ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLIV, Issue 9877, 26 July 1923, Page 6

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH

[ PRESBYTERIANS’ ANNUAL 11 MEETING. SATISFACTORY YEAR RECORDED. ' The 49th annual meeting of the members and adherents of the AshS burton St, Andrew’s Presbyterian Church was held in the church hall last evening, the Moderator, the Rev. 8 j G. Miller, presiding over a good., atI tendance. I After the reading of the minutes of a special meeting held at the end of ) June last regarding the question of a site for the new Sunday school, Mr W. J. Moore referred to the wording of that part where it said that to a motion that the school be built on the opposite side of the street, Mr Barr moved an amendment that it be built on Miss McKee’s site, but the Moderator would not accept the amendment, jjs the discussion had closed. Mr Moore salci that according to the minutes just read thv Moderator’s ruling in not ac-

cepting the amendment? was in questior and not the wor ?f the amendment Mr J. Shaw said -#»?* the same end: jvere accomplished. The Moderator replied that that not the point. - Mr R. Barr held that thff amend ment should not be withdrawn. Tiie Moderator said that the miimiei stated that the Moderator’s ruling hac been questioned. The question lie pui \ was: Would Mr Barr be allowed tc put in the amendment ? x Air \V. Oakley,- then session clerk, said that he had written the minutes, and had put the matter as clearly as he could in words. There was no further discussion on the point, the Moderator putting it to the meeting to pass the minutes, and this was done. The statement of funds showed the income for the year was £1179 11s lid, which included collections and donations amounting to £853 17s 4d, special orphanage collection £97 7s 7d, and missions £lB2 6s. The chief items of expenditure were : Salaries, supply, and wages, £568 Is 4d; missions, £lB2 6s; rates, insurances, repair work, etc,. £254 3s 7d. There was a credit balance I of £l2 9s Bd, the year having opened ! with a credit balance of £8 7s 3d. The church sinking fund showed a j|. credit balance of Is 4d; the organ fund, j £69 18s 6d; Sunday School building j.iund, £24 17s 6d; motor-car fund, £lO JJs 8d; St. Andrew’s Hall account, £7B. ■ The total recipts for the year ended -.June 30, 1923, were £1873 Is 4d, of j which the following were the chief items:—Total revenue General Ac-' jccount £1179 11s lid. Church Sinking j.Fund £192 13s Bd, Organ Fund £2 os.

' j lOd, Sunday School Building Fund , i <£267 8s lOd, Motor Car Account £4O !;; 2s, St. Andrew’s Sunday School £55 js3s22B, Allenton Sunday School £l4 Gs •• lid. Hall Account £7B, P.W.M.U. £42 ! 18s. Session Report. •i The Session report stated: “ IVe are i H, pleased to report that vhe church ser:i. vices have been exceptionally well A attended, and have been quite an in--71 spiration and help to all present, * The \j. week-night service has been continued y. weekly throughout the year, and we 7.wish, that many more would avail tliemJ. selves of this service. Special thanks fi' are due to the teachers who give their iji.time to the instruction of the children connected with the congregation. To | show . the importance of this groat .work,callow us to quote from a speech made lately by Mr Lloyd George: ‘My • conviction is that the Sunday school ] movement is one of the great moulding movements of the world, and the work , of the teacher is going to influence the 1 •character -of the -nations.’ We wish to thank the choir for their assistance in j | leading tt/he services. We would bring [before our young people-the singing; •class conducted by Miss Swap, who is; i training our young people for thochoir, j Our membership roll is now 872. There: joined the Church by certificate 13, by profession of faith 18. There have been 1 31 baptisms, 16 marriages, and 38 funerals.

J “‘The ladies of the congregation eonI finue to do yeoman service in the j interest of missions and with our social ('life. 'Without their assistance our i Church would not hold the position it now occupies. We record our "thanks to them for all their efforts. The misI s’ion conducted by the Rev. J. 31. I Simpson in April last had to he discon- 1 I tinned on account of the inclement weather; hut good results would have I followed had the meetings continued. I The Session wishes to extend their sympathy to all who have suffered - bereavement throughout the year; and to Air and Mrs Miller we record - our host thanks for the earnest and conscientious

