PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH HALL

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27873, 23 January 1956, Page 6

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH HALL

NEW BUILDING FOR NORTH BEACH

A new hall for the North Beach Presbyterian Church and Sunday School is being built in Rookwood avenue, mainly by voluntary labour. A branch of St. Enoch’s Church, New Brighton, the hall will provide premises owned by the Presbyterian Church (premises are borrowed at present) and it is considered that it will not be long before the district about it expands sufficiently for it to become the headquarters of a separate parish. ‘‘lf we could get the help that is needed for the hall, I think we could have it open by the autumn, by Easter anyway,” said the minister* of St. Enoch’s (the Rev. D. C. Spender) last evening. ‘‘That is just the tentative aim, but progress has been slower than hoped for. because we have not had all the help we really needed. We really should have the hall open by the autumn so that our winter activities and services can be held in it, instead of in borrowed premises.” At present construction of the building, in concrete blocks, is on the walls. Nearly 30 men have given their services voluntarily and there have been about a dozen regular workers from the St. Enoch’s parish. One man is employed as a supervisor. The hall will be 24 feet' wide and 36 feet long. It will have a kitchen and an entrance porch, and the rear wall will be a temporary one so that the building can be lengthened. The east end of the hall will be in the form of a three-sided apse, which will be used for services, and at the opposite end of the hall there will be a platform. The church has a loan of £l5OO to spend on materials for the building.