THE CHURCHES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1114, 29 April 1911, Page 13

THE CHURCHES.

ST. THOMAS'S, NEWTOWN. I ANNUAL MEETING. . The annual meeting of parishioners of St. Thomas's Anglican Church, Newtown, was held last, evening. The vicar (the Rev. E. T. W. Bond; presided. In moving the adoption' of tho report and balance-sheet (already published) tho vicar made reference to tho lato Mission of Help. Tho people of this parish had worked splendidly in preparation for tho mission and during its progress. The result had been gratifying. Mr. Bond said ho had to thank all those who had worked with him in the parish during the past year, his first as vicar. Members of tho vestry had been regular in their attendance at all meetings and had shown unfailing interest in the work of tho Church. Tho parishioners should bo grateful to the cburchwardens and vestry for the work they had done in connection wtih tho erection of a vicarage, a building that would do credit to any parish in New Zealand. A thing to bo kept in mind, said Mr. Bond, was that the work of the parish could not be carried on as it should bo until an assistant curato had been provided. Tho report and balance-sheet were adopted. There was some discussion upon the position and prospects of the churchroom at Berhampore. Mr. Bland suggested that the room might bo given up, as it was heavily in debt and its congregation and Sunday School might bo transferred to Saint Thomas's. This view was strongly opposed. Mr. Avery and other parishioners contended that tho churchroom served a useful purpose. It was maintained by local effort and | if it wero abandoned a number of adult members and Sunday School scholars would be lost to St. Thomas's.

The vicar said ho had approached the nca.rs of other parishes with a view to enlisting their iielp so that he might personally visit the churchrooni at Bernamporo occasionally. The following officers, were elected for tho ensuing year::—Vicar's churchwarden, Dr. J. H. Kemp; parishioners' churchwarden, Mr. J. W. Salmon; vestry, Messrs. A. S. Chapman, W. F. Christie, M. G. C. M'Caul, C. M. King, A. E. Jeffs, Clifford Smith, and Wales; auditors. v Messrs. H. C. S. Boulcott and G. A. Noblo Campbell. Messrs. Thos. Bland and J. W. Saln'.on were elected synodsmen. WESLEY CHURCH, TARANAKI STR !=(•!'. THE'.NEW MINISTER WELCOMED. A very hearty welcome was accorded to the ivev. J. »_J. Chapman, the newlyappointed minister ot Wesiey Cliurcn, ui iho Wesley rlall on Thursday night. Jir. W. K. Redstone presided. Addresses wcro given by tno Rev. J. it. Clark, Sister juay, Messrs. W. H. Dennett, J. L. Garrard, K. W. .Waterhouse, A. W. Holmes, and h. 3. Clark. The Rev. J. G. Cliapman, who was received with loud applause,, thanked the members 'of tho cliurch for tho hearty manner in which they had welcomed him and his family Ho urged the people to have faith in God, faith in themselves, and faith in tho possibilities of their Church. Ho remembered tho timo when their church was filled with worshippers every Sunday. Let them have faith that what has been in the past will be again. "Don't talk your Church down,'' said Mr. Chapman, "talk it up. A man who talked down his business would soon have no business to talk about. Wear the optimistic smile and sound tho optimistic note, and soon others will catch tho contagion of your optimism, and before long this. Church will take its place among tho foremost of our city." Mr. Chapman said he was not afraid of criticism, but let it oc fair and to his faco. Where there is criticism thero is life. He would sooner preach to a church full of critic: than to a church full of apathetic and indifferent hearers. They might think sometimes that they were right and he was wrong, •whereas it might bo just as probable that he was right and they wore wrong. While ho-occupied tho pulpit it would stand for a mn.'ily, robust, reasonable typ'e of Christianity. No preacher had a right to expect anyono to believe anything that was contrary to his reason and to his moral sense. While thero was mucli in Christianitv that transcended human reason, there was nothing that opposed human reason. Fie was not concerned so much about getting men into heaven whin they die as getting heaven into men while they aro alive. Christian! ;y affects not onlv the soul of a man, but the whole of hi-: conduct and life. A man who divorced business, politics, and civic responsibilities from his religion, had a residue of religion that was not worth paying postage on to send to the heathen. Ho was not concerned about squaring his teaching by the spi/it level of the Church's orthodoxy. Conformity to tho traditions of a> past ago had been, and still was, tho bane of the Church. This must be an ago of emancipation. Truth was never given to be made up into formularies and creeds for men to subscribe to. Truth was given to ( help men to become true, and the supreme concern of man should bo not to bo orthodox but to be true —to see the truth, to love the truth, and to 'bo obedient to the truth. Mr. Chapman desired that their church should become a homo where the weary toilers of the city might find rest, where men who were fighting a hard battle against the world forces micht be heartened and cheered, where those who were in danger of losing themselves in the vortex of worldliness might catch visions of the spiritual and the eternnl, and whore the highest ami flivinest faculties of man mijrht be ministered unto and strengthened.

