Commemorative Service in the Cathedral on the 200th Anniversary of Wesley's Conversion Shanghai, May 25.
HE bicentenary of the conversion of John Wesley was celebrated yesterday by a special service in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, at the Kind invitation of the Dean, and by special Methodist programmes was broadcast in the evening.
The anniversary service in the Cathedral was attended by a large congregation. Prominent churchmen taking part in the gathering included Bishop W. P. Roberts, of the American Church Mission; the Rev. W. H. Hud-seth, of the British and Foreign Bible Society; Dr. W. B. Nance, Western adviser and tacher of philosophy in the Soochow Univer. sit and Dr. H, H, Tsui, of the Church of Christ in China, The service, which started at 5 pam,, began with the singing of the hymn "O for a thousand. tongues to sing," and after prayers led by the Rev. C. W, Allan'a message of welcome was delivered by Dean Trivett, 'Three short addresses were given during the service, by Dr. Nance, Mr. Hudspeth and De, Foul, while' the Rev. R. 1D, Rees gave some selected readings from the diary of John Wesley.
"Other hymns during the service in~ eluded "Jesu, lover" of my, soul," thou hidden' love of God," "0 for heart ta praise my God" and, final Jy, "0 Thou who camest from above," The service ended with a. closing prayer and. the pronouncing of the benediction by Bishop Roberts, Speaking oh the subject of the signiteanee of Wesley Day, the Rev. W, Hudspeth sald—
What significance has today for the Church Universal? T want to. deal with this by answering a question T was' asked a ile while ago. The question was: In view of the world the universal piling. up. of armaments—in view of 01 these' things what- practical thing can 1'do as a Christian?" This is a question that Is being asked by many earnest people' and during the past few days q have been wondering Whether Methodism has any answer such a query. "T think it has and Tiwish to suggest two thoughts which have, come to me through reading about "John Wesley or in' perusing hhis Journal, My first thought Is this:
"passion for Holiness"
The Church must recover a passion for holiness, Absolute goodness or holiness, and its methodical pursuit, was a. great, preoccupation of early Methodism, The spread of this message seemed {o John Wesley the chief reason why God had raised up Methodists, Unlimited goodness. is what the world needs today, That there is a yearning in the heart of man for the heights has been made clear to us again by the Group Move ment. Groupers challenged us all with their demand for the four absolutes, ow can a passion for holiness possibly affect the International situation? In this way: One of the reasons why the Church is unable to speak with authority 1s because there ig not sume lent difference between those who are inside and those who are outside the Church, The world hag caught up with us and we followers of Jesus Christ are not outstandingly good, Today f would humbly. call ripon you: to regain Wesley's passion for holiness, By doing so we would be attacking War and Militarism and Hatred at their very source, Absolute goodness is a high standard but since it Is a New Testament standard Is not "impossibly high". By adopting it our struggle against the world would not be won dramatically. We would be entering fon a long, a slow, but yet a sure way. We would make ourselves felt everywhere and reaching to one another across international boundaries would lay a: foundation upon which peace will ultimately be built, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which Ig in heaven Is perfect", (atate, 5:48) This I feel is one of the things Wesley would stress were he with us today, Our standard of goodness must be above the "fitly-fifty" level; it must absolute, Tu the words of the hymn which we have been singing: for a heart to praise my God, heart from sin'wet drew.
That is what the world needs—hearts from sin set free, "zeal for Friendliness"
My second suggestion would be this: The Church should develop a renewed zeal for friendliness. We've grown cold; we've lost our glow: we have become half-hearted; a spirit of futility, like a dead hand, rests upon us, We need to recapture the early 'Methodists' passion. for fellowship. Here again I have Wesley's support Methodism stands for. Christi brotherhood, It honours the ministry, it cherishes the sacraments; but in its view the proof in Church-membership ies essentially not in the observance lof sacraments, not in obedience 10 priests, not In''subseription to creeds, but in the fuldlling on the part of Christ's followers of His law of love lby their seeking to bear one anottier's Have we not here a golden key to the present situation? The bearing lof one another's burdens; the ful filling of Christ's law of love. More stove and less hatred, more friendli-Mess and less enmity, more fellowship Jand Jess aloofness, this is the clamant Moed of society. Charles Wesley's hymns glow with this thought and we need {o recapture the flame, The early Church, kindled by Go's stove, moved forward like a flowing tide, Tu the 18th and early 19th Jcentury it was generally understood in England that a Methodist chapel iwas a place where one went to get Jone's soul saved, Everybody knew the clear purposiveness of the people Jwho worshipped there, Could our hearts be set on dire by the love of JGod the Church would become a place with a clearly-defined object, a centre where broken spirits would be healed, where men of high ideals Jwould' draw their inspiration and Iwhere statesmen would find guidance the solution of the world's probjiems, That surely would be a fitting memorial to John Wesley.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.