ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 58, 5 September 1914, Page 2

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

THE ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of St. John's Church was held last evening, Dr. Gibb presidiag. The annual report stated that the Church ended tho year with a considerable increased membership in full communion The collection at the jubilee celebrations la*»t November amounted to £1600 16s lOd. Eulogistic references were made to the work performed by the minister. Tho kirk session contained 30 members. Mr. E. K. Lomae shortly after his election left to take charge of the higher education department of the missions of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria in Korea. The Communion Toll contained 826 names, 89 were removed during the year, and 125 added, a gain of 36. The attendances at the quarterly Communions were : — September,, 522 ; December, 586; March, 463; June, 435. The attendance at public worship had been well maintained. The Church was j usually well filled at the morning servioe, and the evening attendance was j very large. The prayer meeting was also well attended, the classroom as a rule being filled to the doors. Ihe social life of the congregation had be&n diligently cared for in various. wny«i. Reports of the Church's various organisations were attached, all of which were stated to be in a flourishing condition. Altogether the contributions of the congregation to foreign missions amounted to £492. To Home Missions the congregation and its agencies- contributed £325; to Maori Missions, £25. The total giving to missions, Home, Maori, and Foreign, was £742." Adding to this the euros contributed to the Orphanage, the poor, etc., the total giving of the congregation to outside objects reached" £1100. The Women's Association prepared 317 articles of clothing, which were distributed among the needy, and the income of J3109 was spent chiefly in donations to the poor. The work of the deaconese, Sister Dora, was much appreciated. The Sabbath schools had a roll number of 294, with an average of 208. There were 43 teachers. The schools' revenue was £114. The Bible classes had a roll of 193— men's 71, women's 122. The Young Women's Class, No. 1, had a membership of <o. The activities of the class were manifold, the Ohiro Home, the Hospital, the Consumptive Shelters, and the Home fov Aged and Needy providing the fields of labour. The total revenue of the congregation, the report stated, amounted to £4382, of which Sunday collections, including the Jubilee special collection, amounted to £2557; seat rente £479. Fot altruistic purposes, as already stated, the sum of £1100 was donated, £1600 in wiping out the debt of the Church, and the balance in the maintenance of ordinances. Mr. A. D. Thompson moved the adoption of the report, which was seconded by Mr." J. S. Butler, who expressed great satisfaction with the state of the work disclosed by the report. Mr. J. M'Kerrow, Mr. W. Allan, and others spoke in a similar strain. Dr. Gibb thanked the office-bearers and workers for their hearty a.nd stimulating support. The" report and balance-sheet were adopted.