THE BEST ADVANTAGE

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 112, 14 May 1927, Page 10

THE BEST ADVANTAGE

ATTITUDE'OF THE TRUSTEES

•The Rev. H. Watson, vicar of St. Peter's and chairman of St. Peter's Mission Trustees, to whom a copy of tho above letter was submitted, mado the following reply:— "The position was explained l>y mo as chairman of St. Peter's Mission Trustees in a statement publishod in 'Aetivo Service' on 3at November, 1925. In that statcme ; I said, in part: "As there seems to be considerable misunderstanding as to tho object and status of St. Peter's Mission, we desire to tako this opportunity of explaining tho position. "The object of the 'mission is to supply the spiritual, social, and matonal needs.of the people living in the neighbourhood of Taranaki street, Wellington. As the namo of the mission implies, it is a parochial mission, and the control of tho work and therefore tho full responsibility, rests upon the vicar of St. Peter's parish and three other trustees, who arc elected by St. Peter's vestry. But it is obvious that the needs of tho district the mission serves can never be adequately mot if this burden jb left to be borne by one parish; and so the Diocesan Synod of 1921 agreed to its affiliation to the Diocesan Social Service Board. Tho mission is thus given a certain wider recognition, which means that it can appeal for help to the diocese, at largo, through the pages of 'Active Service,' and can appeal to tho board for fifinancial help. But the control and responsibility still rests with St. Peter's Parish, and its sphere of action is still limited to the neighbourhood of Tarauaki street.

"Both the missioner and the trustees had hoped that this might bo altered, and that the diocese would have undertaken the responsibility. It was in this hope that the missioner's vision for tho future was published in this paper in June, 1923. But such an alteration has not been effected, and the responsibility and scope of tho work still remains as wo have stated. It is important that this should be remembered.

"Since the publication o£ that vision, one or two things liave become perfectly evident, which show that the vision must be modified, particularly in the direction of boys' hostel work.. The proposed building made provision for both a girls' and a boys' hostel, the latter to accommodate 43 boys.. But experience has shown both tho :nissioner and the trustees that Taranaki street is not a suitable locality for such hostels. It is absolutely impossible to provide even the smallest grounds where the members can have the opporunity of some outdoor relaxaion. The centre of the city is not the place for surh institutions. Further, the work, valuable as it is, is entirely outside the original intention of the mission. It is entirely diocesan in character. And it is not reasonable that the responsibility of maintaining such work should be the burden of one parish, particularly a parish like St. Peter's, with its own almost impossible burdens. "It has become quite clear that if a permanent hostel is to be built it should be erected in a suitable place, and its control and responsibility should be placed on other shoulders than those of the trustees of St. Peter's Mission.

"If the trustees can fulfil the original object of the mission, namely, supply tho spiritual, social, and material needs of tho people of the mission district, they will be doing all that tlicy can possibly bo expected to. do." With reference to "Onlooker's" allusion to the recent annual meeting of_ the mission, the Eev. Mr. Watson said his statement at that meeting was as follows: "There were two things to guide ns in what we built now, name-

ly, first, the future needs of the mission—for we are building f or many years hence; and, second, the money' at our disposal. I al»o said that on account of the development of the city and the increasing number of factories in the district, and the exodus of residents, I had come to the conclusion that to build a hall to seat GOO people would mean that in ten or twenty years' time it would become a white elephant, and rather than saddle future trustees in this way I was prepared to leave the matter for later consideration, and allow the evening service to be continued for the present in the King's Theatre. "I also said that the trustees, the missioner, and the committee have come to the conclusion that the best thing to build at the present moment is a large room adjoining the present Mission Hall, with rooms above suitable for clubrooms. could be done without pulling down any of the present buildings, and so they could be used as long as they were fit; but this building would probably cost something like £,6000, and the trustees have in hand, approximately £1300. The public may be quite certain that" the trustees will always use the property to the best advantage of the mission which is, to supply the spiritual, social' and material needs of those who live in the mission district.

"The object of the" fair conducted about three years ago was to remove the debt from the last piece of land that had been acquired."