PEOPLE CRY OUT FOR MORE ROOM

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 50, 29 June 1965, Page 3

PEOPLE CRY OUT FOR MORE ROOM

People today were crying out for more room in which to expand, not only their bodies, but their niinds as well, the Moderator of the Bay o£ Plenty Presbytery, the Rev. H. B. Burnett, told a large gathering at the opening of the new St. Paul's Presbyterian church hall on Saturday. Mr Burnett sald that people today were discovering that the places they live in were too small and they wanted more room. "People of other lands are discovering that the conditions under which they live are not good enough. They, too, want more room, room in which to expand. "In New Zealand," he went on, "the cry for more room is responsible for the large new housing developments. People are moving out from the city areas. "And this is not limited to the praetical problems there is a cry for more room for men's minds as well as their bodies. "We have outgrown the traditions of the earlier

that past are something like old clothes — we grow out of them in time." Mr Burnett went on to say it was not possible to expect a ehild to wear the clothes of its parents and the youth of today did not want to be hemmed in by the ideas of their parents. "We must let them do their own thinking. Our task is to guide and encourage them and I believe that our young people's wants for more room to express themselves is a good thing. Turning to Church Un« ion, Mr Burnett carried his anology of expansion a step further when he said that the churches were moving out of houses that were too small. "For centuries, people have lived in their own denominational homes, have had little or no contaet with the people of other churches. "In time? we can hardly recognise each other's language, and this has been one of the main obstacles to Church Union. "Even when we use the same words, We can't quite understand. 'Forgiveness,' 'Redemption' and 'Grace' mean different things to different people. "That is why we are getting out of our denominational houses which have become too small. Many will regret leaving a home that they have lived in for so long, but it is no longer large enough to show the world the instruments of the Lord."