FIRST CHURCH ANNUAL MEETING.

Evening Star, Issue 7787, 7 December 1888, Page 1

FIRST CHURCH ANNUAL MEETING.

The annual meeting oE the congregation of First Church was held yesterday evening in the hall of the church. The attendance was only moderate. The reports of the Session and Deacons' Court submitted contained the following:— The office-bearers of First Church, in meeting the congregation with a record of another year's work, desire to thankfully acknowledge the goodness and mercy vouchsafed to them by the Heavenly father during the past season, and earnestly pray for His guidance and blessing through the year on which they are entering. It will be seen from the following statement that, though little has been done outside the ordinary routine of congregational work, within that sphere there has been a satisfactory activity. The staff of workers has been numerous, and they have placed their services at the disposal of the church with a cheerfulness which gives evidence of the interest they take* in the work and promise of the happiest results : 1. Kirk Session.—This court had at the beginning of the year a total membership, including the moderator, of twenty-threr. This number has since been reduced by tie resignation of Dr Salraond and of Mr Alexander Struthers, who has left Dunedin to reside in Melbourne. The court has also for some months been deprived of the services of Mr William Wallace, who is now resident in Hamilton, Victoria, but it is expected that he will shortly return to Dunedin. Notwithstanding the many changes that have taken place during the period under report, the attendance at the usual services on the Lord's D«y has shown no tendency to fall off. The large congregations that regularly assemble morning and evening area source of sincere thankfulness to the minister and office-bearers, and it is hoped that of the many hearers of the Word there may be not a few who are doers of it also. The number of communicants on the roll at 30th S ptember, 1887, was 595. To this there have be nil added 31 young communicants and 50 members by certificate. The disjunctions have been 52; by certificate, 44 ;by death and otherwise, 8. Of the members disjoined from the congregation, the majority have left the district. The introduction of instrumental music led to the withdrawal of 9. The number on the roll is now 634, which shows a gain of 29 daring tho year. The attendance at the quarterly communions has been large—viz.: December, 372; March, 278; Jane, 402; September, 420. The sacrament of baptism has been administered to 25 children. 2. Deacons' Court,—This court has been strengthened by the addition to its membership of Messrs John Lane, A. Morris, G. Armstrong, A. Glen, W. Nicholson, and R. Crawford.

3. Prayer Meetings. The congregational prayer meeting has been held regularly throughout the year, but it must be confessed that the

interest displayed in this meeting by members of tho church is meagre. An exaggerated importance is attached to the week-night service when it is spoken of as the spiritual pulse of the oongregation, but the condition of thio meeting is doubtless to some extent significant of the spiritual state of the members. The reflections to which this fact give the a*e not of the most ■sheering sort, when regard is paid to the uniferably small attendance at the First Church prayer meeting. It is earnestly hoped that during the present year there will be a marked improvement: there is certainly room for it. The weekly evangelistic services in the Russell street Hall havo, on the whole, met with a fair measure of snecesn. An effort will be made next winter by the Committee that superintends fiese meetings to make them more attractive. I* is further proposed to establish in Russell afreet an agency similar to that organised by the St. Andrew's congregation in connection with their Mission Hall, for the good of the y° fig )>i>;ipl« and the non-churchgoers X)l the neighborhood. ' 1. Bible Class. —The subject of study during th i session hj is been Dr fcinnie's handbook on *The Church ' This was the text-book prescribed by the Synod's Committee on Bible and ■xjhuroh history classes, and though at the outrot< a fear was entertained that the book would not p.ove an interesting study, it afterwards appeared that the fear was groundless. The class was well attended up to the last meeting of the session, no fewer than seventy-nine members 'being present on that occasion. The roll numbered 105, and tfhc average attendance was eighty. 5. Sabbath 'Schools.—There are three schools connected With the congregation, and it is causo; for thankfulness that much good work has been ■done in this department. The church school meets in the church. Substantial progress has during the year been made in this school. The arimbar of scholars on the roll has increased, and the general organisation is excellent. The Üborsof Mr Moore and his energetic staff _of t iachers would be rendered even more effective v. they had a proper building in whwh to carry on their operations. It is hoped that before long the hall of the church will be cnlaiged and made suitable to the requirements of the Sabbath school. Wie vcliolars' roll now numbers 270, and the teachers' thirty-five. The Russell street School meets at 2.30 in the Mission Hall. There hav ocen many changes in the teaching staff of th. ■•ohool, not a few of the teachers having had to resign their position owing to their departure from Dunedin, and the school has further been deprived of the services of Kr Morrison, its superintendent, who denutted office owing to business arrangements. Much sympathy is felt with Mr Morrison in bis trial. It is probable, however, that there will be fewer changes amongst the teachers during the present year, and under the superintendence of Mr B. Cameron—unanimously elected to fill the vacancy—it is hoped that a season of prosperity is in store for the Russell street School. There are now 179 scholars in attendance, and the staff of teachers numbers 24.