ST. STEPHEN'S, MARTOM. The annual parish meeting of St. Stephen's, Marton, was held in St. Stephen's Schoolroom on April 27. The churchwardens reported an increase, in the general offertories of £45 9s. Id., and in the special offertories of £3 2s. 2d., as compared with tho previous year. They also noted that although the year began with a debit balance of £16 odd, there was now a surplus of £22 lis. Id., and this result, they add, would havo been better still had they not been obliged to transfer tho sum of £35 14s. to the general church fund, owing to the seat rents arid subscriptions being in arrears to tho extent of £41 ss. They congratulate the Ladies' Sewing Guild upon reducing tho debt on the organ to less than £80. The vicar, in his address, spoke of tho resignation of Bishop Wallis "in whom tho diocese had lost a greater leader than perhaps it was fully conscious of," and said that they were to bo congratulated on the fact that in a single sitting, and by an almost unanimous vote, tho Rev. T. H. Sprott liad been elected by tho Synod to fill tlio vacancy. He then spoke of tho "Mission of Help," tlio education question, and tho various organisations of tho parish, viz., the Sunday Schools, the Parochial Missionary Association, which included the St. Barnabas Association, and tho Sclwyn Guild, the Mother's Union, the Needlework Guild, and tho Sewing Guild. He mentioned that 93 copies of tho "Church Chroniclo" wore being circulated, and expressed tho great pleasure it was to tho congregation that their old verger, Mr. Edmonds, bad been sufficiently restored to health to take up his workagain. Finally he thanked the various officers of the church and Church-work-ers generally for all they had done during tho past year.

Mr. Wilde, the parishioners' churchwarden, who had been appointed returning officer by the Bishop, then took the chair and asked for nominations for the office of sxnjdsmau for theji«-

