PARISH MEETING.

Press, Volume XXXI, Issue 4287, 26 April 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

PARISH MEETING.

ST. MARY'S, ADDINGTON,

The annual Easter meeting of the church •members of this parish waa held in the schoolroom on Thursday last, the 24th instant, and was fairly attended. The Rev. Herbert Eaat occupied the chair. After prayers, the chairman suggested that the ordinary business of the meeting should be put'off till later in the everiirig, in order that a proposal submitted by the Bishop to unite the parishes of Haiswell and Addington into one oure might be taken into consideration first.

The Very Rev..the Dean attended on behalf of theißishop to urge upon the meeting the desirableness and urgent necessity of the proposal being, if possible, carried out. The chairman then read a letter from the Bishop enclosing resolutions bearing upon the subject, which had been adopted by the Prebbleton vestry. . • After a long discussion, the following resolution was passed—" That this meeting approves of the proposal submitted by the Bishop to unite Haiswell with Addington, provided that satisfactory arrangements can be made with Haiswell for providing the increase of the stipend and other incidental expenses which would arise from the union of the two cures."

The Dean then withdrew, and further consideration of the matter was postponed till after the ordinary business of tbe meeting. The Chairman reported that Mr J. L. Hobden had been elected to represent the parish in the Diocesan Synod for the ensuing two years. The balance-sheet and churchwardens' report were then read and adopted. The receipts for the year bad been £752 5s Id, and the- expenditure £751 7a 9d, leaving a balance of 17s 4-3. Liabilities—Balance of stipend, £4; balance of loan on parsonage arid interest, £300 j balance of loan on schoolroom, £40. Assets—Six shares in No. 3 Building and Land Society—ultimate value, £300.

The report was as follows :— The Churchwardens, in presenting their jiTiTiTi-1 report, congratulate the parishioners on ihe improvements which have been earned out in the district durine the past year. The Sunday which was very much needed, has been built at a cost of upwards of £210, the church has been repainted, the, parsonage ground* put in-order; the debt orr the parsonage reduced from .4J500 to -J3OO, and the repayment of that balance provided for by easy instalments. There has been a slight falling off in the offertwie3 and subscriptions, the amount derived from those sources for the year just ended being .£144 OsSd, as against -2152 8s 3d for the previous year, but this may probably be accounted for, and is far overbalanced by the fact that nearly JBBS was subscribed in the district during that period towards the cost of building the schoolroom. On referring to the balance sheet it will be seen that a email sum of £4 on the guaranteed amount of stipend is in arrear, but we anticipate no difficulty in making np the amount at the end of the current quarter. We may fairly hope that by an economical administration of the funds, and with the assistance of a email grant from the S.P.CJ-. which is expected, that the end of the current year will see the debt on the schoolroom paid off, and the financial affairs of the district in a prosperous condition. _ • - The Chairman submitted a balance-sheet of th* Sunday school general fund, ahewirjg receipts £15 9s 2d, and expenditure £18 7s 10a, balance £3 Is 4d. Also of the parochial library fund—Beceipto £10 15s Id, expenditure £13 8s 63; debit £2 13s sd. Votes of thanks were passed to the Sunday school teachers, the ohoir, the auditor of the pariah accounts, and the church decorators, tor their servicea during the past year. The Chairman then nominated Mr William Pratt as clergynHm'a churchwarden for the ensuing year, and Mr J. Jj. Hobden was elected par-d-oners' churchwarden. The following genUejjien were elected vestrymen:—Messrs Lane, Jacques, Ward, Evans, Eeston, Lancaster, and Cooper. A report was read and adopted from the entertainments sub-committee, and the subcommittee re-elected. Tha proposed union with Haiswell was 1 next reverted to, and the following resolution I carried-.—"That a deputation, consisting of I the Chairman, the Dean, and the chu-ch-

wardens, be appointed to meet the Church officers and parishioners of Halswell with a view of carrying out the proposal suggested by the Bishop." The meeting then adjourned.

-ST. PAUL'S, PAPANUI.

The annual pariah meeting waa held on Thursday, April 24th, the Bey. F. Of. Brittan in. the chair. The meeting was opened with prayer. The Incumbent reviewed the parish work of the past year, which showed satisfactory results. He referred to the large sums raised in the distriot during the. past two years tor church purposes as an evidence of tie Interest taken by parishioners in church improvement,, and though liberality in money matters waa. not to be regarded as the chief or only" j criterion of spiritual life, it was. gratifying las a proof of the general prosperity of the parish, and as showing that the people: were willing to use the wealth given to them in support of their religion. Iv addition to direct subscriptions to the Church Building Fund amounting to nearly £1000, a special donation of £300 towards a peal of bells had been made by one of the parishioners, and £260 raised by a bazaar held during the past week. The ordinary Sunday offertories, ex-. eluding the special collection last year of £26, for the Indian Famine Fund, showed an increase of £23. Special thanks were due to the ladies of the pariah to whose zeal the successful results were mainly to be attributed. The cemetery had been levelled and laid out, and the accounts showed a balance to credit of £26. The Sunday schools at St. Paul's arid Harewood road were in a flourishing condition, and a new one had lately been opened at the North road, with every prospecVof success. Under the present secular system of education the Bunday schools must be looked upon aa of the utmost importance, and deserved greater support than they very generally received. The Incumbent nominated Mr Wm. Norman clergyman's churchwarden for the ensuing year. The br-lance-sheet of receipts and expenditure was read by Mr G-. Harper, outgoing churchwarden, which showed-a debit balance of £14, against which there were outstanding assets to be collected.

On the motion of Mr Eldred, seconded by Mr Hancock, the accounts were adopted.

An offer was read from Mr Farrell to erect an organ for the sum of £300, the consideration of which was deferred.

Mr Qr. Dunnage was elected parishioners' warden, and Messrs Stanley, Durey, Johns, Eldred, ■ Jennings, Harper, Godfrey, Joynt, Wild, and H. Mateon, vestrymen for the ensuing year.. It was moved by Mr Dunnage, siconded by Mr Eldred, and carried—" That ifc is expedient, and the wish of the parishioners generally, that the Sunday services held in the parish chnrch should be conducted by an ordained minister, and that the incumbent be empowered to make such arrangements as he may deem advisable towards securing clerical assistance for carrying out the same. In answer to a question from Mr Wild, the chairman stated that he believed that Mr Matson's contribution of £300 towards the bells was an absolute gift.

Reference was made to the improvement in the churoh music, and a vote of thanks was passed to the organist (Mr Searell) and the members of the choir for their efforts in contributing to the same. Accounts against the building fund to the extent of £400 were handed in and ordered to be paid, in the first instance, in the proportion or one half.

Votes of thanks having been passed to the various church-helpers, the meeting was closed with the benediction. *