The Roslyn School meets in the Ro3lyn Hall. The attendance of both scholars and teachers has been steadily maintained during the past season. The scholars' roll numbers 92, and Mr Gillies (the superintendent) is assisted by a staff of Hght teachers. The Teachers' Association has met regularly on the second Wednesday of each month for tho study of tho lessons and the di.cussion of papers bearing upon Sabbath school work, contributed by a few of the members. There are now 1,500 volumes in the two libraries connected with the schools,

Two boxes containing a variety of usfful articles were sent by the scholars ti Mr Michelsen, in Tongoa. The schools now support three native teachers in the New Hebrides, and their contributions exclusive of the boxes—for missionary purposes have amounted to L 54 lis lid.

6. Ladies' Aseociation.—This very useful society undertakes the work of collecting the contributions of the congregation to the foreign missions of the church, and also attends to the wants of such poor and deserving persons as may be brought under its notice. For the forraor object a »um of L 96 was collected ; and a considerable number of poor families were assisted with money, groceries, clothing, and coals.

7. Young Women's Guild.—This society was formed in the v.vmth of April last. Besides affording an opportunity for the cultivation of a more extended fellowship among the young women of the congregation, it was intended that the society should act a3 an auxiliary to the Ladies' Association. For the present, however, the guild has resolved to confine its. operations to the furnishing of a stall at the forthcoming bazaar. The society has a membership of thirty-five; the average attendance at its weokly meetings has been fifteeD. 8. Young Men's Litera>y Association.—This association has had a very successful sesrion. Twenty-one meetings were held, and the average attendance was twenty-four. A well-arranged syllabus, consisting of essays, debates, readings, addresses, etc., which embraced a wide range of topics, was gone through; and there were three issues of the society's magazine, 'The Inquirer.' 9. Sabbath Morning Fellowship and Home Mission Association.—This society has met regularly in the hall on Sabbath mornings at ten o'clock, for prayer and the study of Scripture. Six meetings were set apart for devotional exorcises alone, and at the others the the life of St. Paul, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, were the subjects considered. Though the attendance has been rather small, the members have found in the meeting* a source of real spiritual good. The Home Mission Association undertakes the work of superintending the week night services in the Ru»sell street Hall, to which reference has been already made in this report. In addition to what is stated above, it maybe mentioned that the session was brought to a close by a week of special meetings, which were fairly well attended, and much appreciated. In carrying out these services the association has received valuable assistance from outside friends, and for their good help it desires to express its sincere thanks. 10. Service of Praise.—As was anticipated, the introduction of instrumental music has led to a very marked improvement in the psalmody of the congregation. „,.... ~,, A singing class for the benefit of the children attending the Sabbath schools was organised by Mr Timson in August, and met regularly every week in the hall of the church until October. The attendance was very good, and the young people showed much interest in the instruction imparted to them. At the close of the session, the singing showed decided signs of improvement. . . , , . The Kussell street singing class h<ts o°en conducted as energetically as of old by Mr J. Reid. Under his leadership the members of the cla?s have practised the cantata ' Cloud and Sunshine,' and intend shortly to give a public performance of the work, when the congregation will have an opportunity of estimating the progress made by the children during the past winter,

DBACONS' COURT REPORT. The office-bearers would now tender to the congregation their cordial thanks for the manner in which all calls have been responded to. In no period of twelve months of the church s history has bo much money been raised within the congregation. An analysis of the statement of accounts shows the sum of L2 422 to have been subscribed for all objects. Such an evidence of vitality cannot be too hizhly appreciated by pastor, office-bearers, and people. The frequency of special demands made upon the congregation has had the serious consider ation of the court, and a rearrangement of soeoial collections with the view of making them lew burdensome has been agreed upon. The Rev. J. Gibb, in his opening remarks, said that it was impossible to gauge the prosperity of a Christian church by statistics. A church was not a success simply because the communion roll increased, or hecause a larger sum of money was raised. A church existed in order to promote history of the Israelites under Moses and the spiritual well-being of those belonging to it, and of the people in the neighborhood, and it was impossible to tabulate spiritual work. But so far as increase of numbers and financial position were concerned, the year IUSt brought to a close had been a very successful one. Two difficulties "confronted them at the beginning of the year —firstly, the depression; and secondly, by the "kist o' whistles." He was glad to say they had steered clear both of ScylVa and Charybdis. They had been harmed neither by the depression nor the introduction of instrumental music. Of the forty-four people who had left the congregation, nine had been driven away by the introduction of the organ, and the majority had been lost by their leaving the colony. There had been an addition of eighty-one names to the communion roll, which now numbered twentynine more than at the beginning of the year. After referring to various matters in the report, he thanked the congregation for the hearty sympathy that' had been shown towards himself. Perhaps with some of them he had felt inolined to use Oliver Cromwell's words : " I beseech you by the mercies of God to consider that you may be sometimes mistaken "—(laughter)—but that had not been often, and his work had been on the whole both pleasant and profitable to him. Mr George Smith moved the adoption of the Session's report, which was seconded by Mr Wilkinson and carried, after being spoken to by Messrs Moore, Nicolson, and Conston.

Mr Duncan moved the adoption of the Deacons' Court report, and referred incidentally to the hopes that were entertained as to the result of the bazaar that was being promote'd by the ladies of the congregation for the reduction of the church debt. Mr J. Mackay seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously, and the meeting then closed.