ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 28 April 1914, Page 4

ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHION-

ERS.

The annual meeting of the parishioners of fet. Mary's was Hem in trie schoohoom on Monday evening. Tiie Yen Archdeacon (jasseil, M..A. niesided.

lhe reports and financial statement, embracing accounts from all parts of the parochial district, have been issued for the first time in pamphlet form. In his letter, the vicar explained that for various reasons ne considered this a wise course to follow. He proceeded :

"In reviewing the past year there are two aspects to be regarded, the outward and the inward; the latter it is almost impossible for us to estimate; we must leave that to God and our own consciences, though it is possible for us to collect statistics and to draw conclusions, and. to consider what means are being used and what steps are being taken to accomplish that for which we really stand, the deepening of the spiritual life and promoting the glory of God. Of these I hope to I speak at the close of my letter. It is, perhaps, natural to consider first the outward aspect." After referring appreciatively to the installation of the organ munificently given by Mrs J. F. Pease in memory of her late husband, the Archdeacon showed that the total cost of the church had been £4400 or £4500 (including interest, which had to be charged partly to the building fund), and that about ■ £4150 had been paid,,. He thought this a very creditable record, encouraging the suggestion that a special effort should be made to clear off the re- | maining debt by September, when the church might be consecrated. The Archdeacon went on to say: "In regard to the inward and more spiritual aspect of our life, we regret to have to report a falling off in the 1 total number of oommunfons made. This is partly accounted for by there being no Easter in the twelve months under review. It floes not wholly account for it, for the number at the early service is practically the same as last year; but the number at .the late one is the lowest it has ever been in the present church. The inference is that the full service of Matins and • Communion is found to be too long by • the present generation for devotional ' purposes. _ The solution would seem to be easy: it is only a auestion of short- > oning the service, either by omitting the sermon or matins. Are we justi--1 fied in doing either? There are many 1 who value the preparatory nature of matins for the higher service, and one r of the special features of our Comnm- [ nion office is fo unite the ministry of c the Word and the ministry of the r Sacraments: it is the one place in the T Prayer Book where a sermon is ordered. "* At the same time one regrets that any j should be kept from Communion beV cause the strain of the long service is r too great and because the other hour I is too early. Could not such a person j come at 11.45 ; when the Communion of- > fice begins, or, if the real trouble was - the hour, could we not alter the time - of service to 10 or 10.30?" 3 He invited expressions of opinion, - and then passed on to refer to the Marsden Centenary and to the Bible in 5 Schools movement, both of which he > commended to the support of the par- • ishioners. 3 The churchwardens report recorded 1 with satisfaction the establishment of 7 services at Tokaora, congratulated the 8 Rev. J. C. Davies on his attainment 6 of priesthood ; and expressed thanks J^o Mokoia and Normanby for increasing j. their contribution by way of assessment to £50 a year each. Finance matters were explained and thanks recorded to Mrs Pease for the'gift of the j organ. Reference was also made to the efficient service of Mr Treweek as.orQ ganist, to the excellent work *of the - choir and other church workers, arid tc r the legacy left by the late Catherine 8 Byrne with which a new class room had been added to the school and a guana tity of furniture bought. When refers ring to finance the churchwardens said i that while the ordinary revenue had t been in advance of that of the previous ? years they would like to see a new • and systematic method of giving estab--9 lished, which would yield so certain a " revenue as would justify the abolitior ' of pew rerts. The balance-sheet (omitting shillings 1 and peneo in all cases) showed that the s ordinary expenditure had been £589. i Of this the principal items were, assess; f went for stipend £400, verger £40. organist £27, interest £23, painting church and school buildings £31, the j balance being accounted for by insurance, lighting, printing and advertis--1 ing, books and sundry expenses. The . revenue had been £606, made up_ of offertories £279, general subscriptiona s £58, pew rents £132, curate fund subi scriptions £36, Normanby share of as- ■■ sessment £50, Mokoia £50. The ordinary revenue thus slightly exceeded the ■ ordinary expenditure. Further, on the I Sunday* School £69 had been spent, of - which*£s6 was from Mrs Bryne's leg- > acy. Towards reducing the debt £109 had been raised. Snecial offertories and ; similar efforts for diocesan and mission- • ary work had resulted in £101 being raised and paid away. The expenses ■of installing the organ had been £39, met for the~"greater part by,, a contribution from a former organ committee of £28 and a recital ©ffertorv of £8. The statement of liabilities showed th^ total indebtedness to be £398. The 'accounts of the Sunday School and'of several organisations were also attached. Mr E. Bates moved, that the report anr? balance-sheet be adopted. Mi- N. Caplen seconded the motion, which was carried. The Sunday School rer>ort showed it. to be makinr s^eadv n*r>o>re.cs. Ma^v of the scholars had attended all the times the school was open. VICAR'S ADDRESS. ) The Vicar, in his. address upon the j year's work, said as one looked back, we noticed that some ©i our workers had been called to a higher sphere; we were only thinkiing on Sunday of one whom had been called to his last resting place, last week, one who had always taken a great interest in the church. And there were others who had gone during the past year, the name of one of' whom he might mention being Mrs Worthy. Then there was the late Mr Hobbs, who had taken a very great interest in the building of the old church. He was. sure the congregation was very grateful for the help received from the chux-chwardens and vestry, who had taken part in the church's work during the past year. He referred in particular to the work of the Sunday School teachers and the choir. He thought without boasting, that the Sun- j day School and the choir were second to none in the town at the present time. He was very grateful to the teachers and the members of the choir for the valuable work they had given so willing- ' ly and cheerfully. The churchwardens, j in their report, had referred to the splendid services of the choirmaster, Mr | Wadsworth, and he would like to add his Dersonal tribute to the work of Mr Wadsworth. The past year had been n very happy one for all—everything had worked smoothly and he believed there was an excellent spirit in the parish at the present time. He believed everything was going on the right lines, but an endeavor should be roacle to do