ish. Mr. AV. J. Birch being the only name put forward, the chairman declared liim duly elected, amid the ap;..auso of those present. Upon resuming, tho balance-sheet was adopted, and the eommitteo appointed a year previously to clear tho debt off tho caretaker's cottage at Mount View stated that they had accomplished their task, and expressed their thanks to , Mrs. Brice for the help she had given. Tlio committee on the Archdeacon Towgood Memorial Chapel reported £130 in hand or promised, and stated that Mr. Clero had been asked to provide plans and specifications. Tho vicar expressed ' tho hope that this work might be accomplished during tho coming year, and also stated that tho vestry, after an inspection of the cemetery grounds, had decided on certain improvements, which might be carried out when tho building was finished. Tho vicar's report spoke of tho sorrow the parish had felt at tho loss of his library which the Archdeacon had suffered by fire, and said how glad they had all been to see him again during the past year. The vestry was authorised to take such steps as were necessary for providing mechanical apparatus for blowing the organ at St. Stephen's, and an interesting discussion on making all the seats in church free ended in an instruction to the vestry to investigate the matter, and ask the vicar to call a special meeting of parishioners at a later date to consider it. Mr. A. J. Alloway was appointed vicar's churchwarden, and Mr. E. J. Wildo people's churchwarden. Messrs. Barnett, Beckett, Birch, Funston, Ful-lorton-Smith, Sladdcn, and Young wero elected to the vestry, and Mr. A. J. B. Sioely was apoointed auditor. The vicar thanked tho Rev. W. E. Drinkwater. M.A., chaplain of Huntley School, and the Rev. E. I. Sola, vicar of Bulls, and other clergy for much help, and expressed the hope that the blessing of God would rest upon the work during the coming year. FEILDING PAROCHIAL DISTRICT. The vicar's report of Church work in the FeUding parochial district for the past year states:— Tho outstanding feature in tho work of the Church during the year ending March 31 is the General Mission of Help. Tho missioner in the Fcilding district was the Kev. A. H. Colville, and the spiritual life of tho parish has been much awakened. One apparent anil encouraging result was the confirmation by line Bishop, two mouths alter the mission, of 41 candidates, principally adults, ilv. A. U. lievon, who has acted as stipendiary lay reader, has left us lor the Selwyh College, Dunedin, there to' continue his studies for Holy Orders. For the efficient working u£ the parish, art assistant curate, preferably in Priest's Orders, is required. In the meanwhile Mr. A. T. Long has been licensed as lay reader by tho Bishop, mid will perform tho Sunday duties hitherto undertaken by Mr. lleron. A long-felt want has been supplied in tho erection of a commodious and well-ap-pointed parish hall in a central position. The total cost of the undertaking was about ,£llOO. Of this sum, .£550 (for which wo avo paying interest) is still owing. We are much indebted to Mr. Entwislo for gratuitously supervising the erection of the building, which has been faithfully completed by Mr. Newman, the contractor; also to Mr, Lambert for undertaking for tho first year tho duties of caretaker, without salary. Our thanks are due to the St. John's Guild for providing .£IOO towards the furnishing of tho new hall; and for a further sum of .£3O for painting and papering the vicarage. New that we have a building in the centre of population,- tho St. John's and Lytton Street Sunday Schools have been combined, with Mr. Disney O'Halloran as ■superintendent. A small Sunday School has been started at Halcombe, under the superintendency of Miss Elliott, and is doing ' good work. Tho local branch of the C.10.M.5. continues to do good work. The members have proved themselves useful in practical work, notably in erect--1 .ing.the fenco around the parish hall, with 'the'assistance of Mr.."lilitjyjslo. We are pleased to welcouio back to the parish Mr. Awdry, who has kindly undertaken the duties of choir-master at St. John's. A set of white bookmarkers for the Bible in St. John's has been presented by Miss Gosling, to whom our thanks are duo; also to Messrs. Scddon and Webster for work on the Church grounds. Stanway ' has suffered a serious loss' by the sad death of Mr. George Wheeler, who was treasurer and lay reader for St. Michael's Church ever since its erection II! years ago, Mr. Wheeler served for many years on St. John's vestry, and was also one of our representatives on the Diocesan . Synod. He was a lower of strength, and did much by his practical help and good . example. His loss to the Church will be keenly felt'.' His son, Mr. Arthur Wheeler, has consented to take up the duties of treasurer at Stanway. ■ The churchwarden report states:—lt is " gratifying to know that the combined > efforts of all Church workers have rosult- ) ed in the finances of the Church being ■ placed in a far more satisfactory state :. than for'some years past. This is in | no small degreo owing to the efforts of several of tho vestry undertaking to make • a systematic canvass of all those who ' have previously promised subscriptions, ' and also in reducing tho number of out--3 standing seat rents. One member was ' instrumental in collecting tho sum of - ,£"1 ss. in special subscriptions for rei dncing the debt on the Church. The liaI bilities have been reduced by one-half, and ; there should be no reason why tho.preL sent dtfvcit should not be wiped out. in , the current year.

ROMAN .CATHOLIC MISSION. A mission preached by the Redemptorist Father? is at present being coii' ducted at.St. Ann's. Church, for the Roman Catholic children uf Newtown. To-morrow the mission for adults v'A begin a}. 10.30 Mass, and will continue till May 14. A branch mission will also bo'held at St. Patrick's Church, Kilbirnio, and at i?t. Francis's Church, Island Bav, beginning on May 15, and lasting till May 22. Following is the order of e.wrcises:—B a.m., Mass with instruction; 7 a.m., Mass;, 9 a.m., Mass with i list ruction; 7.30 p.m., rosary, sermon, and bencdictim. The mission will be conducted bv the Rev. Fathers Creagh and Whelan, C.S.S.R.