Christian Order Week

The Christian Order Week in Wellington, which was held from September 15 to 24, formed a focus point in what has come to be called in New Zealand the Christian Order Movement. It was not just a stunt, a bit of religious splurge, but an item in a larger whole. One aspect of the movement is the recovery by the Church of a sense of responsibility for the world. And this means a fresh discovery of the relevance of the Christian Faith to life and to society.

Message.—The message delivered was that the life of our community needs to be based squarely on Christian principles; and secondly, that only men and women personally devoted to Jesus Christ can live by those principles. It was a challenge to all citizens to be spiritually worthy of peace and big enough for the tasks ahead.

Method.—The special genius of a Christian Order Week is that together the Christian Churches state the message of Christianity to organic units of the community in such a way as to bring out the relevance of the Faith to that unit, e.g., Home, Industry, Education.

Results.—The fact that a programme of over 130 meetings to all kinds of groups of people was carried through, was a mighty achievement The Town Hall was packed three times and groups were addressed at factories business premises. Parliament, schools, colleges, the Chamber of Commerce, the University, in theatres and in the open air and throughout the suburbs of Wellington. In the factories alone, from Monday to Friday, about 1,500 people were contacted each day and in every case a cordial welcome was given the speakers.

Let us tabulate the results briefly.

1.	The essential unity of the Christian Church was demonstrated. Eight branches of the Church shared in the week.
2.	In the main, people were keen to listen. That between 800 and 1,300 men assembled on three days at the railway workshops and invited the speakers to come back, is striking testimony.
3.	The work begun during the week is still going on and will be continued. In some factories groups are being formed to continue discussion on Christian Order. In some districts men's fellowships and women's study groups have come into being.
4.	The Christian Order Week made clear that the Christian way of life is not for Sundays only, but for every day and for the whole of life.