work rendered by them.’’' Managers’ Report. The Managers' ■ report, stated that 13 meetings were held, with an average attendance of 15 members. Two members resigned during the year, namely, Messrs It, Rhodes and R. McDonald, and the committee desired to place on record its appreciation of the services rendered by these gentlemen. No new works of any magnitude had been attempted during tiie year, but four gas heaters had been installed in the church, which would be a great improvement on the kerosene heaters previously in use. The triennial visitation of Presbytery, consisting of the Revs. G. Hereus and R. A 1 cCnily, 8.A., took place during the year, and they found that a careful record of accounts and minutes of managers’ meetings- was being kept. The anniversary services were conducted by the Rev. P. Gladstone Hughes, of Chalmers Church, Timaru, and were much enjoyed by large congregations at both the morning and evening services. An oldfashioned tea meeting in connection

with the anniversary celebrations was one of the most successful social functions ever held in connection with St. Andrew’s. It was with great pleasure they were able to record the fact that the whole of the Church property was now free of debt, the final payment of £2OO being paid on June 1. 1923. This desideratum was attained by the splendid response to the appeal on Anniversary Sunday, and to the liberal patronage accorded the anniversary ten. That £2OO was raised, without laborious effect, in one week, spoke volumes- fur the liberality of the people and their deep interest in the Church. Had it not been for the Rev. G. Miller's zeal and enthusiasm, they would not he in the strong position they find themselves in. This year an innovation in the form of a speeinhSundny School Sunday j was introduced, - when special collections in aid of the Sunday school funds wore j taken up. Again the response was most g*Tuwou\ the Stmdav school funds j benefiting to the extent of £22 12s 5(1, j

A most pleasing feature of the service! was the manifest interest of the children in their special day. As next year would be the jubilee of the chlU'Oh, the committee had apijothted a sub-committee to compile a suitable publication Jm commemorate the event. Anyolie interested who had any information likely to be of interest was invited to communicate with the 1 Rev. Or. Miller or Mr M. Bruce. As a number of envelope subscribers had left the district, the committee pur-

posed during the coming year to try to augment the number of envelope ! contributors. At last annual congrega- ! tional meeting they passed a recommon--1 dation urging the renovation of the | old church. Owing to the “site” con- ' troversy nothing hacl been done, j The question of the site of tho new Sunday School had exercised the minds of the committee very considerably 1 during the greater part of the year. I It was finally decided by the committee

• to build on the old church site, but this I decision was by no means unanimous, j the voting being 12 in favour, whilst eight members dissented. At a congre- ! gational meeting held on June 27 the i congregation rejected the proposal to ’ build the new Sunday school on the old church site, and decided by 74 votes to 42 votes to erect it on the site

- opposite the old church. In conclusion, i the report expressed appreciation of . '■ the loyalty shown by the congregation. s The Sunday School, S Sunday School report slated that jtlie staff, consisting of Mr Buchanan .| as Superintendent, and 16 teachers, jjvith Mr 'Loftus as treasurer, had been

s most conscientious and faithful in their 1 • work. F or the fust time (in recent t ‘years at i<3,ast) a Sunday School Anni--3 yersary was li#ld on December 3, when the children took pliarge of the singing 1 for the day. Much of the success of the i anniversary was due to Mr Gardner,

who was responsible for training the children. Thanks were due to the Managers for giving a special retiring polJection, amounting to £22 12s sd, an/1 ,to the congregation for their generous

Response. This year the total collecitsons were £32 2s 6d, which constituted' .a record for the school. “We are proud of the continued interest in the Children’s Homes, and would tender our sincere thanks to the parents pud friends who so generously assisted us in making tAvo more- records during the year,” continued the report. Egg Sunday resulted in 100 dozen eggs and 1 other useful articles being sent to I Christchurch, and Jam Sunday en-

abled them to send forward 2ISO pots and one large jar of jam and also preserves. About seventy-five children had enlisted in the Young People’s Worshipping League. Next year being the Jubilee of the Church, it will also he the Jubilee of the Sunday School. ‘‘We are very much encouraged that the plans for the new school lia\ r e been approA-cd and adopted by the congregation, and AA-e hope to

