CHURCH TEA MEETING.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1193, 6 February 1864, Page 5

CHURCH TEA MEETING.

A tea meeting of the parishioners of the Heathcote and Valley districts took place on Thursday last, at the store of Messrs. Millton & Co., which was kindly lent for the occasion by those gentlemen. The room was elegantly decorated with flags, bearing the usual standard loyal devices, and with flowers and evergreens; the effect of the whole was remarkably good, and reflected great credit upon the taste and skill of those to whom the decorations had been entrusted. A great number of persons attended, and seemed heartily to enjoy themselves. Amongst those present were the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, the Rev. C. Cholmondely, F. Knowles, L. Moore, J. C. Bagshaw, W. Wilson, F. Stack, &c., Messrs. Aynsley, Cooper, McKellar, Kennaway, &c. After tea the Bishop took the chair, and after a few remarks from the Rev. C. Cholmondeley, addressed the meeting, congratulating those present on the success which had attended the gathering. Such friendly and social meetings were highly desirable as tending tt> promote those feelings of kindly and neighbourly regard for one another which ought to characterise those who dwell in close proximity, and who for the most part worship in the same temple of God. He trusted that one of the results of the present meeting wbuld be that it would form a precedent for an annual one; in this part of the world, Ave were in a great measure debarred from harmless recreation, and he thought it highly desirable that such opportunities of innocent relaxation should be afforded to all who chose to avail themselves of them.

The Rev. W. Wilson addressed the meeting, contrasting the present flourishing condition of the parish with what it was when lie first became acquainted with it, and discharged the duties of its pastor. Whilst congratulating the inhabitants of the district on the improvement which had taken place, and on the success which had crowned their energy and industry; he would wish to warn them against being led, by their pursuit of earthly prosperity, to neglect higher and more important interests. Man had a loftier, holier aim, than merely worldly advancement. It was a source of much gratification to him to witness such a large assembly as he now saw before him. Such meetings were, in his opinion, calculated to effect much good by tending to neutralize that feeling of isolation which is so often and so painfully felt by persons in the colonies. Mr. Cooper, the senior church-warden, was the next speaker, and read the following financial statement: — •' I must bespeak your indulgence for a very few minutes, while, in accordance with a special request to that effect, I endeavour to lay before you some slight sketch of the financial position of the parish, of the various funds under the headings of which our offertories and other receipts are raised, and of their appropriation. "I seize the present occasion of laying such a statement before you, the more willingly as it is the only eligible opportunity which has presented itself, since our taking office, of placing in the hands of the parishioners any authentic information on this subject ; an object which has been long considered by my brother churchwarden and myself to be most desirable of attainment. I must beg to assure you that I only trespass on your attention in introducing on the present occasion so dry and uninteresting a subject (as all mere monetary statements to some extent must necessarily be) under a firm conviction that in so doing, I embrace the only chance which has presented itself, or is likely to present itself of laying such information before you at all, and that if you find the reading over of the few figures with which I have to deal to-night very irksome, at least, they shall not detain you long. " Our regular Sunday offertories are classed under three heads, namely, General Church Expenses, collected three Sundays in every month, except when their regular course is interfered with for some special offertory. 2ndly. Parochial Aid, which is collected on the first Sunday in each month. And thirdly, two offertories in the year for the Maori Mission. Besides these there are generally m the course of the year two or three offertories for special purposes, including one for the Melanesian or South Sea Island Mission. " All the sums collected for these funds, with the exception of those for General Church Expenses, are paid over intact at the termination of each quarter to the Diocesan Treasurer, and are by him placed to the credit of the various funds respectively. Ihe only one of these which seems to require explanation is that under the head of Parochial Aid, which is applied to the assisting or eking out of the voluntary contributions towards the Curate's stipend m those parishes where such contributions do not reach a minimum annual sum of £150. This, I understand, is the case in all the local parishes, with the exception only of our own and of those of Chnstchurch and Lyttelton, while three parishes receive no assistance from that fund, and have, in consequence the privilege of enjoying the undivided ministerial services of their Curates, which is not the case in the others where the Curate is liable to be at any time called upon for service in other localities. «I have said that all the offertory collections are mid in quarterly to the Diocesan Treasurer, with the exception of those for the general. Church exSenses that being the only fund remaining in the hands of the churchwardens for expendUure. During the year under our consideration, whic 1 ended 31st December last, that fund amounted to about £32, together with a liberal donatwn of £5 from Mr P. B. Luxmore (for an altar doth, foi bt. Cy'Y Church, in the Valley), brought our tota sum available for Church expenses for both Churches to about £97. Of this sum we have expen- £ £ntu= "The Church improvements which ha I re been effected during the past year, incl^ e , at Tohn's Ferry Road, the erection of the bell gtructure (the timber for which was liberally

