NEW CHURCH HALL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 703, 1 July 1929, Page 14

NEW CHURCH HALL

ST. AID AN’S EXTENSION FOUNDATION-STONE LAID In the presence of a large assembly, Archbishop Averill performed the ceremony of laying the foundationstone of a new church hall at Meadowbank Road, Remuera, yesterday afternon. The new building will be part of St. Aidan’s parish. The ceremony took the form of a short service, the singing of which was led by St. Aidan’s Choir. The warden, staff, and students of St. John’s College were also present. In a short address, the archbishop said that a church which failed to carry out extension work died down and disappeared. The Church in the north of Africa i formerly flourished, but had neglected to extend its activities. The same ] applied to a parish—it was imperative that it should not stagnate and become self-centred. It could be said of the people of St. Aldan’s parish that they were thinking of the others “in the regions beyond.” It was fitting that St. Aidan’s should be a missionary parish, as St. Aidan himself was a missionary who played a large part in re-establishing Christianity in Britain after the partial failure of St. Augustine’s mission. The laying of a foundation-stone was not a ceremony to be regarded lightly. It was a witness to the setting of a covenant between God and man, a pledge that the work so well begun would be carried to a successful conclusion.

The archbishop congratulated the vicar, the Rev. H. A. Coleman, and the parishioners, on the extension made in the parish. He looked forward to the time when he might be able to dedicate the building.