WESLEYAN CHURCH.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 314, 20 December 1873, Page 2

WESLEYAN CHURCH.

A soiree arranged by the Lawrence Wesleyan congregation T^as given on Tuesday night in connexion with the qpening of the new ch.urch in Whitehaven-street. The tea meeting took place in the old buildinw in Colonsaystreet, where a most cheerful assemblage discussed a variety of fruit and confectionery. The tables were supplied by Mesdames Burns. Crow, and Johnston, and Messrs. Fargher, Downie, M'GilTyary, Drysdale, MatthewSj au4 Harris. The refreshments Were dispensed by Mesdames, Burns, Crow, Johnston, Syret, and Misses Richards and Bonnet. Owing to the small space ;n the old building, there were some delays, which were cheerfully borne ; and, ere the tea was withdrawn, old and yoqng had done full justice to the cup tha^ cheers but not inebriates. About 8 o'clock, the company- adjourned to the pretty little new building in Whitehavenstreet. The Key. W. H. Beck, the minister of the clrorch, presided, and opened the proceedings by requesting tb,e congregation to sing the 540 hymn, which was complied with, and, immediately after, ihe Rev. J,. Menzies, tkf the Congregational Church, offered up an appropriate" ajid impressive prayer. This I was succeeded by thfk singing of hymn in I page 640 of the Wesleyan collection, after wSlh the Chairman presented the audience I with some statistics with reference to the affairs of the Wesleyan body in. Tuapeka He stated that in April last the debt of the church was £166 13s. 4d. The" debt on the parsonage yjas £13,3 14s^ Qd/ Now, the managers thought that the hfisi way to get out of debt was by incurring more deot (laughter) ; consequently they resolved to build a n.ew church. They advertised fur ponders for the erection of a new church, " and accepted that o.f Messrs Miller and Anderson for*£2o9. The extras would come to. about £30. The total liability was £030 3s. 9d. Some people were sanguine enough to think tl\at the old t uilding would, fetch £200 ; bud the managers* had put that' down as an asset valued at £100. The collection on Sunday last amounted to £8 ss. 6d. The collection at tho Blue Spur, on the occasion of the B-ev. C. W. Rigg's lecture, amounted to £1 3d. Cd., and the proceeds of the soiree are £13 ss. These receipts reduce the debt of the church to £50^ op. 9d. We. have, with the aid of Mr. Syret, borrowed £500 at a low rate of interest, which would be paid off at the end of five years. "We now feel \ya can leave our debt where it is, and let our children do their part. (Laughter.). The. Chaicman announced that the Rev. C. W. Rigg, of Dunedin, the Chairman of the Circuit, would lecture both here and at Teviol; on the " Ancient Britons," to, which the admission fee w,ould be one shilling. He (the Chairman) then announced hymn at page 580, which was sung, after which

The I^ev. Mt. Menzies. was called iipon to address the persons present. On. rising, Mr. Menzies was greeted "with applause. He commenced by referring to a repent letter in the Titapeha. Times^ in which the writer suggested certain, topics for treatment at tea meetings, op, the ground that few topics were usually, selected at such meetings.. He quoted an anecdote to. show, that it is much easier to give such advice than to. practise it, and if the correspondent referred to was present that evening, he (Mr. Monzies) would gladly yi#kl ro him. B»t as his challenge was not taken up, he was forced to conclude that that w,riter was not present. He would now- congratulate, the Chairman on the possession of the new- church. The Chairman spoke rather largely of his children paying off the debt of the Church. (Laughter.) [The Chairman, bashfully and sotte. yoge — --'Oh, you, misunderstood me."] Mr, Meaziea consumed, and said that that remark ofrthe Chairman, need: npt be personally applied. The Queen never, dies, and the Wesleyan pulpit similarly is never empty. He hoped that all concerned- in God's work would- live to se& many happy days within these walls ; and. he hoped that it would prove the birth place of souls, and that holiness would-be promoted by the instrumentalities employed here. In trying to select a^ subject, he- had selected one which recognised- the. idea that the results of- 1 the Lord's ministry were nearly always associated with his ascension. But when heleft $he world, he left his holy spirit in the world, and^ the Saviour's personal ministry, as a healer, is still effective, although he. his now sitting at the right hand of God > in fact, Christ, even now, has not abandoned his position aa the healer ot mankind. His ministry extends to both soul and body-. Scientific discoveries were not made independently by man. Sir David Brewster, at one time &k& k doubter of the efficacy, of di,vine revelation, at length acknowledged that his discoveries had been merely manifestations of the -will divine. Mr. Menzics quoted other discoveries as exemplifications of tho. theory that Q-od is the.G-.pd of science, as well a? the Gpd«of natural and revealed religion. The truths of Jesus judiciously applied had been found more efficacious than/ the nostrums of mere science — a truth thab had be«n proved when and- where, in France, Christianity had been dispensed to idiots. Religion should be wedded to tfdionoe, and science to «?ligion. Mr-. Hftensies concluded- an earnest address by asserting that religion bad nothing to fear from science, as God ruled over both, the religious «nd<flcientinc "world. , Jtyj&tt, page 685, was heresung, after .wfcich Mr* Paul Ah Chin, Chinese- mission&ty, by r^tf^st, addressed the meeting, He apologised for his ujaprep&redness, ■which, -was not bis Own fault-. It had been remarked' fehaj; in Lawrence there, T?6i?e to^vigany cqaches and too many churches But if ajl the people, toetie went to churchy there •were not; too many churches. (Applause.) There, should be an interchange orChristian kindness between the European and the. Chme6e Chtisti&asv He uould specially teftetf to Epheeians, 3rd chap., 15th verse, wftiftte the whole human race, differing in color and rank, is referred to.ap. one faintly. (Applause.) Tire Chairman stated that the apparent unprepaitedneßa (which, however, he could not see) of Mr. Paul Ah Chin, was owing to a.

