ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH.— ANNUAL MEETING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 5981, 18 January 1881, Page 6

ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH.— ANNUAL MEETING.

The annual meeting of tlie parishioners of St. Matthew's was lield last evening, in the school-room" adjoining ' the Church, and although" the " weather was most unpropitious, : there was • a good representative attendance. ' Tlie Rev. W-. i; Tebbs, incuihbeiit of the parish, presided. -He opened the proceedings with prayer, and then read the niinute3 of the last annual meeting, and of three special meetings held subsequently, all of which'were confirmed: ' ' '

■ Mr. Doonin, churchwarden, presented the report and; balance-sheet ■of St. Matthew's ,Vestry for the year ending December 31, ISSO. [We extract the following from.the report " Finance : The income and expenditure of the parish during the year have been about equal, although- a considerable-amount of i extraordinary expenditure lias been incurred, 1 amounting tp nearly- £200. As -a.; consethe vestry have not been able to reduce the.debt of £350, owing "oh 'account' of St.' Thomas's,' of which debt £300 will very .sooii be due in accordance 'with' the terms of the bohd uncler which tlie money was borrowed. ' St. Thomas's : "A curate' having been appointed to the parish (towards.whose the Rev. R. S. Hassard, vicar of Holy Trinity, Dalston, London, and late in;cumbent. of St."'Matthew's, has'generously (promised : £10' .per annuin for three •years)," i'ej'ular ' services'"' ( being carried on ' here; equally with St. Matthew's, i A new scliool-room, 1 commodious and hand-' j some, has been built" upon" -the' ground' at tlie 'back of ; the' church, and.proves very'useful' iin'carrying ori'tShe-work iii' this part of ; .the iparish. • : The'Suriddy-scHo6ls'' > ai : e. mucli 'in-' ; creased in inlimbers and 1 imp'rbved ih discipline. In the St. '.Matthew's braiich, there :< were in' December' 1 33 teachers'' (besides siiipemumeries),* i as''compai - ed'\vith 21 iii June ; ; whilstthe number of children is "about. onefourth! more than it was, at the commence-. ; ment 'of the" half-year. Tlie 'average attend- ; ance shows an increase of 35, or nearly 15 : per cerit. ' St. 1 ' Thomas's braiich .is likewise in good. working: order., and steadily', increasuing,. tlie number of . teachers bbing'9; and of cliildreii "on ;tlie'books upwards"of'9o, 5 whilst the attendance sometimes reaches' SO. ; The parsohage'is-completed,' and the vestiy ' think that' they may congi-atulate the parishioners "on' having erected, at a comparatively sihall cost, a handsome and convenient residence for the incumbent of 'the parish: The : 'choir maintain' their usual efficiency, notwithstanding the loss by death —early, arid, deplored by all—of a most accomplished member, Miss Gertrude James.' Mr." Parish',' the indefatigable secretary, is also lost to it; haviiig left Aticklarid for Coromaridel ; Whilst'other vacancies have been filled up bj r liew comers. The vestry gladly bear record to the services still so efficiently rendered by the organist, Mr. Browii." '

The balances 'of St. Matthew's and St, Thonias' were submitted. ..The receipts for the former were £1299 4's, and tlie expenditure the siihiej less £27 17s 6d cash in hand. The accounts of , St. Thomas', and* of both Suiiday-schools, were also included in the printed report. Mr. Way mouth raised the question as to, why the £105 due on St. Thomas' .School." was not included as !a liability.—Mr. Doonin said he had. made private inquiries into the matter, but he had never been consulted nor informed of the cost. He was simply asked as a trustee to allow of the erection of the School, and, strangely enough, lie was the last one asked. Had he been informed there would have been any liability on' "the parish regarding the new building, he would have withheld bis assent. He was given to understand that if the building was put up, -it would be unattended with .liability oh the parish.— Colonel Haultain said that he was one of the trustees who had agreed to the erection of the .school, on the understanding that there would be no liability on the parish.— T)r. Hooper; the second trustee, coincided with Colonel Haultain. When they gave their consent, it was a sine ([ita non that there should be hp liability on the parish.— Mr. Williams raised the question of how St. Thomas'' became' a church.—Mr. Doonin entered into a long explanation, and pointed out that St. Thomas'was a mission school. The minutes were referred to, and it was found that St. : Thomas' was a school, but" the Chairman pointed out that they did not now need to go into this question They could not alter the position, and need not quarrel as to a name. —Dr. Dawson said he did not see that they need bother about it. No one had asked them to take over the debt or liability:—Finally, after some desultory conversation, Dr. Hooper moved, and 'Dr. Dawson" seconded' the adoption of the report and accounts.^ —Mr. Waymouth quoted statistics' to show that the first clause of the .report was incorrect as a statement of the affairs of the ' parish.— ; Dr. Dawson pointed out that the; paragraph did not allude to the financial state of the church, but to their having got into a settled condition after many years. Now they had a resident minister, and they would start' in a fair 'way. The speaker then referred to the liabilities, and urged that they should put their differences to one side, and work unitedly to get the parish out of debt.—Mr. Doonin also spoke' in favour of unity, and' urged that the business of the church should be transacted on ordinary business principles. some further conversation, for discussion there -was none, the motion for the adoption of the report and accounts was put and . carried, Mr. Waymouth being the only dissentient. " / • "

The Chairman said the next business was the election of; parish officers. Before proceeding he had to thank the officers for the great consideration and kindness they had sliown iiiiri, especially by the . church- ". wardens, and more particularly by the one nearest to him—Mr.'Doonin. He nominated Mr. Howden as minister's churchwarden.. and was glad that he had consented to stand.— Dr. Hooper, proposed Mr. Doonin as. people's churchwarden, and Mr. Waymoutli seconded the motion.. Both spoke in terms]' of : high commendation of Mr. Doonin's former action in reference to the parish, and the motion was carried unanimously.-—Mr. Dooniii said lie", could not' allow this opportunity to pass without thanking the congregation for their continued confidence in him. He hoped when they met next year that it would be under more.favourable conditions. ,He would endeavour to work to the best of his ability,' and" tli'anked them again for this expression of renewed confidence in him.

The next business was'the election of a vestry. It was agreed that the vestry should be 10 ; 17 were proposed. Messrs. C. S. Wright and J. A. Pond declined to stand. A show of hands for each.candidate in succession was then taken, which resulted in the following vestry being elected:— Colonel Haultain, Dr. Hooper, Mr. Henderson, Dr. Dawson, Messrs. Fisher, Steadman, Webb, Vickers, Shailer, and Soppett. These gentlemen were declared duly elected. On the motion of Colonel Haultain, Mr. Way mouth was appointed auditor for the stone'church account for the ensuing year.— Dr. Hboper proposed, and the motion was agreed to, "That Messrs. Binney and Brighairi bp auditors for the ensuing year." On the motion of Mr. Wright a vote of thanks was accorded to the Rev. Mr.Hassard '(to be forwarded in the usual way), for his kind offer of £10 a-year for a period of three years towards the stipend of an assistant minister^

Mr.- J)oonln ; .proposeili.a,, vote of. thanks..3to„! the choir, whicliwas unanimously accorded," and Mr. Jlowden's proposition ;of a: vote of 1 thanks to the auditors with a like reception. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Mr. St6adma!n,'' and carried unanimously, terminated- the proceedings.