1 celebrate our jubilee in the up-to-date ) school provided for in these plans.” >! The iKintfergarten. > 1 Nearly 30 children AA-ere promoted in February; since then there had beer 11 admissions. A number of children haA r e left the district. Except on wet ! day the attendance' had varied very ■ slightly. Fifteen names had been added l to the Cradle Roll, Avhich is feAver than j usual Other Reports, The Junior Young Women’s Bible Class report stated that at the beginning of the year there were 18 girls, j but the numbers Avere strongly reinforced by 20 scholars from the Sunday School. The year’s funds amounted to |£4 10s, and were allotted., as follows: 'Young Women’s Tmv. Sec. Fund, £2-; Bible Class Nurse £1; Bible plass Maori Missionary, 15s; Bible Class

Bursary Fund, 15s. Tiie Junior Young Men’s Bible Class report stated that on April 7 it was decided to form a Winter Club, meetings to be held every Saturday evening. “We have since decided in favour of fortnightly meetings. The folloAving officers Avere elected : —President, Rev. G. Miller; vice-president, Mr AY.-Barr; committee, B.C. Committee to act for club. Satisfactory subscription rates, etc., Avere' fixed on. We all enjoy these

I Saturday evenings, though very adjacent residents might not.” The report of the St. Andrew’s P.W.M.U. was very satisfactory: The roll of membership was much the same as last year (54). The loss of Mrs R. MoDonaid was very much regretted. At a gift afternoon for Home Missionar-j ies, four parcels were made up, each to the value of £4 10s, and sent to men in different parts. Allocation' of the funds for the year were as follows :—Bible Woman £l2, Assessments £1 7s, Training Institute £l, Homo Missions £s', Parcels to Home Missionaries £lB, Sisters Tweed and Grant £3, M.M.B.L . £5, Oriental

work £62. The Choir reported, that there had been several ehnnges in the personnel of the choir. new members had joined, and Jf-SPPI was still room for more. At lie end of 1922 Air L. J: Watt was a’ pointed, choirmaster. The members we: > gent finely sorry to lose Mr H. S. Gardner, "nd would like to place on record then; appreciation-of his services during In term of office. During the latter part of 1922* th’e choir gave a concert, the nett proceeds of which amounted to £9 16s 3d: The - St. Andrew’s Basket flail' Club reported having won last year - th’e senior competition and in Hie seven-a-side tournament were in the - semifinals. Thev° had now £1 4s 8d ’ onhand. '“We greatly appreciate thetime Miss Swap spends in cun citing ns, and wish to express our thank's, to Ter and also tb Airs Wallace Smith, wllo

lias presented a. banner to he competed for in the senior competitions. \Vo,-k at the Allenton Sunday School continued'’ with out interruption; _ Hie present roll number was 85; with an average- attendance of 70: Air W. J Moore, acting-session clerk spoke briefly to His report, and Air &. H. Harle spoke- to the- managoys?> report in the absence ot Air Vi . R Lane. The financial’statement, presented by Air AT. Bruce, was considered most satisfactory. The reports and balance-sheets were adopted as read, on the. motion of Mr G. H. TTefford and Air W: McDonald. Air Aloore expressed - appreciation, on behalf of the teachers and pupils of the Sunday School’, of die liberal response of the congregation in giving the special Sunday School collections. The AToderator referred to the Junior Young MenN Bible Class, which was a most interesting one. Choir matters were referred to by Air L. J. Watt, who said practices were the- weak part of that combination. The Afoderator expressed thanks to the choir for the great help they gave to the church —assistance that was greatly appreciated. Similar thanks was expressed hy the Moderator- to all the church officials and the church

organisations, special mention?, being made- to Sunday School work,, both in town and at Allenton, and to. the missions, without which the Church could not carry- on as a whole. b'okqif ol Mrs Miller and himself he thanked’ the congregation for their hearty-co-opera-tion. The people, he found, were keenly interested in his sermons, and it was* a pleasure for him, to- occupy the pulpit.. Mb- Hefford suggested? a Presbyterian Sunday School for Ashburton East, where a good percentage of Presbyterian people resided. 'flic suggestion wap-well i-eeeived, but Mr Moore said the- difficulty would be k> secure teachers-. Such a school would be a step in the right direction. A vote- of thanks was passed to Messrs M. Bruce and W. R. Lane, for their splendid work on the church's behalf, and a similar vote was passed to the Rev. Mr Miller and Mrs Miller. During the meeting songs were rendered by Mr L. J. Watt bad Mrs E. G Craighead, and at the conclusion supper was served by the ladies.