even bettor than was done in the past. We had an excellent choir, but wevrei» not going to rest upon that excellence;, we were going to make the whole cons' \ on mt? ? choir > for the <**»* wanted everybody to join in the sing-Sr-Lnl A\* iad an excell^t Sundays' 1 ' h, Ut, a "umber more teacheii w ere wanted. There were other institutions connected with the church which were do; ng a useful work in a quiet rl-L }m ?* °°nnection the ArchrtX fe ud to the Sympathy Guild, the &.F.S., the C.E.M.S., and the Ministering League. There were one or two matters concerning the future which. he would refer to later on in theevening, and on which he would, like an expression of opinion. One o£ these was m reference to the church: debt, which was now down tQ £350, antf. he would like to see an effoit made t£ have this; debt paid off by September next and he believed it could be done. Ihe Archdeacon, in his concluding remarks touched on the steps hejvg taken to celebrate the centenary of thY introduction- of Christianity into New Zealand by Samuel Marsden, and said the diocese proposed to hold' an exhibition m VVelhneton in February next. Jhis parish with the neighboring parishes, | lful been allotted the Tes £ mi _ 5i *^°f re Presentin£r and illustrating the Madagascar mission, and a meetingor clergy and parishioners would b»' held in Hawera on May 25, to more fully consider the matter. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The Archdeacon announced, amidst applause, that he had re-nominated Mi±Jates as vicar's churchwarden. On the motion of Messrs Beechey andF Graham, Mr H. D. Caplen was unanimously re-elected people's warden. Mr H. Batten proposed that the old vestrymen be re-elected. l This was seconded by Mr N. Caplem and carried. The names of the old vesj trymen are:—Messrs E. B. Bates, H !D. Caplen. 0\ W. Beechey. W. G. j Bishop, W. Graham, Chas/Jones P. • M. Pratt, J. C. Smith, F. G. Kirabell. | W. A. Parkinson, J. M. Townsend, and H. Wadsworth. I Mr J. Turton was re-appointed auditor. PEW RENTS. The Archdeacon said he felt that air seats in the church should be free s» j that anyone could go where they liked. j The matter would have to be carefully j considered, because at present a good deal of the church's revenue was oßtained from pew rents. At least £100 could be relied upon from this source* every year, and that amount would* have to be made up somehow if pewrents were abolished. Perhaps this oouM be done by asking the holders of seats if they would be willing to give thet amount they paid in rent as a subscription. He would like an expression 3f opinion on the matter.

Mr Kimbell moved that it be a recommendation to the veetiy to consider the question of doins; away with th» pew rents. He said that the vestry would be able to consider the wnolW question fully, particularly the financfar side, and if necpw^ry refer the matter back to the parishioners. Mr N. Capl^n seconded the motion. Mr 17. A. Parkinson said they tenenr the vestry and the congregation Yinif previously considered the matter; t&« congregation had tried the experiment, and it would be remembered" that •* caused a very e;re*t deal of trouble. TTo^ auite approved the prihciole, but felt i+ wi»<! the cl^ty of th^se who advocatwF the change to first show that it oonTd be made without embarrassing th 9 financel*.

Mr Bates spiV! y^ would like torn pew rents .ibolisheH, but be> could <hoNK see how th*vv cr^AH r"sh into such * proposal nnless their finances were a»Rn're^. TTnt.il a canvaw wss ma^e as *othe financial support likely try be com- ?*! £ from the new-holders nothing fmrt!V<«T- coulri be dotie.

The ir»oti<^—that it be a rpromro***?dation to the v<"*t.ry to consider tn» mn++«r~was carried."

Otbftr matters tf inter°*t to the aottffreecatinn were dealt with, anrt tnp««* included the snrtointpieuf. *>f Mr Nl Qpryt^r, pB svorUman for this year.

A^tpr t^e» h"«jin<»<*; j». social hour way spent in an-enjoyable manner.