ECCLESIASTICAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4900, 31 July 1877, Page 2

ECCLESIASTICAL.

The Uev. Mr. Evans, tho l'rc.«byterian clergyman who arrived in Auckland by the b;irc|iio Ci. Broughton, preached on the 2_>.id July, in St. Andrew'." Church, and in the evening at St. James's Church ; on both occasions to largo congregations of worship pera. His manner of delivery resembles that of tho lie,-. P. H. CornfonL, and, jud» in;,' from the impression lie has made, he is likclv to become very popular in Auckland. The congregation of St. James's Presbyterian Church, Thames, met on the 2Srd of July, for the purpose of considering the .«object of giving a call to the Presbytery for the appointment of a regular minister to supuly the place lately occupied by the Rev. J. Hill. The Uev. \V. Maeuicol, from Auckland, presided, aud after consideration, a unanimous vote was recorded in favour of the Uev. S. J. JTcal, now of Waikato. Messrs. I'atterson and McNab were appointed as delegates to secure signatures to the requisition, and proceed to Auckland to support the call of the congregation before tlie'l'rosbytery. The stipend Was declared at .l"2")0 for the first twelvemonths, with manse. Mr. Ncal has officiated on two Sabbaths, and lias won tho esteem of the Presbyterians at the Thames. At the I'reshyterian Church, Kaniarama, the opening servico of the new harmonium took place on Sunday, July 15, commencing with one of Haydn's voluntaries. Mr. Win, .Sawyer presided at the harmonium, whilo the Bombay choir gave their assistance. This instrument will greatly improve the sirring at this church. The accounts of Holy Trinity Church, Giihornc, for the past year have been published. They do not show such .1 satisfactory state of things as could be wished for. Possibly the members of the earlier vostrie3 wen; rather too sanguine in their estimate of the future income of the Ciiurch, reckoning it at a larger amount than has been justilk'd by experience. A neat little church was built, a suitable parsonage erected, and the services of an estimable pastor secured, but no mundane institution can be carried 011 without the necessary funds to support it, and unfortunately the income of the Church does not at present reach a sufficient amount to tree the vestry from pecuniary embarrassment. It is to be hoped, however, that the aspect of Church affairs will shortly improve, and that the present Vestry will bo able Co show a much better balance-sheet at the end of their term of office.

I'he Quarterly Meeting of the W'aiuku and I'ukekohe Circuit, in connection with the Wt-sleyau Methodist Church, was held at Pnkekohe, on Friday, the Oth July. The districts of Waiuku, Mauku, I'ukckohc, Tuakau, I'okcno, Maungatawhiri, and Bald Hill, were all well represented. The Rev. YV. Kirk, Presidentof the New Zealand Wesloyau Conference, occupied the chair. Messro. 1!. llobbs and Barriball, sen., were elected Circuit atowards. The balance-sheet showed a slight deficit, but the members of tho meeting at onco took the matter up with a good will, and tho amount wan guarantiee. The chairman after congratulating the meeting upon the appointment of tho Rev. S. J. Garlick as their minister, pronounced the benediction, and thus a very pleasant and successful rneo'ing was brought to a close.

A neat and commodious Wcsleyan Chapel, contiguous) to the railway station, on a site given for the purpose by Mr. T. Holmes, having been completed, tho opening services were held on 22nd of July, when the Kev. Mr. Kirk preached iu the morning ami evening to a good congregation. The ncaU and pulpit had been presented by Mr. K. Hobbs, tif Pokeno. On Monday a tea meeting was }i< Id, which was largely attended by settlers and thoir families from tho districts round about. There was an excellent spread of the usual good things. After the edibles had I.eou.disposed, of, .Mr. Kirk commenced the pmeeedings by giving out the 100 th Psaun, after which tho .Rev. Mr. Williams oll'ored prayer. Mr. llobbs was then called up-jii to take the chair, and opened the meeting by :-ome felicitous, remarks. "Armour Hearer" was then sung. Mr. Kirk gave an interesting opeecb, mentioning some of the chancls that ho had been privileged to open, and

