CHURCH CONFERENCE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 78, 22 September 1911, Page 8

CHURCH CONFERENCE

THE AFTERNOON SESSION. The second session of the conference in connection with the visit of the Bishop of the diocese was held oji Thursday afternoon in St. Mary's Hall. Dr. Crossley took the chair at half-past two, andi after the hymn "Soldiers of Christ Arise," the meeting was opened with prayer by the Rev. J. Wilkinson.

CONFIRMATION. The Rev. Addenbrooke, vicar of Okato, introduced the subject of confirmation in a carefully thought out paper. He touched upon the teaching in regard to the "Laying on of hands" as set for the Holy Scriptures. This made it evident, said the speaker, that children should be carefully taught when being prepared for confirmation. As to .the age at which children should be confirmed, there had been a considerable amount of variation. There was little doubt that at first confirmation was administered immediately after baptism. In the middle ages the custom was to confirm when the child was aibout seven years of age, which custom, he believed, still largely obtainea in the Church of Rome to the present time. In England during the fifteenth century the age was raised, and now the general custom is to confirm about the age of 18 years. No hard and fast rule could be laid down. But it had to be remembered that children leaving home entered a large world with its peculiai temptations, and that they should be prepared so that they could meet those temptations. There was also another aspect that should be dwelt upon ibravcly, simply, and thoroughly, and that waa what might be called the physical side of the preparation. He ventured a suggestion that it would be a good thing, i perhaps, to appoint sisters who could I deal with these matters. They needed to know how to reverence the physical nature that God had given them. He was convinced that this side of the subI ject was most important for the future well-being of the nation. The confirmation service itself should always remind I those who had been confirmed of what they had received in the past and as an | ordination service was to the faithful priest a reconsecration to his sacred office, so was confirmation to the faith- ' ful churchman a reconsecration to a life | of service to Almighty God.

Iu the discussion that followed much uiefu! information was given. The Rev. Mr. Wilkinson, in speaking of the age of candidates, ■ said that the danger of confirming too young was that it would be a time of religions excitement instead of a time of steady religious enthusiasm. To prevent this it was necessary that children should be taught at home, and he quoted the exhortation in the Prayer Book: "Ye are to take care that this infant .shall be taught so soon as he is able to learn what a solemn vow. promise and profession he hath here made by you."

Mr. S. Shaw also emphasised the duty of parents, and said that he would like to hear more often from the pulpit exhortations to parents in regard to the training of their children.

Mrs. Home said that she was sure that one way to interest children in coming to service was to speak directly to them for a few minutes during the service. Hev. Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Renaud, Revs. Houchen,-Harrison and Kempthorne also spoke. The Bishop closed a most interesting discussion by saying that he thought that mental requirements had been overpressed and that the Spiritual gift had been under-estimated. He would never refuse to confirm anyone however young. He threw the responsibility as to the age of candidates on the parish priest, and would confirm whomsoever he presented. He outlined a system of teaching children from the pulpit. He taught them three questions and their answers; then during the singing of a hymn to collect the answers that had been written down from the previous Sunday service.

