PARISHIONERS' MEETING

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLIII, Issue 2568, 22 April 1922, Page 3

PARISHIONERS' MEETING

SOUTHBRIDGE

The annual meeting of parishioners of St.James's Church, Southbridge, .was held in the Parish Hall on Thursday night, the Rev H. G. Hawkins presiding over a representative attendance.

ANNUAL REPORT. The wardens (Messrs E. B. B. Willis and A. Greenwood) presented the following report: We have the honour to present to you the wardens' report upon church matters for the past year, ,which ended on March 31. During the year four ordinary meetings of the vestry have been held and one special meeting. The meetings have been fairly well attended . The attendances at church show a decided increase on the previous year, as also does the number of communicants. In June the Bishop confirmed 12 girls and 7 boys, and a large congregation was present. The Sunday school picnic was held at the racecourse. The long talked of and much needed parish motor cur has at length been purchased and through the loyalty and whole heartodness of the people of the parochial district, sufficient money to pay off the debt on it has been real,is od through a sale of work and produce, which eventuated six days after the financial year closed. The amount, in the Bank is £439. Although this money was actually realised a few days after the close of the financial year, yet the work and worry attached to it took place during the past year, and we offer our sincere and heartfelt thanks to sill the people of the district for the confidence reposed in us, which was so strikingly manifested by the most satisfactory results of the sale. The'working bees seem to have got a bit tired, as although they started well they have dwindled clown to two or three, who have worked regularly every week for about nine months of the year. Several sycamore trees doing damage Siave been cut down and the timber sold, (he proceeds of which will go towards providing payment for work when icedcd in the churchyard. We would here thank Mrs A. .T. Inwood for so

kindly providing afternoon tea. All the fences round the churchyard require trimming- at once and we would like to see a good hive of bees assembled for that purpose. The rose garden, under the superintendence of Mr A. J. Inu rood, is an accomplished fact and a very decided adjunct to the beauty of the grounds. The Reaper has this year taken a heavy toll from among our congregation, Messrs Berg, John F. Free and R. Armstrong and Mrs S. Woods having been called away. We offer our sincere sympathy to the bereaved ones. The choir continues to do good work and the members come regularly to practice, but we would welcome a few more members. Mr A. J. Inwood, our honorary organist, deserves the thanks of all for his regular attendance both to practice and church.

Wo desire to sincerely • thank those devoted ladies who do such good work in the sanctuary and church in cleaning and beautifying it every week, and also to Mrs J. .0. Free for her care of the parish room. By their good deeds we know them. May they be long spared to us. Miss Wills, the Sunday' School superintendent and the other teachers, Mr W. Fell and Miss Hawkins, are deserving of the heartfelt thanks of all ihe parents for giving their time so ungrudgingly .for the upbringing and well-

doing of the children. The Sunday School is now larger than it has been for the'last 20 years, the roll number being over 70. The vicar's Bible Class roll number is over 100. Mr Rowe. is also deserving of our thanks for regularly ringing the church bell each Sunday, as also are Mr Scott, our treasurer, who devotes considerable time to the books, and Mr Weavers, our auditor. Wo may mention here that an estimate for the electric lighting of the church was obtained from a local firm, but so far it is too expensive. We are awaiting a detailed estimate from the contractor to the Power Board, which we hope will prove satisfactory.

\ln conclusion, we thank each and all who have helped church work in anyway, and we congratulate our vicar on the general improvement since last year: and hope that he will not experience the hardship and discomfort in the future that he has done in the past in his Sunday travelling to the different services. GENERAL BUSINESS. The people's warden presented h balance sheet showing a credit balaueo of £40 14s 6d on general account. The church building fund statement read by Mr A. J. In wood (lion treasurer) showed a credit balance of £9-15 (/s 2d. Both statemnts were considcr::l satisfactory and adopted, as also was the Sunday school statement, showing a credit of £11 13s Old. The vicar nominated Mr A. Green-

wood as Bishop's warden and Mr E. B. B. Willis was elected people's warden - The following were elected a vestry: Messrs J. C.Free, J. S. McClellan 1, W. Scott, J. S. Inwood, A. C. Greenwood, E. Fell,/J. Griffiths, W. G. Wroot', F. P. Sivertsen, S. Woods, A. J. Bcamsley and G. G, Henshaw. Mr W. Scott was elected hon treasurer and Mr A. Weavers'hon. auditor. On the motion of Messrs J. S. Inwood and E. Rowe it was agreed that it be a recommendation to the newly Miocted church officers to instal ris.'trir light in the church Another recommendation, moved v.y Messrs Inwood and Rowe, was that iiv wardens have the electric light put ir the vicarage. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the wardens for their successful work during the past year. On the motion of Messrs Free and Wroot, a very hearty vote of thanl:.s was accorded Mr A. J. Inwood and Mi1 R. Rowe for their work on the vestry during many years. In regard to the surplus car money, a recommendation was carried that the Parochial Board use any surplus money for installing electric lightl in the vicax age. An amendment, moved by Mrs Delargey and seconded by Mr J. Wools, that the money be kept as a separate car fund for repairs etc. for the car, was lost.