ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3159, 10 August 1917, Page 6

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

ANNUAL MEETING. Tho annual meeting of the congregation of St. John's Presbyterian (Jnurcii was held on Wednesday evening ia the Church Hall, the ltev. .Dr. Gibb presiding. The adoption of 'the reports and bal-auce-sheet was moved by Mr. E. S. Mirauis, who congratulated the minister and congregation ou tho excellent progress made during the year. They had reason lor great 'thankfulness for the message of cue pulpit, and Hie vigoar of tho organisations. The sum of money raised for what might be called ouwidc purposes—missions, patriotic funds, and charity—was very large, and tho income for ordinary purposes had never reached so high a figure. Satisfactory as this and courage were the indications of and courago wore tho indications of spiritual vitality, winch no uuu tt«ilii.i tho report could fail to notice. ■ Tho motion was seconded by Mr. It. B. Snodgrass, who has been voluntarily acting as minister's I assistant in the discharge of pastoral duties. The success of tho congregation, ho said, was largely attributable to the strong man they 'had in their minister, and it was gratifying to find that in almost all departments of work much progress had been made. One weak point was the choir. Not that it did not do hue- work, considering its numbers, but in so largo a congregation, and with the great attendances they had at church on Sundays, it was no credit to them that the choir was not larger, lie besought for it practical sympathy. The Hon. J. G. W. Aitken, dealing with the finances, said the success of these was due not only to the pulpit power of Dr. Gibb, but also to his pastoral efficiency and organising ability. It ought also to be said that, as far as the collections wero concerned, the adoption of the plan of making contribution on Sundays by means of envelopes, instead of the haphazard method of the collection plate, had been of great value. Mr. G. A. Troup spoko of tho -work of tho Bible classes, emphasising their value and the laborious task involved in their leadership. It was very gratifying to find that the men's class, though it had given so many members to the war, had managed in largo measure to make good the losses. He urged the adoption of some scheme as a permanent memorial to tho men who were at the front and a means of welcoming them on their return. Mr. T. H. Gill referred to tho work of tho Women's Association, pointing out tho extent of their labours, both for tlie lted Cross and for missions. It was, lie said, a gratifying tale of effort. Dr. Gibb, in putting the motion to the meeting, spoke of the condition of the congregation as generally satisfactory, and proceeded to indicate what ho termed weak points in the organisation. After making mention of several of these, ho said that great as was the volume of work done by tho congregation from year to year, if only one-half of them would work as, say, a quarter or an eighth of them did, they would have a. very much liner story to tell. He referred to the fact that he was now' completing tho fourteenth year of his ministry among them. The congregation had doubled its membership, tho contribution to out-missions, home and foreign, and to outside causes generally had tripled or quadrupled, and tho giving for ordinary purposes had, of course, necessarily also greatly increased. The report was unanimously adopted. During the evening musical items were contributed by Mr. Lobb, Miss Jennings, Misses Anderson and Duncan, and Mr. I'. Pope.