TRADITIONS OF KING’S

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1011, 30 June 1930, Page 14

TRADITIONS OF KING’S

BUILDING OF A SCHOOL

SERVICES OF THANKSGIVING King's College old boj'S and past Scholars of St. John’s College visited King's yesterday morning to take part in special thanksgiving services for the recent fusion of control of the two colleges under jurisdiction of the St. John’s College Trust Board. Special thanksgiving hymns were sung, the service concluding with the school’s own song and the National Anthem. In a sermon, the headmaster. Canon H. K. Archdall, referred to the importance of sound educational institutions in a young country. The ideals behind King’s College were based on many centuries of experience in the history of Europe and had received a special form of expression in England during the time of the Renaissance in the 16th century. He referred to the vicissitudes in tht history of the college, with its alternating periods of progress and difficulties, and paid a tribute to the Christian vision of Bishop Selwyn and those who helped to carry out his ideals, and to the courage of private enterprise, which slipped into the breach in a time of great economic anxiety in the Auckland district. The college chapel, erected by the old boys and parents as a memorial to the men of the school who gave their lives in the war, was a great achievement, which had given Auckland and the country in general a splendid heritage. THANKSGIVING ASPECT •‘The thanksgiving aspect of the service,” said Canon Archdall, “is for the very generous services and gifts of money which had been forthcoming in order to bring about the new control. These efforts, in which old boys and friends of the school have displayed a wonderful spirit of generosity, have enabled more than £20,000 to be raised to enable the transfer of King’s College to the St. John's College Trust Board to take place.” He expressed the opinion that the community of Auckland would in future fully appreciate the necessity of the ideals upon which King's College was founded. For the present, ■while the enthusiasm of building up the institution was still alive, it was important that a feeling of gratitude should produce a humble and steadfast purpose expressing itself in deeds. A vastly new responsibility had to be assumed, but it would be taken up with courage and new confidence.