congratulating the people of Tuakau iu having so nice a chapel in their settlement. Hymn "Hold the Fort." Mr. Morgan, of I'ukekohe, spoke, for souk; lime on Wesleyanism in the old country, anil

expressed his sympathy with somo of tlm doctrines of Wesley. Mr. Williams gave i

.','o>)d speech on tho subject of a " Model Church," in which ho introduced the building, otuco-bearers. hearers, and ministers. After sonic remarks from Mr. Koose, Mr. Darbiek touched upon several matters that had cropped up during the evening, and con

eluded by proposing a vote of thanks to the ladies, which, soconded by Mr. Allen, was

..arriod witli i:he':r:>. .After sinking another ])ii:co, and passing a vote of thanks to tho chairman, the meeting broke up about halfpast nine. A social gathering of the members of St. Matth-jn-'a Church was held on the 20Ui of ■ luij, ia bhu Loruc-strcet Hall, and waa iminorouMly attended, every Anglican church in the city and suburbs bcin;; well represented. Tho amusements of the evening commenced at b.UO with the tea, the following ladies assiduously attending to the wants of the guests Heated at their respective tables :—Mes.laincH Jlasnard, Hooper, •loncs, Henderson, ninney, J. P.. Russell, Brown, lialstoatl, Stevenson, Olenny, Webb, Hamilton, Diekson, Doonin, \V. Williams,

Cadman, Fisher, Collins, Burns, and .Misses Viekera and Ernies. The good things of this life having been July ilinuuamid, tin:

tables were cleared, tile scats pUicud in their ii'.irinal position, and after a. aliort intorvnl, tlie second part of the ontortaiuinout commenced with an address by the Chairman, tho Roy, K, H, Haesard, His

