PARISH MEETING.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1665, 18 April 1866, Page 2

PARISH MEETING.

An adjourned meeting of. the parishioners of Christchurch was held last night at St. Michael's School-room, at 7 p.m. The Ven. the Archdeacon of Christchurch occupied the chair. The following clergymen and gentlemen were present; amongst others the Revs. H. Torlesse, E. A. Lingard, and G Cottmll, Capt. Wilson, Messrs. Packer! Stanley, Hawkes, Gordon, March, Bowron C.W. Bishop, Luck, &c. The meeting was opened with prayer .offered by the Ven. Chairman. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, The Yu. Chairman explained the objects of the meeting, and the reasons for the adjournment. He was glad to see so large an attendancei and he hoped that some solution of the present financial difficulties by which the parish was at present beset would be arrived at. The first business before the meeting would be the election of the Vestrymen and School Committee for the ensuingyear. He should hope that the means by which the parish had drifted into its present difficulties would be done away with, namely that of paying from ono fund to another. The whole debt ought to be looked upon as a whole, and some special exertion, such as a subscription must be adopted in order to liquidate it. The crisis was great, it could no longer be evade!, but must be fairly faced. Mr. Gordon proposed that the subject of the financial difficulties should first b? taken into consideration,' as he was sure that the fact of those gentlemen who might be elected taking office would depend upon the measures taken by the committee to obviate the difficulty complained of. Mr. Hawkes seconded the motion. After some discussion, Mr. March moved as an amendment—- " That Mr. Hawkes's motion respecting the' letting of a portion of the sittings in the churches of St. Michael and St. Luke should be first considered." Mr. Bishop seconded the amendment, which was subsequently withdrawn, and the original motion was put and carried. Mr. Gordon mentioned that the salaries of the past year, umouuting to about £176, were still unpaid. He had observed with pain that owing to tjie removal from the parish of many of its former contributors, the once rich parish of Christchurch had gradually dwindled into a very poor one. if a subscription were raised to pay uffi the loan of .£350 the interest would bs saved. Mr. Look entered into an explanation as to the manner in which he had endeavoured to collect the moneys entrusted to Ins care, and the success which had attended his efforts. He read a statement showing a gradual diminution in the amount got in. He attributed the falling off in the amount in, part to the subscriptions which had been paid towards the. Cathedral fund and towards St John's Church. (Mr. Lock cited some instances in support of these assertions,) He suggested that the subscriptions should be collected quarterly, or at most half-yearly instead of yearly, as at present Mr. March stated that the first thing to be done, was for the meeting fully to comprehend the accounts. He confessed for his own part, he did not, and should he glad of an explanation. The parisli officials must have known that the parish was heavily in debt • yet they had drawn heavily upon the funds to support thecharitable aid fund j now he thought that, as such an excellent institution as the Benevolent Aid Society existed in our. midst it was the duty of the parish officials to refuse peremptorily to draw from any one fund for charitable aid (Mr. March drew the attention of the meeting to the apparent discrepancies m the accounts rendered.) He suggested that a clear statement of the receipt's and expenditure should he placed before the public, and that the parish should be divided into districts, and actively canvassed for subscriptions. Every one in the parish should ' he asked to contribute, lie did not think that the parisli was in such a hopeless state ot debt us had been represented ; if the subscriptions had been asked for, he was sure that they would be cheerfully paid, and a great part of the debt liquidated. Mr. Gordon entered into an explanation of the balance-sheet. Mr. Hawkbs said that it had been attempted to throw blame upon the present churchwardens. But it should he remembered that the debt was not the result of one year, but the accumulation of many years having been handed down as a sort of heirloom from churchwarden to churchwarden The plan had been adopted, when one fund' was exhausted, of flying.to another which happened to be in a better condition. And this had led to, the existing complication. The amount actually owing was about £942, £352 of which must be paid off at the close of the :

