Notable Church Ceremonial

Old Tahiti Lives Again

Notable Church Ceremonial At Bora Bora

From Our Own Correspondent

Papeete, Nov. 16.

It/fANY hundreds of persons assembled at Bora Bora recently for the dedication of the new Protestant Church at Vaitape, the principal settlement on that island.

The ceremony was conducted by the Reverend Charles Vernier, the presiding pastor of the Protestant Mission in Fr.

Oceania, assisted by many pastors and deacons from all parts of the colony.

This handsome new edifice, built on the site of the church destroyed by a hurricane in 1926, will stand as a lasting memorial to Mehao, its old pastor. Mehao was one of the great orators of his gen eration. He was eloquent, not after the manner of the spectacular school; but rather in the phrasing of the soft Tahi tian language, in balanced periods of euphony and beauty. During ten years, since the destruction of his old church, Mehao laboured unceasingly to amass funds and material for a new building.

Unhappily, he died before the time of dedication, while visiting Tahiti in 1936.

The dedication ceremony at Vaitape was, as well, a service in memory of Mehao.

The church destroyed in 1926 was of wood, completed at the end of 1925, and

not yet dedicated. The present structure is of solid masonry, and it seats 800.

Tne assembly at the dedication was impressive and inspiring. On the high pulpit the black-clad clergy, flanking the two presiding pastors, Messrs. Vernier and Charpier; at places of honour, the Administrator of the Leeward Islands, his staff, and members of the old royal family; in the body of the church, over a thousand men, women and children, clothed in spotless white. Outside in the churchyard, hundreds of others listened to the service through the open windows.

Thirteen hundred had come from Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Tahoa, Huahine and the little island of Maupiti, 23 miles wesL of Bora Bora.

A great feast was given after the cere mony, and at night—on the village green of Vaitape—massed choirs sang and ora tors spoke at an open-air service which continued until sunrise. The people of Bora Bora have long been famous tor their hospitality.

Every phase of this solemn festival— the dignity of ceremonial; the care for

the needs and comfort of the many guests; the beauty of the choral singing and the eloquence of the orators —was the perfection of old Tahitian custom.

The celebrations continued for several days.

The overflow of Tahitians listening to the ser vice at the dedication of the new Protestant Church, Vaitape, Bora Bora Island.