CHURCH MEETINGS,

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 101, 30 April 1909, Page 3

CHURCH MEETINGS,

«. ST. MARK'S PARISH. •ANNUAL 'MEETING. The annual meeting of parishioners of St Maj'k's was held in ' 'St. Mark's Schoolroom last evening. There was a good attendance, and tho vicar, the Rev. A. !M. Johnson, M.A., presided The vicar, in moving tho adoption of the report (already published), 6poke of the spirituality of the people and the excellent work that Had been done by tho officers of the church. He particularly referred to the work of the Sundayschool, and said that some of the examination papers recently would have done credit to a theological student. The teachers wero deserving of the warmest thanks of the congregation. Regret was expressed that the number of communicants -was not larger. The vicar also spoke of the valuable service rendered by the curate, Mr. Toben. (Applause.) The work of the parish during the year had been very heavy. During the year there had been 135 baptisms, as against 92 the previous year ; 50 marriages, as compared with 32 ; and 50 deaths, as compared with 32 the previous year. He referred to the need for doing missionary work in the district lying between Taranaki-street and Cambrjdge-terrace. ' Perhaps a deaconess could be secured, or perhaps in time it would be- 1 thought advisable to create a new parish there. Mr. Johnson also spoke of the good work which was being done at Kilbirnic. So far as the financial aspect was concerned, he emphasised the need for augmenting the Building Fund. The secret enemy — tho borer — was at work, and he urged parishioners to make the fund as substantial as possible. Of the surplus shown in the balance-sheet, £lpQ would be devoted to the Building Fund. The report and balance-sheet were unanimously adopted. Officers were elected a 6 follow for the year : — Churclrwarden (vicar's), Mr. ■Gaudin; churchwarden (parishioners'), Mr. Desant; vestry, Messrs. W. L. Meek, R. RRa-wnsiey, E. J. Hylton, C. H. Chatwin, W. J. Hueston, F. J. Caterer, A. (Longman, G. J. Clapham, G. W. Barltrop, and G. iSnoad ; auditors, -Messrs. H. D. Vickery and G. T. Hall. Appreciative reference was made to the work done in the past by Mr. and Mrs. G. Shirtcliffe. Mr. Shirtcliffe has jiow left the parish to reside in St. Paul's district, but his services are to be retained as a synodsman. Mr. Shirtcliffe feelingly acknowledged tho kind remarks mado concerning himself and his wife. ST. MATTHEW'S, BROOKLYN. FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the churchpeople of the parochial district of Brooklyn (Anglican) was held in the churchroom, Washington-avenue, last night. There was an attendance of between fifty and sixty persons. The Rev. Mr. Hobday, vicar, who presided, addressed tho gathering, and made felicitous references to the circumstance that Brooklyn, on becoming separate in administration from St. Peter's, was beginning with a clean, sheet, instead of being hampered with » debit balance, in the way that so many parishes were. The report submitted by Mr. Tebbs set out that as Brooklyn had been without a- resident clergyman, and it was expected by the council that the suburb would be constituted a parochial district in October last, endeavours were directed to making both ends meet in the ordinary church enterprises, and to extinguishing th& mortg-ago on the churchroom. These endeavours -were successful. At the- beginning of the y.ear about £50 was required. Part of the proceeds of a sale of work carried out by the ladies' working party yielded £20 for this purpose, and the council then made an appeal to the church people. As a result of this the necessary balance was raised ; and, in a.ddition, £4 10s? 5d interest was paid, and a sum of £18 Is lid sot by as a credit to the building fund. As most of the money was raised out of the district, a good field remained for the current year's work. Other amounts received raised the building fund credit to close upon £30. c The report went on to say that the church, was now in the happy position of being free of debt. , Regret was expressed at the removal from Brooklyn of Mr. W. H. Styche, formerly superintendent of the Sundayschool. Grateful acknowledgment was made of a gift, by tho vestry and parisihioners' of St. Peter's Church, of £50 per annum to the stipend fund, for tha next two years, and the report concluded with an expressed belief that there was a bright future before the church now that it was constituted a separate district, and had ite own vicair. Hearty votes of thanks were passed to the Revs. G. P. Davys, D. C. Bates, and several lay workers for assistance given in conducting services during the past twelve months. Mr. W. Tebbs was \appointed vicar's churchwarden and Mr. W. J. Westwood people's # churchwarden. The vestrymen appointed were .* — Captain Sergeant, and Messrs. Jones, Probyn, Bell, HopkinsonMatthews, and Dawson. Mr. Burt was appointed auditor. To represent . the parishioners on the synod, Captain Sergeant was unanimously selected. As trustees of the church property, the vicar, and Messrs. Westwood and Edward Anderson were appointed. It was suggested by the Rev. Mr. Hobday that a distinctive name for the new parish, on its dedication, would be St. Matthew, especially as that name had not been applied to any of the churches around Wellington. Tho meeting adopted the suggestion. Votes of thanks to the secretary (Mr. Tebbs}, the organist (Mr. Wi-agge), and the choir, were accorded ; ab-o to the Sunday School teachers, and the ladies of the congregation, for many services rendered.