year. It waß of no use trusting-to. subscrip- ' tionsj as Mr. March had suggested, the parish must be divided into districts, and every inhabitant asked to contribute to the funds. H some special exertion were not made, the parishioners would constantly he in the same position, and the churchwardens would be continually coming before them with just such a balance-Bheet as had been submitted to the present meeting. In answer to a question, Mr, Gordon said that until the debt of £352 had been paid off by the parish, the vestry was hardly in a position to ask St. John's parish for its share of the debt. The Rev. H. Torlessk deplored the apathy shown by churchmen, which he contrasted with the success which' had attended the efforts of the other denominations, He considered that one cause of this apathy was owing to the fact that the Church authorities had ignored the common feature of congregational sympathy. He was strongly in favour of the division of the parish, and he should have wished to have seen the Ven. Chairman taking an active part in promoting the scheme, instead of pledging himself to remain neutral in the matter. He thought that more kindly sympathy should be developed between the various classes of churchmen. That congregational- feeling was one great feature of our common human nature. The parish should be at once divided; the Bishop had strongly urged this step upon the Vestry, who had declined to act upon the suggestion owing to some financial difficulties. And hence another obstruction. The Bishop, in almost every charge to the Synod, had dwelt upon this subject. Again, the parishioners had been chasing a phantom —the cathedral. People deferred taking the division of the parish into active consideration, waiting until the cathedral should be finished, when the parish would be governed by the Dean and Chapter. But the ghost of the cathedral had now been laid, and he hoped that it would not again be evoked. He again urged that the parish should be at once divided, and let each division pay its own share of the debt. It was evident that, however diligent the Archdeacon might be in the discharge of his duties, it must be physically impossible for lnm to exercise that supervision which was so essentially necessary in order thoroughly to carry out the system of the Church of England. The Rev. B, A. Linoard confessed that he had not done lub duty to the parish. The reason was, that his stipend was so small, He had only received £IOO as assistant curate. But another question arose. Had the parishioners done their duty by paying the clergymen a proper stipend? The Archdeacon worked from morning until night, but what was he amongst the thousands of Christ-1 church ? Six clergymen would scarcely suffice for the work, The fault lay as much with the laity as with the clergymen. At present there was no Church feeling in Cliristchurch; it was absolutely dead. He endorsed the sentiments of Mr. Torlesse with regard to the congregational feeling to which that gentleman had alluded. The division of the parish rested with the parishioners themselves as much as with the clergy. The Rev. H. Torlesse moved—"That as a first step to retrieve the parish of Christchurch from its financial difficulties, it is desirable that the parish should be at once divided." Mr. Munnings seconded the resolution. In answer to Mr. March, ' The Ven. Chairman explained the course to be taken in order to procure the division. Mr. Hawkes stated that the Bev. G. Carpenter intended resigning the curacy of St. Luke's j he wished to be constituted the incumbent of that church. He (the speaker) had had a conversation with the Bishop that i day, in which his Lordship had expressed his , earnest wish that the parish should be divided, and that at once; adding that he hoped that the subject would be brought before the meeting, , Mr. Luck thought that the clergymen of the parish—one and all, he made no exception -haa not done their duty. They had not sufficiently mixed with the various grades o* society. Their uncertain position debars' them from doing so. There was such a con- ■ stant change of ministers that the parishioners never knew who their pastor really was, or to whom they ought to look for spiritual aid. If the parish were divided into small districts and efficiently worked there would be no occasion for such,meetings as the present one. Give the people faithful clergymen and , thej will be faithful to them, and there will , be no more such pitiful stipends paid as at : present. During a residence of fifteen years i in the parish he had not been visited half-a-dozen times by any of the parochial clergy ■ during that period. He was sure that the severance of the parish would prove a great boon to all the Churchmen of the city. Mr. Bishop confirmed the statements of . Mr. Luck. ,He thought that the manage- , ment of the Church was too aristocratic; the clergy were too proud. He should like to see the clergy mix more with their fellow parishioners. He should feel a great deal more love for the clergy if they showed more consideration towards him. An active canvass amongst the parishioners would wipe odt the debt, and then a subdivision of the parish would be beneficial. At present such a step would only divide the debt, not pay it off. He should oppose the motion. Mr. Gordon thought it unfair to divide the parish until the debt was paid off. It would be unjust to hamper the rising parish of St. Luke's with a burden of debt. The Ven. Chairman explained that the onerous duties of his position, and the demands upon his time prevented him from devoting as much time to visitation as he could desire. Unless upon some special call he was unable to follow out his own inclinations with regard to pastoral visitation. The increase in the. number of funerals alone formed no inconsiderable item in his work. He was far from being offended at the plain speaking which had beeu used that eveningon the contrary, he rejoiced at it, and hoped to hear some more of it during the course of the meeting. It would only act as a spur to further exertion. Mr, Packer was convinced that a canvass such as had been suggested would have no effect; it would not be responded to. The meeting was called to decide upon some scheme for relieving the parish from its difficulties, But no practical plan had been laid before the meeting, and he felt disappointed at the result. He had looked at the balance-sheet, and was astouished at some of the items contained in it. He objected, for one tiling, to the sum set down for charitable aid: the parishioners ought to be just before th..y were generous. The ordinary inevitable expenses of the churches ought to be paid before any money was spent upon extraneous parochial aid. MrMAUoiiwas anxious to see the parish divided, but lie agreed with Mr. Gordon that lie diviswn ought not to be undertaken until the parish was free from debt. Ho should move, at an amendment, that the parish should be actively canvassed in order to obtain subscriptions for the purpose of liquidating the existing debt, and that the result should he reported to a meeting to be convened by the Venerable the Archdeacon at some future date. The amendment having been seconded, was earned, the Rev. H. Torlesse obtaining leave to withdraw his motion, reserving the "?, ?! puttinKifc a ß ttin in ailot her torn. Mr.GoßDONthoughtthattheproposed canvas should not he confined to the vestry, but that some other gentlemen should associate with them in the work. The money must be raised, say by a concert. He believed that the musical portion of the public would gladly I respond to the call. ' Mr. Packer detailed his experience in collecting money by means of canvassing in the early days 0 f the settlement. Mr. March replied to the,objections of some of the previous speakers. If the plan was not proiluolive of the desirable result of liquidating the whole debt, at least such iv sum might be raised as would suffice to nav off the more pressing demands. The Rev. H. Torlesse moved that in order to prevent a recurrence of the, financial difflcult.es, which have-arisen in the parish of wa?caS KEßßeCondedtbe^tloD ' which i Mr Look moved the adjournment of the meeting until Friday next, at 7 p,m.,and thai

Mr. Hawkes'a motion should take"rT"~T"" ■ * of any other business pteci %Ce It The motion having been seconded T the election of Vestrymen I HajkeAmotionshould be o ßtpone J? «* : I Mr. Stanlbt seconded the mot l e , di <- \ j was put and lost. mo »on, W |, ich . | The original motion was put and „ • 1 and after a vote of thask ß To t W ; I broke up° a fi,V I