TUB MELANESIA?? MISSION. ■Mr. John Cook read an exhaustive and very interesting paper on the Mclanesiun Mission. He retailed that in 1841 the Rev. George Augustus Selwyn was consecrated liishop of New Zealand, and by some oversight las letters patent extended his diocese over practically the whole of the Pacific Archipelago. After having organised and iirmly established the church of New Zealand, he was able to turn his attention to the Melauesian part of his diocese, making a preliminary trip to the islands in H.M.ti. Dido in 1848. The more southerly of the groups, the .Friendly and Ntuvigator Islands, were touched at, where the Wesleyan and London Missionary Societies "were already at work. The Congregationalists and Roman Catholics, too, had attempted to cany the faith of Christ to these distant isles, and many missionaries and native teachers had'suffered for thenfaith. Tho Bishop soon discovered difficulties in the babel of tongues, the antagonism between island and island, and Mttlemcut and settlement. So an island centre was impossible. He saw that if enduring work was to be done it must be by taking natives from these' tropical parts to New Zealand for the. summer, and there teaching them all the Christianity, order, and self-restraint possible. In the autumn, a New Zealand winter :being too wet and cold for such hothouse plants, they would be restored to their homes in health and happiness, there to spread the good accounts of the treatment in the unknown lands whither the great white stranger had taken them. In the following spring they would i>e again called for, and with them would come others, and thus gradually a. band af native teachers, and eventually a native clergy would be trained to spread the truth in their own islands, and among their own people, a procedure which was followed until the headquarters of the mission and training college were transferred from Auckland to Norfolk Island in 1807. Two lirm rules were laid down for the work: First, that while taking to the islanders the religion of Englishmen, the methods and ways of English life should not be forced upon them, except in <so far as they were part of morality and «odlinesH; (2) that there should be no Interference with Christianising already undertaken by any other religious bo'dv or sect whatever, .so that the islanders would not have, brought before them the graat stumbling block of divisions among Christians, who should be as .brethren. The mission increased with extraordinary rapidity, and the time has come for a head of its own, unencumbered with the weight and cures of .the prviit jliocese. The man was at hand, lilted by his exceptional gift of personal holiness, winning presence, calm judgment, and manifold power of speech, in the person of the Rev. J. C. Patterson, who, after six years' devoted service, was in lHu'l consecrated first missionary Bishop of Melanesia. Continued sickness awakened drrnibt whether New Zealand could ever be a safe residence for the tropical Melailcsians, and in 1807, after much difficulty, the headquarter* of the I mission were transferred to Norfolk, Island, a much more suitable climnte.S mil (i()0 miles nearer to the scene of ihe work. ] Many of his hearers would re.meir.hw/ lie dismay with which the news of the, nurder of Bishop Patterson at Santa/ i'ruz was*received, exactly forty ye.irs(

ago—murdered by those for whose sakes he gladly risked his life, having gloriously won his crown. This fiad occurrence exemplified the well-known fact that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church," for many applied for baptism, twenty of the' elder scholars, immediately came forward and were placed on the teaching staff. Mr. Cook traced the development of the mission. After fifteen years of efficient and faithful oversight, Bishop of Selwyn's health had become shattered, and necessitated his resignation, thus sadly closing a long and blessed chapter of the island history. In the year 181)8 the third of the great hero-saints, who had organised and moulded the mission, was called to his reward. The Rev. Cecil Wilson was chosen Bishop in W94, and the affairs of tho island diocese continued under his wise guidance to prosper until the end of the last year, when he risgned. Cannibalism, infanticide, horrible burial rites, head-hunting, practically had ceased to exist under the influence of the Melanesian mission. The little seed sown with such daring and forethought <S2 years ago had expanded until there were 22 white clergy, 14 ladies, 727 teachers, 352 schools, over 14,000 Hptised natives, about 2000 communicants, and 5000 hearers last year. In asking for a more liberal support, Mr. Cook said the Melanesian mission was born in New Zealand, and liad a special claim on Xew Zealanders' hearty support. Millions annually were spent in pleasure, but ridiculously little in the extension, of Christ's Kingdom.