given by Messrs. Millton and Co., J. C. Aikinan and Montgomery, Todhunter and Co.), and the hanging of the bell; some much needed repairs to the outside plastering of the church, the construction of entrance gates and forming and metalling oi path, &c. At St. Mary's, the. carting from Hi ecu rton of the bell structure (generously presented by the vestry of that parish) and the hanging of the bell, painting the exterior of the church, the construction of an altar rail and chancel tables, a new altar cloth and chancel carpeting, and the partial levelling and planting of the enclosure. " These few improvements have been something | in the way of fitly providing for the proper celebration of Divine Service and a necessary provision for the comfort of worshippers in our two churches; but they are not all that is required. Several wants are yet much felt by the Church officers. Among the principal are altar rail, a proper set of Communion plate and one or two articles of chancel furniniture for St. John's Church, all of which are much needed. Besides these the outside plastering and the buttresses of the Church urgently require a thorough repair and the external woodwork is in much need of painting. Some of these wants with other necessary current expenses we hope to meet with the funds in hands and those now accruing from the regular offertories. "It is not, I believe, generally known by the parishioners that there yet remains a sum of money owing on the building of St. Mary's Church, Heathcote Valley. This debt was contracted about four years ago, when there would appear to have been considerable mismanagement, or at least misunderstanding between their Church officers and the persons by whom the timber was supplied. The circumstances only came to the knowledge of the Vestry at a very recent date, and even now their informal tion on the subject is very imperfect. All the parties who then had the management of the Church affairs—including the Curate—being now absent, and having left no reliable accounts or records. On the existence of the debt coming 10 their knowledge, the matter was a short time ago taken up by the Churchwardens, when it appeared that an amount against the church of £139 odd (being for timber supplied, with about three years' interest thereon) stood on the books of Mr. J. D. Macpherson,as successor to Cookson and Co., the contractors for the supply of the timber. That amount, I may remark, included an apparent overcharge of 2s 6d per 1000 feet.

" After collecting all the information in our power to obtain, the question was considered at a very fully attended Vestry meeting, and communication was had with Mr. McPherson with a view to a reduction of his claim to £65, the nett amount due (without interest) for the timber, which sum, if accepted by Mr. McPherson, it was proposed should be raised by subscription throughout the parish. That gentleman expressed his willingness to cancel his claim for a cash payment of £100, but stated that he was not prepared to accept any less sum.

" On January Ift. the Vestry again met, and after considering Mr. HWSherson's offer, passed the following resolution:—

"' That it is the opinion of this meeting—that no advance can be made on the sum of £65, which the Vestry are willing to pay to Mr. McPherson in full liquidation of his claim on the Church of St. Mary, Heathcote valley, and that such decision of the Vestry be communicated in writing to that gentleman, together with a copy of the resolution on this subject passed at the last Vestry meeting.' " To this communication, which was at once made by the Churchwardens, we have as yet received no answer, and so the matter at present rests.

" The only remaining subject on which I have to touch is that of the clerical stipend. Our Church guarantee at last Easter was for the sum of £150. This sum, being supplemented only by an amount of £40 from the general Church estate in the diocese, has been long considered inadequate by us. Such, indeed, seemed to be the general opinion held throughout the parish, as expressed at an unusually numerously attended meeting of the parishioners on a late occasion, when the question was fully considered. After the expression of opinion then given, we have every hope that our successors in office will be enabled materially to raise the amonnt of their guarantee for the ensuing year, commencing at Easter next; and we can confidently trust that ere long the amount of the stipend raised in the parish will be more commensurate with the income which the curate of such a parish ought to receive." The Rev. F. Stack gave an interesting account of his labours amongst the Maori population, of whom he stated that there were about 500 in the province, distributed amongst eight villages; the greater number were living at Kaiapoi, and consequently he had fixed his head-quarters iu that place. He spoke highly of the natives, whom he described as a peaceable and orderly race of people, and added that it was intended to build a boarding school for the children in that locality. He besought his hearers to entertain a kindly feeling towards them; there are many reasons why this should be the case, and he hoped that such a disposition would be entertained and encouraged in the mind of every British inhabitant of the province. The Rev. L. Moore addressed the meeting in a humorous and effective speech, dwelling forcibly upon the evils of intemperance, and recommending the practice of total abstinence, which he asserted was the only feasible remedy for the vice of intemperance which was at present unfortunately so rite in the province. The Rev. F. Knowles, in a feeling and earnest address, tendered some excellent advice to the Sunday school teachers, the children who attended there, and to the parents of the scholars. The proceedings of the meeting were enlivened by some excellent singing, executed by a choir under the direction of Mr. Aswyn. Votes of thanks were passed to Messrs. Millton and Co. for their kindness in placing their premises at the disposal of the promoters of the Soiree; to the ladies who had supplied the tea; to the Choir, and to the Lord Bishop for presiding over the meeting. After singing the National Anthem, the company separated.