ROSLYN GHURCH.

Evening Star, Issue 13016, 29 July 1908, Page 3

ROSLYN GHURCH.

The following is taken from the report of the Roslyn Presbyterian Church, to be piesented to the annual meeting to-morrow evening:— The work of the church has been carried on as usual throughout the year with a fairjneasure of success. There is abundant room, however, for improvement all along the line of the church's activities. It seems more and more necessary to realise' that Christian worship and work should be faced not in the light of bodily comfort or personal convenience, but in the light of Christ's claims upon us and the duty we owe to others, to provoke them by.our example unto love and good . works. There seems a growing tendency i in modern life to relax all kinds of religious obligation, and reduce the time for public and private devotion to the briefest possible limit. Diligence in business during the week can only minister to a lopsided manhood unless* it is crowned and sanctified by a well-spent Sunday and a diligent attendance on the ordinances of divine grace. The number of members on , the communion roll is now 180. During ' the year nineteen new names have been added. There has been a loss of twelve members and several adherents, partlv by death and partly by removal to other' districts. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was observed four times during the year. 'The attendances were as follows'1 \ 1 ' 121 ' 152 > 14 5- This central ordinance 01 the church might have drawn together a few more to show their grateful devotion to Him who for their sakes died and roce again. The Session desire to place on record their high appreciation of the services of oar pastor. In his pulpit ministrations, in his visits to sick and afflicted and in the general work of a devoted minister Mr Chishobn has proved Jiimself no mean workman. At a full meeting of ; Deacons' Court about the beginning of August the whole financial outlook of the congregation was carefully considered. It was felt, that the annual' expenditure for manse allowance and interest on loans w:>s too heavy f<, r the size of the congregation, borne method, it was thought, might be devised- whereby a manse could be erected and a considerable amount saved A committee, appointed for the purpose, in due time presented a report outlininz .-'{• scheme, which was briefly as followsThat, with the consent of the congregation, a sum of £4OO should be transferred fromi the church building fund to a manse £4OO should be applied for; and that an effort should be made to raise as much as possible within the congregation towards the erection of a manse. This was unanimously agreed to. All the necessary steps were taken to carry out the scheme, the hearty consent of the congregation having been obtained at a dulv cited conprejrational meeting. The result is that the congregation will soon be possessed of a * n 2n om ,? and substantial manse at a cost ot i,1„275. The indebtedness of the congregation has been to some extent increased, but the annual expenditure will be very much lessened. The interest payable on the manse loan will be about £25 Jess than the sum paid hitherto on manse allowance. The Court desire to place on i?-irt?l *\ e,r a PP re , ciation of the gift of £IOO to the manse fund received from Mrs Begg in accordance with the wish of her late husband. The Court intend to create a- sinking fund, into which all surplus meney wil be put. ' Our direct contributions to the swtcntat .on fund durina the year amounted to i.16,5. In fulfilment of the promise of lan year, the amount had to ho made up cut of ordinary revenue to £212 10*. \s we virtually receive bade the equal dividend, which was fixed tins year at £202. our conl tamrtion to the general siKtentation fund in aid of weaker charge.; was £lO 10« borne of the ordinary sources of revenue sliow a slight shrinkage this vcar. 'This is probably owmg partly to the looses we nay e sustained in the ranks of our membership, and partly to the extraordinary efforts that have been made during the 'year to equip the charge with a full suite of buildings. The charge is comparatively voim* eg yet: it lacks the stability of age. and has. had to pass through a series of losses that would be deemed abnormal even in a much larger charge. The meetings of the P.W M U were held "during the year. There "were eighteen members on the roll, and an average attendance of thirteen. The nicotines were chiefly devoted to the acquiring of missionary _ intelligence and prayer on b». hali of missions. The mission collection's amounted to £23 14s. This is a falling off from last year s amounts, probably owine to the illness of several of the lady collectors. The active membership of the youn" women's Bible class is now forty-four and the average attendance for the yea'r has been thirty-five. The Literary Club is held on the last Iriday of the month. -A concert was held to raise money for a -.library, the result being that we now have a bookcase and twenty-four books. The collections last year amounted to £7 lis 4d. Of this £1 5s was devoted to missions, 10s to B.C. Union £1 5s to the evangelisation fund, and the balance to defray class expenses. A large box containing dolls and sundries was also wait to India, The Maori Birthday Leajrue is still very successful, £2 3e having been ■wnlributed by the class during the year. They also gathered £2 13s 6d for the orphanage extension fund. The young men's Bible class is now in its third year. It met forty-three times Quring the year, one of the members being present at every meeting. The nmnbexoa the roll is twenty, the average attendance eleven. The money collected daring the year amounted to £3 8e lOd; the expenditure wa/fil 13s 3d. *

The Sunday school cootixmes to do good work under the very efficient OTperibfendenoe of Captain &raog. 3&» abater «$

children oa the roll is 135—71 girls and 34 boys. The average attendance is 109--61 girls and 58 boys. Thaw ate : ionrteeb classes—seven for giris and seven for There are fourteen teachere--ten women and four men. Tfc* collections for the year amounted to £25 Is 4d. A third of the amount goes to defray expenses for Sunday school literature, eta, and the remaining two-thirds goes to foreign nuflaonsu A catalogue of books in the library has been printed. There are 323 books available. The choir continue to prosper. The attendance at practice, though not quite up to the standard of last year, has been very encouraging, and the, attendance tat the Sunday services has, it is pleasing to note, kept well up. The Band of every Friday fortnight. There are over 100 members, and an average attendance at the meetings of eighty. The children are taking a good deal of interest in the society.