I.- - !:'l'ij> ih" f;]..!;■•£> was the next ..■:„.;,l;i'r.' ih- i.'-.jin , . ! !iui' , utu<l the members of i-'.-.i- >>).'i: ;,. icccss which had at- •. .i.u-'l ' .-,.■''■-■' -Uiring the year, the .',.'... :■":■-■ of which was the ': ■•il:-'.iim<Tit of '-!. Thomas's (Jhureh in ;.„-,■ ~ ~.iv. Hi WiiH pleased to notice tliat Mr. ila'sßard, 111 all branches of his works, received such strong support and sympathy from his parishioners. After Koveial choice selections of music had been renderel, the assemblage \vrt:i .-.ddrei'sed by th'j Veil. Archdeacon Maunnoll on the pro-m-ess of Christianity in Turkey. A short address was also delivered by the Rev. A. K. Tomlinaon. Tho remainder of the programme was as follows : —Chorus, " Caller Herrin'," children's choir ; pianoforte solo, Miss Hamilton ; part song, "Soft and Low," St. Matthr.w'K Church choir ; song, " A Freelance am I," Mr. Cavanagh ; glee, " livening." Orpheus Glee Club; song, "No\er Moro," Miss Cormish ; cpiartoHo, Messrs). T.nrnhain, lirown, Henderson, and Cavanagh ; part song, " Now Pray we for our Country," St. Matthew's Church choir; chorus, " L'll go no more a Wooing," Orpheus Idee Club. The. Rev. 11. S. Hassard having taken the opportunity to make a fow parting remarks, th'j National Anthem was sung, and the proceedings closed. The annual soiree and congregational meeting of St. .lames' l/rcsbytorian Church were held 0:1 tho 25th of .July, and were largely attended, visitors from considerable distances being present. Tea was laid out in tho church at 0.30, and was partaken of by rather more than -100 persons. Trays were provided by Mesdames W. Anderson, MeCulsky, G. Uickson, jun., Chalmers, Mac nicdl, Wilson, Teasdale, Murehie, Hums, and Misses l.loyd and Kennedy. After the usual interval, the meeting wascoi-imenccd, the l.'ov. It. I' , . Mncnicol occuyping the chair: while on eithc.- side of him were seated the Itevs. I). liruco and D. 15. Monro on the platform. An anthem having been sung by the choir, the Chairman made a brief opening speech, at the conclusion of which he called upon Mr. Thoma-i Macky, sen, to read the annual report of the kirk-scsaion, which w.t-s accordingly done. The report stated, amongst other things, that the membership of tho congregation was '2',ii, as compared with 2-1-1 for the preceding year, tho decrease beiiiv! attributable to the formation of a new charge at r'onsonby. The .Sabbath-school was stated to be progressing encouragingly under th\j able superintendence of Mr. I'eter Mackic. The numbers on tho roll at that time were 40 teachers and 'SIU scholars, and I tho average attendance of the latter had beoii 2.'! G. During the past year the children had contributed .t'2-l towards the support of the New Hebrides Mission vessel and £10 17s lid for ordinary school purposes of all kinds. Mr. J. M. Alexander then read the thirteenth annual report of the Committee of Management. It informed the congregation that the debt upon the church had at length been liquidated, and while complimenting them upon thia result of their liberality, ui"ed them to a more thorough and generous support of such deserving schemes as the Home and Foreign Missions, the Aged and inlirin Minister. , )' Fun 1, and the Widows' and Orphans' Fund. The collections for the Homo Mission during tho year had only been £20 ; the year previous it was £'25, and four yi-ais before that it had amounted to sM I. The balance - sj'ieet was next sub milted by the treasurer, Mr. Thomas Maeky, sen. It ."-bowed the receipts 10 have been £SI« 5b sd, of winch the principal items were:—Sabbath collec timis, £427 (is Id, and pew rents, £230 ss. Tin; expenditure had amounted to £811 12s 21, leu ing a balance in hand of £21 13s 3d. Tho retiring ollice-heartrtf, viz., Messrs. J. M. Alexander, G. McN'.d), W. Gonie, and Smart, -.vero then re-elected, and Messrs. M. Murehie and David Carter appointed auditors. After a short interval occupied in canvassing the congregation for promises of yearly contributions towards the cost of erecting the projected hall, the programme w.is proceeded with. Addro.-;seu were do livcredby the Keva. l>. Bruce, V. B. Munro, ami Evans ; solos were suni; by Mie. Mitchell, Mr. .1. McCrosiaJ. and anthems rendered by the choir, under the leadership of Mrs. Mitchell. Votes of thanks having been accorded the l-uii<_s who had supplied the jtrays, the choir, ami the chairman, the Benediction was pronounced, and the largo assemblage dispersed. During the evening Mr. T. liurnham presided at the harmonium.

The notice that there would be a presents; ion of prizes to the children attending tho Sabbath Schools in connection with the Catholic Churches of Auckland and Xewton, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, on Sunday, July 10, drew a vary largo attendance, including besides the school children and teachers, a large number' of the parents of the children and other members of the congregation. The spaci ;U5 church was in fact crowded, and of those present the Sabbath-school children alone numbered -IGO, of whom 240 were boys, and 220 gHs. These were seated t<; the best advantage in the front seats of !'to church. Thu prizes, consisting ofhiind- ■ iiiiiii books, &c., were arranged on a table inside the altar rails by Mr. Morrow, and other members of the Christian Doctrine Society, including their chaplain, the Kev. Father O'Dwyer. The proceedings were opened by a brief pr.iver by the Uov. Father Walter Macdonald, who was appointed to present the prizes to the children. The names of the children were then called over in succession and the prizes distributed. Including merit prizes there were eighty in all, irrespective of those presented to the junior classes. A considerable time was necessarily occupied in the distribution. At the termination of tho abovo business the. Rev. Walter Macdounld again addressed those present in terms o£ thankfulness .and congratulation, lie said thanks were due to the members el. the Christian Doctrine Society and their chaplain, the I:<!%-. Father O'l/wyer, but thanks were especially due to Miss Kirby for her con slant attention and attendance and on behalf of the congregation he tendered her their thanks. Tho proceedings then closed with prayer, and the children tiled out of church in good order.