BAPTIST CHURCH

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 111, 10 April 1929, Page 4

BAPTIST CHURCH

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meetipg of members of the Baptist Church was held yesterday. ANNUAL REPORT. The report, presented by the secretary, Mr W. Whitehead, recorded another most successful year with a large increase in membership. The year was furthermore notewortliy owing to tlio erection of the new church of which the foundation stone had been laid on May 30, 1928, by Mr S. Barry, president of the Baptist'Union of New Zealand. On Uctober 17, tho new church had been officially opened and dedicated to the service of God by Rev. J. J. North, D.D., principal-, of the Baptist College, Auckland. Already the congregation had felt the benefit of the larger building .and the present congregations justnied the faith which iiad caused them to erect this splendid house of God. On June 17 laiey had a visit from Rev. F. Worley, of the China Inland Mission. The late Rev. R. J. Grundy, of the Mission to Lepers, had paid, a visit in July and Mrs Grundy had given an address to the J.C.E. and the Y.W.B. classes. On August 19 Mr J. Crozier, of the Baptist College, had addressed the Bible classes at a Bible class rally and had been present at a Bible class tea when an address had been given by Mr D. T. Allan. The repono recorded steady progress in all the departments of the work amongst the young people. The Junior Christian Endeavour Society had met every Sunday morning and reported good progress. The attendance had been well maintained land there were now 50 members on the roll. Regret was felt at th loss of Mr and Mrs Ormond from the leadership of the society. A worthy successor had been found in Mr Ren Grover. The Sunday School roll stood at 91. Mr Hay, the superintendent, had rendered faithful service, and had been assisted in his work by an efficient staff of teachers. • The thanks of the church members were due to Misses Valentine and H. Whitehead and to Messrs Hay and C. Perry for erecting cubicles >in the school. The Young Women’s Bible Class had now 12 resident members and four country members, with an average attendance of 10 per Sunday during the year. The intermediate Girls Bible Class had been formed during the year owing to the great increase iu the numbers of girls in the Bible classes. This class was under the leadership of Mrs F. Grover, jnr., and was experiencing a steady growth in membership. Commencing with six members the year had ended with a roll of ni-ie. The Junior Girls’ Bible Class had a membership of 12. Much regret was expressed, at the loss of Ahe leader, Miss G. Elliott, who left for a trip to England in February. Mrs A. Phitpott had taken over the leadership of the class. Th* Young Men’s Bible Class reported not large but very effective and helpful meetings throughout the year. For a time Mr A. Crabbe had acted as leader and when he resigned the pastor had taken over the leadership of the class -and had carried on in tire capacity up to the present time. After several years of faithful service, Mr Leslie Elliott had resigned liis position as secretary, owing to his removal from the district. The class wished to place on record its appreciation of his long and faithful service as secretary. Mr Ken Grover had' been appointed instead. At a recent business meeting of the class it . had been unanimously decided to. invito the older men of the church to become members. Useful progress was reported from the Junior Young Men's! Bible Class, the Young Worshippers’ 'League, the senior Christian Endeavour Society, the Band of Hope iand the Young Ropeholders’ League. The Baptist Women’s Missionary Union, under the presidency of Mrs Crawsliaw, had a good membership. Under the leadership of Mr Shearer the choir deserved hearty thanks for help in the musical part of the services. Thanks were due also to Messrs Thompson and F. Grover, jnr., for their services as organists. The prayer meetings had been well attended and the Bible talks given by the pastor on Tuesday evenings had proved very helpful to all. The treasurer’s statement showed that general collections during the year had amounted to £477 14s 4d, foreign mission collections to £73 15s 9d; home mission collections £2B 14s Id, Manurewa Children’s Homo £2O 11s Id, annuity fund £4 4s 9d, making a total of £605. TRIBUTE TO PASTOR. The report paid a tribute to the work done by Rev. F. A. Crawsliaw and expressed regret at his impending retirement from the ministry stating as follows: “It is with great regret that we have to record the resignation from the pastorate of Rev. F. A. Crawshaw. Mr Crawshaw felt compelled to accept the call to become the general secretary for New Zealand of the Mission to Lepers and handed in his resignation at the end of January of the pastorate here. He has rendered, during the two years and three months he has been with us a very effective ministry and has proved himself to be a man who is not ashamed of the Gospel of God. He has not in any way shirked the responsibility placed upon him and we feel that of him it can be truly said he is a steward who has been found faithful. We are glad that his headquarters will bo in Palmerston North and that he will still remain a member of the church- Wo feel that we must at this time record our high application of the splendid service rendered by Mrs Crawsliaw to our pastor in his work amongst us and we are glad to know that she will still be able to be with us to carry on her helpful ministry.” ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: Secretary, Mr W. Whitehead; treasurer, Mr F. Grover junr.; deacons, Misses J. R. Carr, W. P. Anderson, A. Rushbrooke, A. (jrabbe, G. Thompson J. Howard; deaconesses, Mesdames ’ Carr, Crabbe, Grover Holbrook, Rickard, Thomson, Wilby. ’ It was reported that £495 18s 3d had been for the building fund, bringing the total to £llOl 9s sd.