HOME MISSIONS. Mr. E. P. Hemingway, of Patea, in his paper, pointed out that in order to j form an idea of the ground to be covered by the home missionaries' work it wns necessary to understand that the diocese of Auckland extended from the North Ca<]>e to Xgnere, a distance of over 400 miles and embraced a vast amount of undeveloped country, in which settlement was proceeding apace, country with practically no roads or bridges. This country was in charge of the home missionaries, of whom there were ten, and who had 98 centres in which to hold service, in addition to. numerous camps, etc., which were visited when opportunity offered. It could thus be seen that the surface could only' be scratched, however hard the missioners might work, and therefore the results could not be expected to foe as great as if the ground had been well ploughed. The land hunger in New Zealand was now very great, and churchmen and clmrchwomen, in whom he believed the prosperity of the country lay, were faced with the responsibility of enabling the church to extend her usefulness to keep pace with this spread of population. A country whose foundation was laid on the word" of God and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ was a country founded on a rock, but a country of godless people was built on sand. We had to realise that in our brethren of the back country we had the townspeople of the future, and w« must not neglect them. As showing the need for help he instanced his own experiences as a teacher in the back blocks 10 years ago, when only two children out of the twelve attending schqol knew anything about the meaning of Christmas. He also referred to the hardships that bush settlers put up with, isolated from the outside world and enduring a life of hardship. But they struggled on uncomplainingly, hoping for better times, when they would be drawn nearer to civilisation. It made him feel proud to be a countryman of such heroes. It was our duty as members of the national church to lead the way and not to follow, to set an example of true Christianity, and see that our brethren in the back blocks were ministered to, particularly the little ones. Let us look upon the assistance we can render not as a duty hut as a glorious privilege. He referred to the glorious work that was being already carried out, but said that much remained yet to be done. Already the Standing Committee was responsible for | £I6SO per annum, and that amount would be increased yearly as settlement progressed. He eulogised the work done by the untiring efforts of Archdeacon Cole during the past ten years, and referred to the marvellous work done by missioners under his superintendence. He did not forget, either, what was owed to the present missioner, the Rev. Houchen, who was right worthy to carry on the work begun by our first back blocksmissionary, Bishop Selwyn. He pointed out that we could assist the mission by inducing our friends to take a keen and lively interest in it, by setting aside a small sum each year for this mission so that its work could be carried on uninterruptedly, and also by forming a Home Mission Guild in each parochial district to arrange for the systematic collection of funds. The C.E.M.S. could render valuable aid if the members would make special preparations to make the missionary services in March real mission services. In conclusion, he urged them to pray earnestly that the blessing of Almighty God would rest on their efforts, and that the people of New Plymouth, in grateful recognition of many blessings enjoyed, would lead the way in missionary work throughout the diocese, so as to enable the home mission work to be carried on without a hitch of any kind, for "the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few."

THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS. At the conclusion of the contributed papers, the Bishop delivered a brief address. They had had, he said, a remarkable missionary meeting, two of the speakers having been laymen. It had long been his ambition to have a conference of this kind where all would be laymen. He believed in placing the men who denied their obligations to mission work face to face with the laymen who could assure them that mission needs were pressing, that mission work was progressing, and that it was God's work. Referring to the points made by the Rev. Hawkins regarding the second generation of Maori Christians, the trouble was that they were 'becoming Christians like some pakchn Christians who didn't go to church. Christians who were getting slack, Christians who were finding the material things and pleasure of cilivisation of more worth than the church of God, getting too much like their white friends and adding to the difficulty of the mission work. lie regretted that the Maori workers at Morrinsvillc had not been able to carry out his suggestion to erect their new church in Maori wlmro style, hung with mats and carved with that exquisite skill of the old Maoris. Alas, that was a lost art. He would cntlenyor lo impress on the Maoris to keep | "p their national traditions, mid preserve [all that was worthy and honorable In the li'fice in the past and incorporate It ill their parish churches. Mr. Cook had spoken of the fact that New Zealand had adopted tho Melauesian mission. He didn't think the New Zealand motherhood was as keen as it used to be. The New Zealand mission Would close tomorrow if it were not for the splendid support from England, and he hoped that support would not he withdrawn. He thought this diocese should do more for this mission: of romance and martyrdom in the islands. It was a splendid thing that wherever one went one met a man like Mr. Hemingway, who believed in meeting the . needs nearer home, file nerds of the home mission. The hortu mission had been working in this diocese

practically ever since it was a diocese, | but it owed a great deal to the present I organisation. There was urgent need 1 for a second man in the Taranaki home miswon district. There must be another man. He would like to see this town of New Plymouth send its own man to the Maori mission and its own man to the home mission. He wanted not only money, but men for mission work, but much could be done if every family would take a mission box and give regularly and liberally to God for this work. He hoped they would not have to depend on occasional appeals for the upkeep of the mission.

On the motion of the Rev. Harrison, of Waitara, seconded by the Rev. W. Butler, of Stratford, hearty votes of thanks were accorded the Revs. Wilkinson and Kempthorne and the committee for the excellent arrangements made for this conference.

In acknowledging the vote Mr. Wilkinson referred to the good work of St. Mary's vestry and to the kindness of friends in tendering hospitality to visitors from other parishes. Rev. Kempthorne extended the thanks of the workers to the press for their support and the full reports of the proceedings. The conference, during which several mission hymns were sung, was closed by His Lordship the Bishop pronouncing tne Benediction.