Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1895.

Te Aroha News, Volume XII, Issue 1795, 21 December 1895, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1895.

;'£ ••yoUigor Colonies, and to y B*ome extent in the older ones also, the church work of all denominations is ' carried on under circumstances and dispensations differing so greatly from those of the Mo.her Country. Here there is no state church, no state aid, no accumulations of property and funds from earlier times, which can be - utilised for church purposes. These conditions refer to .he Anglican church, mainly, though other denominations "havrhi. through the liberality of their

ily endowed from.- < r - ■' , Jif 1 -o under which, the ■ ( e Colonial clergy are notj from it, they are 1 diver* 9, we j udge and pay a man ••.he does, ho stands, or ’ work proves successful iblo, or otherwise. His and butter depend upon and knowing this he does >l. . * : \ 0 us draw a picture of the Colonial ter. He is a young man, posseshe mens sam in . corj. ore sano in egree. His inclinations lead him ssive to assist in Church work. ,ng proved his sincerity and becom, 8 a shepherd—-in what denom'ex uuo disce omnes. He serve, sa term pf probation and instruction uiviftj one of ths Fathers of the Church and, in him, to the Country. His district or circuit is a one in area j his flock, small sbatterod; tho different 'centr e |‘d|which he must officiate are us and accessible only •’ifferOntv Hb visit these regularly; he does so, in all •n all The bodily v owing to expos.des is the bodily suf.ixpected, however, that, ho sacrifices, his calling rej it’; :he does it. (is stipend, is small, ,it fluctuates, ’s has been bad weather, cbngriega-. lave been small, likewise the is, for but few think of? putrthe ‘ rainy day,*.crops havp: ihe, settlers ai‘6. struggling, and.Vhianages both ends meet. (In , one r.md mdual -s a succession, •e). unes to'him vothly. tdg e

>{ ~es, he gives host_ae, and now looks forward .isier future in.the foil and .eyard he has known and laboured in ~ long. „ Surely it is his due! But. not Bo,^t|ink . some. In his address to the Wesleyan District Synod, which met in Auckland on Thursday last, the President, the Rev T. H. Simnionds, touched on this,*ono 0 the weak sp'ots in the carryiug out ' >l '”rch work in the Colonies. • ' ‘ Side by side with other •e have done and shall best to-meet the people. I wish /ould be done in other denominiov this has nots are now, every ttlemont is rushed - five ministers of 1 is are identical.

°s compel them: l%JLa , rvals. The Itt' rr “is'~ah" unworthy. and dislrpt, cbmpetitign, in which one qwf'more, without iyiy -negligence m ao suffer hopeless' defeat.’,' <. This is so Iruo and so plainly put that it should commend itself to ororybody, jf'or who has not at one time or an other,, in; some part of the colonies 'noticed-alb this and perhaps more? ■_ These remarks apply with considerable force locally, where the church district.. extending from Morrinsville ; tg ; Waihi, to by : four Protestant denominations. ;In two of those the adherents are numerically strong, iu, the third but modorately so, ansts<veak in the last. Upwards of £IOOO is raised annually for church *purposes,- but-much cof this is-required for maintenance of existing buildings ‘and hire of [others, ’fbus a good deal is expended which might he turned into other and more profitable channels. In the smaller districts too, a handful of people is everything by turn, and subscribes to the funds of each in rotation. This perhaps is advantageous in creating a broad spirit. The. statement made by the Rev President is no new one, for it has indirectly been made by other, ecclesiastical bodies in council assembled. ][t however directs attention,' aneWi'tcT^a state of affairs at once pitiful and pitiable, and goes to prove that the supply of workers, for fields that are somewhat pleasant, exceeds the demand Thafciis one way to account for the apparent meanness on the part of some ministers, in going intio districts where there is no real needffor them, when they should be in a position to realize that their advent will cause distress, mental and bodily, to those there, her fore them. . • .. But the .blame not he hast wholly on the shoulderb of individuals ; the governing bodies are to blame * they should not allow their ministers to go to such districts as are already adequately supplied. These . bodies shVuld remember that the* teaching of Christianity does not mean making the whole world Anglican, Wesleyan, Presbyterian or what-not, but in making it Christian; and tney should bear in mind that this end cannot he gained by countenancing the display of petty antagonism ; there is not the least need that ‘ circumstances should compel them to be rivals.’ •*>

. To prevent this overlapping of districts with its concomitant evils, waste of money and of energy, unnecessary Worry to the workers; and the possibility of sowing seeds of* dissension amongst the congregations should not be a matter of much difficulty.; Starting with the premises that all

denominations have a common, object and bond of union, viz., the furthering

of Christ’s mission, and that each is J willing to follow the Divine example and humble, itself at times—then the chief trouble is over.

Each denomination has its Synod. Let it first be arranged that the annual session of each should be hold in the same month, or week if possible; let the Presidents prepare and present to the members of tlfidr Councils a list of new d siricts to which it is proposed to send clergymen. - Copies of these lists should be interchanged, and, after each Synod has discussed the proposals of the others and made suggestions as to the changes, the needful alterations could bo made, and thus by piactising the system of give and take, friction would bo avoided and overlapping become a , thing of the

, If the Synods could not meet at the,; same time, a j inV Committee, with full po\yer to act, could be appointed to dischllfand decide upon the. recommendations of the full, Councils In New'Gninea, the High Commissioner, Sir W. McGregor, has allotod districts for missionary purposes, so thaiveach denomination has its own sphere in which to work without interruption. tAgain in the partition of Africa, which the Eurppehu.powers indulged in not long since, spheres of action were* arranged- to pfovonfc a,,somewjiat similar ovoidapping of terHtpry. Now, if a satisfactory ar angfipent could be arrived at- betwoon monarchs,' whose interests were sop diverse, and where the aim of;each of the plenipoten diaries yfm to gain as for his own country, bow much more easily should delegates, working for the ; same Monarch, be. able to at some satisfactory conclusion ! •