ROUND THE CHURCHES.
Observer, Volume XI, Issue 637, 14 March 1891, Page 6
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ROUND THE CHURCHES.
It seems to be all settled that Pastor Thcs. Spurgeon will resume charge of the Tabernacle after June next j Attention is to be called to the present condition of the New Zealand Methodist. The dear brethren are behind with their subscriptions, as usual. Cambridge and Parnell correspondents write giving further particulars of the doings of the lapsed Salvationist Captain. I may find time and space to enlarge on the subject next week. Quoth Pastor Birch when called on to apologise for his treatment of Mesdames Batts and Gaze—' No ; I have made one apology, and eaten humble pie once in Auckland, but I will never do so again.' Rev. A. J. Smith, a Methodist minister who has a long and honourable record of work in Auckland, left this week for England. His farewell was in every respect a perfect contrast to that of Pastor Birch, whose brief and stormy career ended in wrath. The Wesleyans are flattering themselves that they are growing liberal-minded because they have admitted the Press to a portion of their Conference business. In point of fact, their Ministerial Session is still as much closed as ever and no layman is allowed to take part in or even listen to their sacred oracles. What does the Wesleyan body mean to do with regard to the maintenance of the brother of the late Mr Probert ? Under the will of the deceased the brother gets almost nothing, while the Wesleyan Churoh gets a bier bequest. Will the Conference vote an allowance, or will it allow him to seek charitable aid ? The Rev. Father Gillan, of the Sacred Heart Church, would do well to cultivate a slower style of speech, as at present his utterance occasionally becomes so rapid as to become quite unintelligible. This is the more to he regretted as the rev. gentleman promises to become extremely popular with his congregation. Lovers of Dickens will be pleased to learn that the celebrated Mr Turveydrop is now on view at A.ll Saints' Church, Ponsonby. where he occupies the position of churchwarden. The beaming self-satisfaction and dignified strut of the gentlemin in question is marvellous to behold, and no reader of ' Bleak House ' should miss the opportunity (price 3d) of seeing the erreat Mr Pomposity Turveydrop posing in elegant style as a ' model of deportment.' He is without doubt an efficient successor of the late churchwarden. A popular young church organist, who has just returned from a pleasure trip to the Hokianga district, is loud in his praises of the dusky damsels of the district, with their brawny arms and strapping figures, &g. As Mormonism is making great headway amongst the Maoris, the young fellow's friends and relations are greatly concerned as to his intention of forsaking the charms of the Saxon girls and taking to the more pronounced beauty (as he said) of the noble aboriginal.
