CENTENNIAL FUND

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 150, 22 December 1938, Page 5

CENTENNIAL FUND

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

GOOD PROGRESS REPORTED

(By Telegraph— Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, December 21

The Presbyterian Church of New Zealand at its annual assembly in November of last year adopted a plan to raise within three years £300,000 as its Centennial thanksgiving offering. The fund has its headquarters in Auckland and the scheme was launched throughout the Dominion in the early part of the year. Now, at the end of the year, a total of more than £ 167,000 in cash and promises has been reported from all the 21 presbyteries in the Dominion. The Auckland Presbytery heads the list with a total of £23,015, followed closely by the Dunedin Presbytery with £21,043 and the Wellington Presbytery with £20,100.

Amounts reported from other presbyteries, in geographical order, are— North Auckland £3068, South Auckland £3610, Waikato £11,674, Bay of Plenty £4580, Hawke's Bay £7300, Taranaki £5500; Wairarapa £583, Wanganui £9935, Nelson-Mar lborough £2406, Westland £33, Christchurch £14,504, Ashburton £3000, Timaru £6145, Oamaru £3760, Central Otago £800, Clutha £5093, Mataura £5428, Southland £15,889. Total, £167,466.

The main objective of the fund is to remove the burden of about £200,000 of debt on church property throughout the Dominion, and, in addition, four sums of £25,000 are to be devoted to strengthening the mission enterprises of the church at home and abroad, to augmenting the stipends of ministers and home missionaries, to strengthening the beneficiary funds for retired ministers and church workers, and for sites and buildings in newly-settled districts.

The returns quoted are still far from complete and of 300 congregations of the church, there are still a number that have not yet actively taken up the scheme.