EMPIRE DAY OF PRAYER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 203, 29 August 1942, Page 4

EMPIRE DAY OF PRAYER

WANGANUI ARRANGEMENTS Details of arrangements made for the observance in Wanganui next Thursday of the Day of Prayer, as requested by the King to mark the third anniversary of the Empire’s entry into the war, have been announced. The Mayor, Hon. W. J. Rogers, M.L.C., and the Revs. Godfrey Fretwell (president) and C. E. Dickens (secretary), representing the Wanganui Ministers’ Association, conferred recently. As a result it has been arranged that a citizens’ service, conducted by the association, be held in the Opera House at 11 a.m. The Mayor will appeal to employers to release as many of their staffs as possible for attendance at this service. The hour fixed for the start of the service, 11 o'clock, has b'e£n arranged so that it will not occasion a double break in the day’s work. In addition to the citizens’ service, Trinity Methodist Church will be the centre of a united continuous prayer service from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wherever possible, services will be arranged throughout the city in the respective churches. The Roman Catholic and the Anglican Churches have already announced special services to be held in the city in accordance with the King’s request. Service sheets for use at the central service are in the course of preparation, and the order of service will be announced early next week. OBSERVANCE IN N.Z. LEFT TO LOCAL DISCRETION Wellington, Aug. 28. Discussing the observance of the National Day of Prayer on September 3, Mr. Sullivan said tha' in New Zealand conditions were so different from those in the United Kingdom as to make it impracticable to arrange quite the same observances. It had been decided to invite all religious denominations themselves to hold appropriate services in their own churches at suitable times, and in each centre of population the Government would be glad if civic and church authorities would combine and hold a public service to enable the people generally to observe the day. The Government felt that the fixing of a suitable time was a matter that must be left to local discretion. However, due regard should be paid To the desirability of as little interruption as practicable with the working dav. Provision was also being made for observance by the armed services.