TRAINING CHILDREN TO BE CITIZENS

IMPORTANT PART OF CHURCH WORK

MISS ROBERTS ON DANGER PERIOD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The importance of Church work in training children to be citizens of the country and to be present and future Christians was emphasised by Miss Margaret Roberts in opening Dartford Congregational Church's annual sale at the Baptist Church Hall on Saturday.

Miss Roberts said that this country had always been the leading one in spreading Christianity, and if we did not revive Christianity in this country it was not only ourselves, but the whole world that would suffer.

Miss Roberts received congratulations on her forthcoming marriage.

In welcoming her, Mr. H. M. Hood (church secretary) said she had carved a special place for herself in the hearts of Dartford people, and in expressing their thanks to her for her attendance that afternoon, Mr. John Routley said he hoped her marriage would not prevent her from undertaking other duties in which she had distinguished herself.

Commenting that she had had to use her tongue a good deal during the election, Miss Roberts said she understood she would now have to hold it—a sharp reversal of tactics!

Declaring the sale open, she said they all knew how much the Church needed money in order to carry on an important job. But while most people knew that things in the shops cost twice as much, they did not always realise they should put quite twice as much in the Sunday collection as they did before the war, and the sixpence in the pre-war collection still tended to be six-pence to-day. Actually the Church was more in need of funds to-day than in pre-war days.

The danger period for young people was when, at the age of 17 or 18. they left home to live elsewhere, and then they tended, if there was any tendency at all, to drift away from the Church.

It was vital that this should not happen. Therefore they had not only to train the children in their own church, but to look after those who came from other towns and see that they still kept within the ambit of the Church's work and its services.

To those people who were always called on to do the same jobs within the Church and who sometimes got a little despairing she said, “Please do not give up because the revival of decent standards in the future depends on your work, and though occasionally it may seem difficult, the results which are achieved are of tremendous importance.”

A Happy Family

Mr. W. G. Phillips, who presided, said a sale like that not only raised the money they needed, but brought the people together to work as a happy family, and this was of benefit to the fellowship side, too.

The Rev. O. J. Searchfield opened the proceedings with prayer. A bouquet was presented to Miss Roberts by Fiona Hickson and a buttonhole to Mr. Phillips by Glynis Onley.