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FAREWELL MEETING TO THE REV. W. C. OLIVER.
3 A meeting to bid farewell to the Rev. ) W. 0. Oliver was held in St. John's Church . last night. The chair was taken by Mr . Snodgrass, who expressed his regret that Mr , J. H7 Cock was not present aa had been anticipated. ' The hymn " All hail the power of Jesu's [ Name " having been Bung, and prayer ' offered by the Rev, W, Young, ■ The Chairman said the most interesting • item on the programme for the evening waa . the b'dding farewell to their good minister ; Mr Oliver, who, according to the rules of the Church, was compelled to leave after a term of thrae years' servioe. Ha felt sure that Mr Oliver would prefer to remain, for the ' Wesleyans hero had been very kind to him, j and in addition to that he would like to i feninin hero for a time to conduct the ser« ] vices in the glorious new ohuroh they had i recently ereoted. Mr Oliver had done real j good service too in inducing the Conference ( to cancel a debt of between £400 and £500 i owing by the Church here; but for this {
they could not have erected their new building. Mr Oliver, too, in addition to subscribing handsomely himself, had done all in his power to raise a sufficient building fund. Personally, he (the Chairman) deeply regretted his departure, as, he was sure, did every member of the congregation. (Applause). The anthem "Incline Thine ear " having been sung, the report was read by Mr Haslem, the gubstanoe of whioh was as Eollowß : — "When the Rev. W. 0. Oliver took charge of tlie X'eloon Circuit some three years ago, the total liabilities of the Trust Board amounted to £498 ; the Bank overdraft being £78, besides an old standing debb of £420. On the latter Bum interest was pay* able at the rate of 8 per cent per annum. By dint of much correspondence, persover anoe, and able representation at the Conference of 1889, this long standing liability (£420) was found to be an error of an old Truet Board, and was subsequently wiped off. "Notwithstanding a heavy expenditure (£166 being paid away during the 3 years in interest, repairs, and snbsoriptions alone) the Trust account shows that the Bank overdraft is some £53 less than it was at the beginning of April, 1887, When the amount on which interest is being paid on account of the new Church is taken into consideration, we are actually paying interest on £70 less than we were on the ] st of April, 1887. " This state of affairs of the Trust Board is in a great measure owing to the indomitable energy and interest fctkon in ttli Ti'ust matters by the reverond gentleman., who ia aooordance with Methorliat rules, we meet for bhe last time in his offioial capacity this evening. The Trustees have plaoed on record their appreciation of the S9rviosa of ihe Bay. W. C. Oliver by passing the following resolution at a meeting hold on April 11th : — " That this being the last meeting of the j Trustees at whioh the Chairman (tho Bsv. ! W. 0. Oliver) will preside, we desire to tender him our cordial thanks for the very able and cordial manner in whioh he has performed bis dutie3 in that capacity.' " The following report of the Building Committee was then read by Mr Buttle, who fust of all stated that he had received a letter from the Rev J . Crump regretting his inability to be present that evening : — After giviDg a complete history of the new Church, he stated that the rostrum, whioh is a handsome ornament to the new Church, had been erected by Mr Bethwaite, and Mr Prouse, of Wellington, a? well as Mr Bethwaite, had kindly given a quantity of choice timbers for that purpose. The turning had been done free of oost by Messrs Fleming and Sons. He paid a tribute to the unsparing assistance given by Mr Oliver and Mr Bethwaite to the Committee. In addition to many informal meetings, the Committee bad held 20 regu ar ones, and some 80 letters and telegrams had been written and des-> patched. The Chairman wished to express his senße of the obligation of the congregation to Mr Buttle for the trouble he had taken in connection with the building, Mr Battle expressed his gratitude to Mr H, D. Jaokaon for the trouble he had taken in securing the new organ through his London friends. The cost of the organ in London was £354, the freight was £65, duty £70, and erection £29, A considerable amount of the funds had been raised by oonoerts, &0,, in getting up whioh Mr Lucas had taken muoh pains. Thero was still a balance of £223 owing for the instrument. He wished to thank the Rev Mr Chattsrton for the assistance he had rendered in testing the organ, and Mr Oliver for the energy he had thrown into the work, which had tended so largely towards their securing the instrument. Mr Haddow related all that had taken place in the direction of raising the building fund which had been initiated by the Rev. W. Lee, and read the balance-sheet, which showed a debit balance of £873. The reports were adopted. Mr Haddow said he had been deputed by the Trustees 'o perform a very pleasant duty, and proceeded to read an address to the Rev. W. C. Oliver, whioh had been, most tastefully and artistically engrossed and illuminated by Mr Wix, and handsomely framed in New Zealand woods by Mr Fleming. He also presented Mr Oliver with a handsome marble clock, at the same time expressing hip appreciation of the rev. gentleman's servioes and regret at parting with him, and hoped that, go where he might, he would " fare well " both in body and Bpirit. The text of the address was follows : — " To the Rev. William C. Oliver. "Rev. and dear Sir, — The time having arrived for you to take your .departure from Nelson, we, the undersigned, on behalf of the members and congregation of St. John's Church, desire to tender to you our grateful acknowledgment of the zealous and devoted mauuei in whioh you have disdri^ged your duties as minister and pastor during your sojourn amongst us. " WheT you first took up your abode here ; the need of the erection of a new church was very apparent, but there were difficulties in the way that rendered Buch an undertaking well nigh beyond