ST. AUGUSTINE'S, PETONE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 98, 25 April 1912, Page 8

ST. AUGUSTINE'S, PETONE

ANNUAL MEETING OF. PARISHIONERS. The annual meeting of parishioner]* of St. Augustine' 6 Church, Pefrone, held on Tuesday-evening, was fairly well attended. In presenting tho annual report and 'statement of accounts, the vestoy .thanked' parishioners for their financial •support, and had pleasure in. stating that all liabilities had been met' to within a few pounds. "This must be considered very satisfactory, especially when they remembered' the rather dis-' tur.bed conditions which had occurred during tho year owing to Mr. Russell accepting the position of vicar of Oamafu Parish. This necessitated his leaving before Mr. Stephenson could take up his work, and caused a gap from 4th June (when Mr. Russell preached 1 his 'farewell sermon) to 9th July, when Mr. Stephensora was licensed to take charge of the district. During the rater val the parish was indebted to the R<ev&. Hobday, Tobin, Compton, and Ward and Mr. -Walton and the lay readers for generously carrying on the services. The statement of accounts showed that the year was begun with, » debit of £69 7s Id, and closed with liabilities amounting to £76 19s sd, an increase' of £7 12s 4d. This was largely dne to the necessity of thoroughly renovating the inside of the vicarage by painting, papering, etc., costing £33 13s 7d. This made a rather heavy demand on Hie limited income, so it was decided at a financial meeting of the vestry that arrangemente be made with, the Bank of New Zealand for an iwerdraft of £80. The manager agreed to this, provided the members of the vestry signed a guarantee. This had been done, and it was very -pleasing to report tha.t they had only to pay 4s up to the end; of the financial' year for such accommodation. This is chiefly due to the healthy state | of the hall account', which had assisted us very materially to meet obligations. The. receipts of ,the vestry account for the year just closed amounted to £494 4s lid and the expenditure to £540 5s Bd, there being a deficiency of £46 Qb 9d, with, a total liability of £76 19s sd. The hall l'eceipts for the year totalled ,£92 9s, and, with the balance in bank, amounted to £112 2s 3d. The expenditure was £60 18s 3d, leaving a credit balance of £51 4s, which was considered highly satisfactory. "We trust that the parishioners will forgive the lengthy report setting out the finances of the district. Our only excuse ie that it was considered necessary that every member of the church should know at least- once a year the state of our finances and know how difficult it is at times for the vestry to meet payments as they fall due. We feel confident, however, now that Mr. Stephenson is established among us that we have turned_the corner -of our financial trouble, and It only Temains for us to give him our hearty support and co-operation, so that the church may bo a real- live force in Petone. We sincerely trust that he may be with us for many years and that God's rich blessing may rest, upon his labours in Petone." The report was adopted. . The vicar gave a brief resume of the work in the parish during the short time he had had charge. The election of officers resulted :—: — Vicar's churchwarden, Mr. J. G. Castle ; parishioners' churchwarden, Mr. H. Johnson ; vestry, Messrs. Foster, Fowler, Hill, Abrahall, Matthews, W. Andrews, and C. Andrews.