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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

The Forward Movement

The Forward Movement is the name adopted by an unsectarian body of workers holding its meetings in the Forward Movement Hall, Manners Street. The Rev. W. A. Evans is the leader and mainspring of the Movement, and there are associated with him a considerable number of men and women, representing all grades in the social scale—men and women who are anxious to help in a cause which they believe is capable of indefinite extension and incalculable good. In the words of its leader in The Citizen for September, 1895, “the Forward Movement is a faithful attempt to bring the cardinal principles of Christianity, as conceived and interpreted by its best exponents, to bear on the complex conditions of modern society…. It affirms the fatherhood of God and the sonship of man, irrespective of nationality or sex. It maintains, therefore, the brotherhood of man; it accentuates the law of service as the law of life; it asserts that ‘rights’ and ‘duties’ are correlative terms, either of which cannot be separated from the other without the essence of both being destroyed; that man is above things, and should control and determine them, not be controlled and determined by them. It comprehends, therefore, all spheres within which man operates, and claims that all thought and action should be determined by the spirit of Jesus Christ.” The means adopted for the carrying out of the objects of the Movement are, “public lectures, classes for the special study of the growth and development of society, organisation with a view to maintain helpfulness, cottage meetings, open air meetings, and different societies for children and young people.” The Literary Society of the Forward Movement is, perhaps, the most popular of all its branches, though the Penny Readings have been very successful. It is a literary society pure and simple. During its first session—1895—nearly two hundred members were enrolled, embracing, as its leaders are most anxious should be the case, representatives of all classes. The list of lecturers includes such well-known literati as Sir Robert Stout, Dr. Findlay, the Hon. T. W. Hislop, Mr. A. R. Atkinson, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and many others. The Citizen, a monthly magazine on general topics, is the organ of the Forward Movement; but as this periodical will be referred to under the heading “The Press,” no further mention need be made of it here. The Forward Movement was established in Wellington in May, 1893, and may fairly be said to have made fair progress and to be doing good and long-neglected work.