KAITANGATA NEWS.

Bruce Herald, Volume LV, Issue 65, 25 August 1919, Page 4

KAITANGATA NEWS.

YKOM OUR OWN CORRESrONDENT.

KAITANGATA PRESBYTERIAN

CHURCH.

■ . The l annual meeting of members and ■ adherents of the' above church .was held on Wednesday night. . t. The Session- report, submitted by the Session clerk (Mr T. Gage), stated, inter alia:—Owing to ill-health {Mr Mc-: 'Dowall was unable to carry on the work .of the ministry, and was* granted three /"months' holiday' to recover, and the ' Sabbath services were carried on by Rev. .1, U. Spence and Rev. ,!. M. lavion, aini the Session conducted the : weok-uight prayer meeting. Fortunately Rev. MeDowall is new able to resume his duties. During the year the church •lor.t through death two of ouv pioneer ■monjbois' and elders —Messrs Charles Smaill and William.Kelly. Tliey took an" active part in church work for " over 40 years, and their places will be. -' 'hard to fill. During the year several changes have taken place in our church ■work.; Mr Win. Smaill (superintendent ■of the Sunday school) found that owing to old ago and strenuous duties he

was co-mpelled to resign. Mr William Larson (leader of ' tlie Boys' Bible Class) was appointed superintendent of the Sunday school, and Mr Mathews 'succeeded ;M'r 'Carson as leader of -the Boys' Bible Class. Owing to increased • home duties several of the older members of the Christian Endeavour So-, ciety 'were compelled to resign, and unfortunately the younger .members of the congregation did not come forward to carrv on the work, and tlie Christian •Kndenvour -Society ceased to exist. The various reports of the many activities of the church speak for themselves, and show the need of greater attention being given to the work among the youngpeople. ■ In this respect the congregation should take into serious consideration better accommodation for the Sab--bath'school. The admissions to bcrship were 12, and the disjunctions lu, and two by death. The attendances v at- the various Communion' services were: —.luly .108, November 100, March 115. The-Sessionvles-ire to express their gratitude to the choirmaster, the organist, and the choir for their efforts to - render worthily the services of praise. The report of the Managers' Court stated: —<As may be seen from the bal-ance-sheet, we have concluded the year •with a debit balance of .'is Id, 'which, under the circumstances, must be considered very satisfactory. . . . During Mr McDowall's furlougl* pulpit supply -was arranged, for, and, this necessitated aii expenditure of abouf £oo. Contrilm.tions to missions also compare .more than favourably with those of last year. During the year, owing to the inllueiiza epidemic,' the church was closed for some time, and contributions to the ordinary collections suffered to a considerable extent. Here again we would •draw, the attention of members of the church to,the matter of systematic giving. During the year considerable work

.'has 'been clone in tlie chureli grounds. The'work of repairing and painting the •manse is going 011, and' tenders are be-, ing called for the painting of the ' church. ! A siib-cojnmittee has the matter of fitting- up the. hall for the Sunday 'school in haml. A concrete floor has ■ been put in the verandah of the manse, audi a start lias been made with the putting in of tlie concrete tan-k. The hall eonvmittee shows a credit balance of £BO os, of whieli the- sum of £sl has been set a ride for a chureli ami manse : repair fund. The Sunday school report stated: — During the year our old respected superintendent -.('Mr Sniaill) resigned, after . 'spending, many year's of faithful service amoiigst the young. Mr W, Carson- has ibeen appointed! in his- place. There lias ibeen a considerable falling off in the' attendance and names on the school roll, and -we respectfully request the parents in the. congregation to send their children along during the coming Tear, and support and encourage. Uieir own Sabbath school. There is also a ■ shortage in the teaching staff, and we would earnestly appeal- to the, young members in the church to assist us by giving'their services in this important 'branch. At present on the- roll there arc 42 girls amdi 30-boys, making a total of 72. -..Last quarter the average attendance was: Girls- 29.9, boys 2.ll—total, 1)2.8. Total average attendance for the first"' quarter was 58.9, second quarter :H.4,.third quarter 41.7. At present we have seven teachers—five females and ' two males. Our Sunday "school was . -closed for three months during the influenza epidemic. During the year five ■scholars gained the diploma for gyod attendance-, six gained 'tin? red seal, five ■the ibl-ue seal, seven- the green sral, .two ■the.-purple.,seal,, three the silver - seal, ■and; one the gohl'seal, which -means that l!"'> 'scholars have' 'been present out of the possible :.!!>• Sundays., .During the year 32 scholars gained prizes for memory work! Children's .Day was observed, and 'we had a good attendance at the- ' 'Sunday service. Our annual picnic watf held at the Beach on .March 1(5, and. "was -a great success. The report of the Young . Ladies ' j - Bibl.e' Class- stilted that the class, under j the leadership of Mrs has had a very successful- year, consideriHg. the time there was no class owing to the ■ influerrza epidemic. We started tlie year- ' with a roll of 21. At present there are ' ,18 Wines -on, three members- having left ' during the year. Our'average- attendance'was 16;. - : % A report oh the work of the. Bov.w' Bible 'Class Was also submitted. • Tlie i\W;M.l<. report stated.—We eoincrto the close of .another year ; of our ("Missionary Cuion work, and .we •iu» pleased to l'oport another year of : j steady faithfulness by the members' of j ■ • our- branch."-' Our meiirbership -.iuuii-bcrsij „ J8 r " an increase of one fiom last year; j btil wi,> have been able'to-contribute"] ■- wore- to the mission work oi. our church j .this,year than has'been done previously | -i)jy qm- branch. Tlie- monthly. meetings , Ji'ave been well attended throughout the ; - year. The Maori Mission Birthday f - League now numbers 72, an increase of wm last year. A vqry successful^

sale - of' work nvas heldi in Octo.ber, to ■which the congregation contributed very liberally, the- result 'being? that- over £SO was taken, after expenses were paid. ' j The balauce-sheet showed receipts amountiiig-to £513 15s id;" expenditure, £513 18s sd. . , . ■ '