WESLEYAN DISTRICT SYNOD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 298, 23 December 1897, Page 5

WESLEYAN DISTRICT SYNOD.

At the Weslcyan District Synod the following report on the church properties was presented: —1. New erections completed and additional properties acquired during the year, (a) Mission Property : Trustee House in Par-liament-street, cost £768 5s 2d ; no debt. (b) Auckland (Pitt-street) : Church at Kingsland, to seat 300, cost £SlB 9s Id ; debt to church building loan fund, £220.. (c) Upper Thames (Karangahake) :, Eleven' perches, cost £20 ;no debt, (ci) Franklin:, Removal of Pokeno'church to new site, cost £45 ; debt £3. (c) Coromandel : New site, i cost £150; no debt. Church at Kuaotunu, '• (cost £376 5s 6d; debt, £100. (f) Whaj ngarei : Church at Hikurangi, cost £212 Ss 3d; debt £20. Nov.- organ cost £15. Church or parsonage sites given during the year, (a) North Shore: Church site at Sunnyside ; gift of Messrs W T. S. and J. T. Wilson and Dr. McDowaU. (b) Upper Thames : Quarter of an acre for church; gift of Mrs Christian ; perpetual lease, (c) Pranklin : Quarter of an acre at Pokeno, for church; gift of Mr Pyne. (d) Coromandel : Section for church, value £99 ; gift of Mr S. James. Purchase or erection of properties sanctioned : — (a) Auckland, Mount Albert : Enlargement of schoolroom, etc., cost £360, purchase of parsonage site. _(b) North Shore : New church at Sunnyside. (c) Thames : New Sunday-school, to cost £850. (d) Upper Thames : Class rooms at Paeroa, cost £50; church at Waihi, probable cost £250; church at Karangahake, probable cost £250. (c) Coromandel: New church, estimated cost £800. (f) Mission trustees: Permission ro purchase 25 acres adjoining Paikowhai property. The general returns presented by Rev. W. Sinclair are as follows :— English Maori Churches 62 10 Other preaching places .. .. 123 33 Ministers and probationers .. 30 5 Home Missionaries 6 4 Local preachers 13(5 39 Class leaders 70 6 Church members 2,574 599 On trial 65 169 Communicants 468 IS4 Catechisms 279 Deaths 18 31 Sunday Schools 61 13 Sunday School teachers .. .. 521 Sunday School scholars .. 5,097 372 Attendance on public worship, ■ including scholars .. .. 16,176 2,571 The Sunday-school returns were pre-, sented by the Rev. S. Lawry as follows :~- English. Maori. No. of schools 63 13 No. of scholars 5,112 372 Average attendance of scholars 3,521 No. of teachers _ .. .. - . _. 535 17 Average attendance of teachers ■ 153 No. of teachers Church members 301 No. of scholars Church members 241 Volumes in liDraries .. .. 9,128 Cost of school management, £416 12s 2d. The temperance returns presented by by Rev. S. Griffith : —Bands of Hope, 21; members, 2,072; Sunday-school scholars pi non-connexional Bands of Hope, 504. On December 14, at the Holy Trinity Church, Devonport, the Rev. Sidney Hawthorne, late of Naseby, Otago, was •formally inducted as vicar of the Devonport Anglican parish. Bishop Neville was welcomed in Dunedin on his return from England at a meeting attended by 1,500 persons. Dean Fitchett presided. Archdeacon Robinson presented an address on behalf of the Standing Committee of the diocese and Cathedral Chapter.

The Right Rev. Cecil Wilson, Bishop of Melanesia, who is at present the guest of Bishop Cowie, will be in Auckland until next week. He will be present at the meeting of the Anglican General Synod in February, after which he will go to England on a visit. He expects to be absent from his diocese about a year.

The annual tee and public meeting of the London Missionary Society was held on December Bth in the Mount Eden Congregational Church. The Rev. B. Rhodes occupied the chair. The Secretary and Treasurer's reports showed the Auxiliary to be in a healthy condition, the results being not only highly satisfactory but progressive. In 1896 the amount raised by the Auxiliary, including the ladies' branch, was £109 5s B|-d. For 1597 the amount, including £15 12s 5d from the ladies' branch, is £143 ISs 9d. Besides these amounts the centenary fund, which closed in April last, was £145 ISs 2d. This gives a total of £399 2s 8d for the two years. This amount includes £32 17s specially contributed for the L.M.S. Indian Famine Fund. The executive for the ensuing year was elected, viz. :— President, Rev. F. Warner; Vice-Presi-dent, Rev. G. Williams ; Treasurer, Mr J. Dykes ; Secretary, Mr S. W. Smeeton ; Committee, Revs. B. Rhodes, B. L. Thomas, Captain Daldy, Messrs Moore, Lyon, Campbell, E. Wood and Crosher.

The service at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral on December 19th was of more than usual interest, owing to the ordination to the priesthood of the Rev. Joseph. Croke Darby, son of Mr Patrick Darby, of Ponsonby, an old and highlyrespected resident of Auckland. There was a crowded congregation, and great interest was manifested in the proceedings, which attracted unusual attention through the fact that the priest to be ordained was an Auckland boy. At eleven o'clock His Lordship Bishop Lenihan celebrated Pontifical High Mass, assisted by a number of other clergy. The Very Rev. Father Grogan entered the pulpit and explained the various forms of the ordination, and he referred in terms of praise to the scholastic attainments of the young priest, and to his assiduity and perseverance in study. Father Grogan also made mention of tlie presence of the Rev. Darby's parents and friends, 'and of the ordination taking place in the city of Father Darby's birth. Pie hoped that many other young Aucklanders would fob low the bright example shown them that morning. Weber's "Festival Mass" was performed, the soloists being Misses C. Lorrigan and Hargraves, and Messrs Casier and Lonergan. After the solemn ceremony of ordination, His Lordship and the newlyordaincd celebrated Mass, and at the conclusion the Rev. Father Darby gave his blessing to his parents and relatives, and blessed the members of the congregation around the altar rails. After Mass the Bishop, the local and visiting clergy, Mr Darby, sen., and sons, dined together ,at the Bishop's Palace.