Plenty who brought down his -Bible and pointed to the fourth commandment, and asked him if that was only meant for the Maoris. fie had been.. Bishop of a Maori diocese, and he knew full well the result of contact of the Maori and the lower-class European; Contact with the Maoris with much of our so-called civilisation resulted in the Maori feeling that his own land was becoming to him a strange land in which he found i difficulty in singing the Lord's song. It was absolutely necessary that we should surround the Maori A'ith a truer type of civilisation and i real atmosphere of Christianity before we could expect him to attain to any degree of real religion. More Christian workers were a necessitv.

md smaller areas for the Maori clergy and much more personal supervision. The Maori would respond at once to sympathy when he realised that the influence of the pakeha in him 'was disinterested, and the Maori was capable to-day of developing the true Christian character and even heroism as much as his forelathers in the days of the early missionaries. The Bishop, continuing, said that, he did not believe in standing in the way of opening up the Maori lands, but be was fully convinced that it was wrong to take the Maori lands and Rive them a lump sum in payment. The Maoris did not 'enow the value of money, and they expended it all on luxuries, and such a policy if continued would soon make them landless and paupers. Ho thought the Maoris should have the right to sell the surplus land after having sufficient for their own needs, to the Government, on condition that themoney was invested for them, and they should only receive yearly the interest on that money. The Bishop appealed for more prayer for missions

and a more systematic giving, a regular weekiy contribution to a missionary box instead of the present spasmodic method.

A hymn was sung, and the Bishop closed with the Benediction.