that afternoon. On behalf of the Revs. Messrs. Hewlitt and Cameron, the Chairman tendered apologies for unavoidable absence. The Chairman then called upon The Rev, F. W. Isitt, of Balclutha, -who is expected to compensate fdr absent friends by doing double, work. The |tev. Mr. Isitt, who was Applauded 1 on rising, said that he doubted whether he would condole or congratulate the managers on the possession of a new church. He saw here a strange illustration of the wondrous mixture to be found in human life. They were,.sp to speak, burying the old church without shedding a tear over its grave; which would have been very appropriate on account of the very funereal and catacomblike aspect of the qld building. He had come here partly in the character of a spy to make comparisons, "^e, at Balclutha, cannot afford varnish for qur. church, which, however, as a compensatiqn is bigger, and has a vestry and platform- But, in Order to help us to open it, we expect some thirty people from Lawrence to come to Milton to enable us to ppen our church, which we cannot afford to plunge into debt to the extent of £500. When he told Mr. Rigg that he was going to Lawrence to assist at the opening of the Lawrence Church — "Aye," said Mr Bigg, "throwing a BDrat to catch a mackerel." (Laughter.) This day fortnight we open our churoh, and Paul Ah Chin is coming. Mr. Isitt paid a high compliment to Paul Ah Chin fqr his progress in literature and grace. He hoped, as the war-Id advanced, the one-family conception would be daily more and maro realised. He referred to contributions in a religious periodical published in Otago, which doubted the propriety of self-congratulation . ! on the apparent spread Of Christianity at the ' present time ; but he believed that with thd blessings attendant on the higher class of baptism — the outpouring of the Holy Spirit — our congratulations were neither ineffective -nor premature. The present service in the church was, so tq speak, a christening service, $bput the formality qf which sects I might a.gree to differ, but unanimity -must prevail in reference to tho efljeacy qf the outpouring qf the Holy Spirit. There was a thoughtless class of zeal which was almost as bad as thoughtless indifference. For example, an old lady with good intention, handed a j tract to an hospital patient, who laughed at it ; and on being asked why he laughed, hd ! replied, " Why, of what use is this tract td me! I've lost my legs, and she has given me a tract against dancing." (Great laughter.) Mr. Isitt referred to the immense, indefatigable, and circuitous energies brought to bear : by business men on the receipt of custom ; and by analogy, shewed that in religious affairs we should use similar assiduity to , " pick the lock "of the human heart. " Are we growing worse?" he would ask. The days were past when our ancestors wore a coat of blue paint, and when a leader of the House of Cojnmons staggered to his seat in a state of intoxication, Knowledge, according t4 Coleridge, passed through the three stages Of partial acceptance — inquiry, full acceptance, Rank infidelity, was now often met by opposition from intelligent faith-. Mr. Jsitt concluded a fluent, logical, and well-informed address, by the expression of a, belief in the growing goodness of tho worldi Hymn, page aa4, was fchsa. aung, "aftet which The Rev. C. W. Rigg addressed the meeting. He would correct brother Isitt on one . branch of his diacourse — namely, with regard to our ancestors, about whom he (Mr. Rigg) would lecture. They were not the rough people Mi\ Isitt would paint them ; and, with all the^r faidts, they knew how to treat ladies with civility, xscttwithstanding the fact that Christian Right must ultimately supplant inGdelity, still, $t is right to warn "our young friends of the traps laid for them by the\ infidel writers of the present age. The infidels in the days of our fore fathers, were, at least, honest. They, plainly said, "They did not I believe in the Bible," aud left iio doubt as to their position. Events that in a past century woidcl have extended the whole hundred year* are now crowded in- a few years ; and this I fastness of the age must be fraught with some dangers to, the Church of Jesus. Mr. Eigg referred in intelligent detail to the classes who throw off all religion ; but it i» a safe proposition to "advance that Bible truths are capable of extension to, the oddest as well as to the newest times. In the newinfidel sects, nothing is true, that is b«wa It; was never intended that the days of the OJd Testament should have a monopoly of religious enthusiasm, to I the exclusion of a lively faith in the year 1873. :To call defiance profundity 13 a mistake, just as it is a mistake to conclude that an adjective-crowded sermon is the most efficacious. It is well-known that a simply composed sermon is more difficult than one with apparent, but not real, elaboration. Mr. Rigg emphatically referred to the evils of Ritualism, in the Church of England — evils exemplified by the fact of Episcopal ministers receiving p&y from one church anjl doing tho work of another., H,& also referred to th& supreme danger of the here3ies of the age, because, they offered nd handle to grapple with, and were continually shifting position. Ritualism and its parent he likened to the ivy which not merely clings to the ruin, but makes ruin of that which was previously sound, at the core. Our religion, as clergy, must be more than merepfetfdrm display. We should interchange puljfcts. Unlike, the blopd of St. Januarijus, we should tfiawniore than once a year, and in the family eipcle as well as in crowds.

Long as is this report, it is a mere sketch of the excellent addresses given. Mr. Coverlid, the chapel steward, moved a vote of thattks to the ladies who had so kindly provided tables, and Mr. Matthews thanked the various speakers. Another hymn was sung, and the company departed, highly pleased with the evenjng's recreation.