PRESBYTERIANISM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 138, 13 June 1934, Page 9

PRESBYTERIANISM.

FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.

COMMITTEE'S REPORT.

Three Presbyterian churches in Auckland —St. Andrew's, Symonds Street; St. James', Wellington Street; and* Knox, Parnell—are experiencing serious financial difficulties, and their position was considered in committee by the Auckland Presbytery last evening. A special committee of four ministers and four elders presented a report on a comprehensive survey made of the church districts concerned, and recommendations in respect to their future working were approved. St. Andrew's Church was opened 84 years ago. At a recent meeting of the congregation a suggestion was made for a scheme of co-operation with Scots Church, Sydney, in an elfort to secure eminent preachers from Great Britain, and it was resolved to obtain 50 guarantors of £20 each for one year to help to finance the parish. The presbytery last evening expressed sympathy with the congregation, and decided not to place any obstacle in the way of the proposal to invite preachers from abroad. St. James' has been without a minister since the resignation of the Rev. E. R. Harries. The presbytery urged the congregation to concentrate its energies on the district in which the church is situated. Appreciation of the spirit in which the office-bearers of Knox Church arc facing a difficult situation was expressed by the presbytery. A recommendation of the ofiice-bearers was supported that an effort be made to secure the services of a licentiate for a year at a stipend of £220, with manse. The Rev. A. Macdonald Aspland, who has been minister for some years, will retire in October.