our reach. You, sir, ably assisted in overcoming these difficulties, and by dint of tact and perseverance succeeded in removing them, and the present, handsome and commodious church is a fitting monument to your energy and ability. "In saying good bye to yourself, Mrs Oliver, and family, we desire to express our regret that we have to part with one whom we have learnt to regard aa a sincere friend, and we trust that in your further spheres of labor you will be abundantly blessed by the Almighty. " As a meaento of our esteem we beg that you will accept the accompanying present.' After an organ performance by Miss Jackson, which was loudly applauded, The Rev. W. 0. Oliver said that he must first return his sincere thanks to the Trustees for their beautiful expression of good will and their appreciation of his services in connection with the Church. The workmanship weuld in itsalf entrance him even if he paid no attention to the words of the address, and it would be a memento to him for years to come — for he had no desire to leave this beautiful world even for a better, until he had lived at least the allotted term of 70 years -a* d all that time the address would remind him of many faces that were dear to him. At this time he was full of regrets, and when a man waa in that state the less he said the better. First of all he regretted leaving so many friends, for nowhere where he had been had he formed so many attachments as in Nelson. In the next place he regretted that the weather had so sadly intarferred with the pleasure he had anticipated of bidding good bye to so many friends in their own houses, though at the same time he could not but feel grateful to Providence for the beautiful rain with whioh they had been blessed. H« regretted leaving the new church. When ho first came he found an old building:, a real living temple oertainly, but the life was not of a pleasant kind, and he hoped tken to see before he left a building more worthy of this city. That hope had been gratified, though at the cost of much toil which had considerably abridged his pastoral work, but he did not regret the labour he had expended upon it, for he believed the new and handsome building would have a good and a far reaching effect. He felt sure that liberality on the part of a congregation upon a new church was I money well spent, and that it was an object to which they should give as much as their means would allow. The church had been called St. John's, and some had raised the objection that it should have no name. But why not? Did they not givo names to their children, and why not to a church ? Some said they ought to call it a chapel, but did they known the origin of the word ? There was an old time man, whom, after he died, was named St. Martin. His admirers retained hia hood, 'or as it was called, a " capella." This was carried into battle and subsequently somebody was appointed to look after it and he was called a chaplain. Then it was stored in a building which was called a chapel. Now did they wish to name the plaoe in which they met for the worship of Godafter that man's old cloak. (Laughter.) But the word " Churoh, " on fihe other hand, meant something belonging to the Lord, and was therefore the very best term they cou'd apply to the building in whioh they met to worship Him, He regretted leaving the ohureh, for whatever waa chaste and beautiful must produce a ohasfca and beautiful effect on the moral sensibilities; and he regretted leaving the solemn and harmonious sounds of the organ and phuir, for they were calculated to lift the soul to heaven. He regretted too leaving the olimate and grand scenery of Nelson. He loved to see grand mountains around him, and would like, when his time came, to go into a mountain to die as did Moses of old, for there were to be found the rooks and the trees whiah were to him as the thoughts of God. Within a radius of 50 miles of Nelson there were more Bouroos of real and intense pleasure than he oould find words to express. Only lately he had been up the Maungatapu for the first time, and he had been writing himself down fool ever since for not having made the asoent before. They ought to have 150 tourists here every year to go up the Maungatapu alone, and they would be thanks f ul all the rest of their lives for their trans-, lation. He desired to heartily thank the Trustees and Building Committee for the hearty co-operation he had met with from them. With regard to Mr Isitt, whom he knew intimately, ha would say that he was very pleased indeed to think of him aa his successor in Nelson, If he had had his choice he was tho man ha would have seleoted for the plaoe. He was an able preaoher, and a man QtUQtytafcd. fa ej^se a. l^rge, {ngaqoge
'or good. He wished, before oonolnding, to U.uik the Press for the very kind treatment icoorded to him since he came to Nelson, In l^^Sfcred to express his oppreoi <ition and admiration of tho tolGrant spirit and breadth of Christian views whioh prevailed in Helton, whiah he believed to be in a large measure due to tho exainpe and influence of the Bishop of the diooese. (Loud applause.) Speaking for himself he would say that he should ahv.iyfl remomber him with the grea'est gratitude, Mr Oliver resumed his seat amid long and continued applause. The Rev. W. Youug having made a few humorous remarks the " Old Hundredth ' was sung, and the meeting was brought to a close by the Rev, Mr Oliver pronouncing the benediotion. {
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Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 88, 15 April 1890, Page 2
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2,098FAREWELL MEETING TO THE REV. W. C. OLIVER. Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 88, 15 April 1890, Page 2
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FAREWELL MEETING TO THE REV. W. C. OLIVER. Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 88, 15 April 1890, Page 2
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No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
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