NEW ZEALAND WESLEYAN CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VII, Issue 12, 21 March 1891, Page 12

NEW ZEALAND WESLEYAN CONFERENCE.

The 18th Annual Conference of New Zealand Wesleyan Methodism was held in Auckland this year, and was formally opened on 3rd of March in the Pitt street Church. This year a change was made in time of opening. On former occasions the sittings were held about the middle of January, but considering the heat at this season of the year in Auckland, it was changed till March. There was a very large muster of representatives—ministerial and laymen. We publish in this issue a page of photo engravings of the leading officials of the Church. The President, the Kev. H. K. DEWSBI'RY, was elected this year by a very large majority of really sympathetic voters, who wished to place their brother in the highest official seat that the Conference has to offer. The choice was a good one. Few men in the ministerial ranks have broader sympathies. As a preacher he has few equals. He is a born elocutionist, and his sermons are replete with rich thought. We believe he will make a capital President. The qualifications and dignity of President, we have no hesitation in saying, will be ably sustained during his term of office. The Rev. J. J Lewis, the ex-President, is in manyrespects opposite to his predecessor. The eaily training of Mr Lewis must have been such as to qualify him for any sphere of debate. We believe him to be the best read man in the Conference. He is so methodical in every detail, that everything he reads or touches is laid under tribute to his life's calling as a Methodist preacher. He is a model speaker for young men to copy. He has a truly sympathetic nature when fully known, and is an enduring friend. The Rev. W. Lee, Secretary of the Conference, is not so well known up in the Auckland district as the others named, but since his arrival in this city he has made not a few friends. He makes a capital Secretary. All the business is grasped and ready at the President’s call, and his election for the second year to this office shows his fitness. He is a preacher of considerable force, with strong individuality of character, and leans to the humorous. He is wellliked by the brethren. The Rev. A. Reid, Principal of Wesley College, has only to be named, when the thousands who know him immediately answer, ‘Heis a good man and true.’ He is perhaps the most marked preacher in the tanks. He never utters a sermon without being lit up in passionate love with his theme. To get a correct idea of the man you must hear him preach or lecture. A pioper view of Mr Reid cannot be had so well from his reported sermon. It is not so beautiful in arrangement as would be a sermon or lecture by Rev. Mr Lewis, but it is tilled all over with big lumps of golden thought in nugget form which pleases the thoughtful student. Hisstyleis eminentlycalcnlated towin and impress. He possesses a slight nervous temperament, and is somewhat reticent in manner till fully known. He is universally beloved. The Rev. W. Morley might be fittingly styled as the lawgiver of the Conference. There may be more brilliant preachers, but none to equal him in the law and polity of the Methodist church. He is a born financier, and this has been proved over and over again in the history of the church in New Zealand. His sermons are always of such quality as to carry home conviction that the message and messenger are true. He is al-

ways popular in circuits, and never invited to any but the foremost which proves his acceptability. You cannot quickly make friends with Mr Morley, but when once made they are forever. He could repel an enemy if he chose to be unkind. His influence in Conference is acknowledged to be very potent, and the young preachers stand in awe of him. He has never been known to take an advantage of a weak brother, but would help if he could. He has practically made New Zealand Methodism rich in endowments. The Rev. W. J. Williams, as Editor of the Methodist, and as a preacher, has not an equal in the Connexion. He is a magnificent preacher, ornate in style, and captivates his audience from beginning to end. He has a slight tremulousness in delivery, which adds grace to the utterances, and makes them veritable pictures. His writing in the Methodist is acknowledged by his contemporaries to be of very high class. He is an out-and-out liberal in Methodist politics, and as a temperance advocate is not easily surpassed. The Rev. W. GITTOS, the true fiiend of the Maoii, and

geneial superintendent of their mission, is worthy of any prominence that could be given to bis name. There is not a minister in the whole colony who ranks in such esteem in the Maori mind as MrGittos. He has practically laid down his life for the Maori. He is their friend, medical man, lawgive i, and general adviser. His style as a preacher and speaker seems to have marked every modem Maori student. They all seem to copy his precise and thorough earnest mat.iier of preaching. The Maories would do any thing for him, specially those in the Kaipara. His constitution has l>een greatly weakened by incessant labour. As a preacher to Euiopeans he is eat nest, thought ful, and filled with a rich knowledge of God’s Word. He is not very fond of pieacl ing to Europeans, but with his own people he is ever at home. The Rev. Father James Wallis is the oldest living Methodist minister in the colony. He is now on the borderland of the grave. He was a gifted and popular preacher in

his day. He arrived in Hokianga as a young missionary in December of 1834, and has nobly served his church and generation ever since He is now almost confined to bis room, and is very weak. He was always beloved among his brethren, and has throughout the colony thousands of friends. F. L Prime, Esq., has been associated with New Zealand Methodism for the space of thirty six years. He has held some of the important oflices of the church, such as trustee, circuit steward, but his services as Home Mission general secretary and treasurer has laid the whole of the Wesleyan community under a debt of gratitude. He is eminently qualified for his arduous post. He has the whole details of the Maori and European missions right at his finder ends, and controls the receipts and expenditure with discretion ami wisdom. He is the only layman we know of who has been }>ermitted to sit in the Ministerial Conference, when the presence of any other would have caused considerable inquiry. He excels as a solid worker, and his vote and influence are respected.