PITT-STREET WESLEY AN CHURCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8065, 5 October 1887, Page 6

PITT-STREET WESLEY AN CHURCH.

ANNIVERSARY SOIREE.

The anniversary of .the Pitt-street Wesleyan Church was celebrated last night by a soiree and pnblio meeting. Tea and viands were Served in the large schoolro on beneath the ohnroh, but the crowd was so great tha fc relays had to be served. The following ladies presented trays and speoial contributions s for the! soiree Meadames S. J. Ambury, Buddie (presided over by Miss Ball), Ball, J. Battle (presided over by Miss Shorland), G, A. Battle, Craig, ' Harris, Hollin. drake, Hosklng, T. MoMaster, Parkinson, F.

Phillippa, W. L. Prime, Prosser, Shackelford, Skinner, W. 8. Wilson, G. Winstone, W. Winstone. > v The publio meeting was held in the ohurcb, Mr. W. Thorne presiding, and the proceedings were opened by, singing hymn 225, "•'Praise ye the Lord, 'tis good to raise," After' which the Rev. T. Spnrgeon led in * prayer. The choir sang the anthem, *' Praise the Lord, Oh Jerusalem," alter which the secretary, Mr. T. Buddie, read the annual report and financial statement. We gather from the report that sinoe last report ex. tensive permanent additions and improvements have been made to the Cbnroh property. , The need ol' improved accommodation has been felt lor years, bat ' the trustees postponed taking any action !/ until the whole debt on the property had , been extinguished. This having been accompliihtd, Mid having received a legaey of £700, they resolved to proceed with the needed improvements, and the present additions were resolved on, providing a large - assembly room, a lecture ball, nine classrooms, library, and other conveniences for ■chool work, at the same time greatly increasing the comfort of the church itself, and famishing additional means of exit. The contraot was let to Mr. Jas. Heron, who carried it out to the satisfaction of the trustees, And the whole premises were now equipped for the various branches of Chnroh work. The cost of these improvements was £2371 2s sd, of which £1158 18s lOd had been paid, leaving a balance of, say £1200. On examination it was fonnd that the stone facings of the windows and doors in front of the church were crumbling away, and that the ground underneath some of the bat* tresses required under-pinning, and these repairs involved an additional cost of nearly £300. The amount of £1500 was borrowed from the Savings Bank at 7 per cent, interest, and this represented the debt on the property, and the trustees hoped it would not long remain unpaid. About £200' promised towards the expenditure had not yet been paid, and the depression prevalent during the year prevented the trustees malting any . systematic : effort to obtain subscriptions. ' The ordinary income of the Chnroh had to some extent suffered from the prevailing depression. ' The revenue from collections and seat rents for trust purposes wan £441 133 lid, and the expenditure £268 lis sd, bat this did not include the collections, etc., for Sunday.«ohool«, Home and Foreign Missions, and other connexionil ob- . jects. These brought up the total receipts for ' regular Church work daring the year to £1260. Th« balance-sheet tthowed the receipts, illeluding "the loam of £1500, to be £3020 10* 3d, and the expenditure, iooladlng extension and repairs, £3015 7a 3d, leaving a balance in hand of £5 3j. The above does not include anything raised on account of circuit, Sunday School, or connexional funds, nor the relief of the poor. It was purely a Church (rust account. The amounts for the others were £817 7s 2d, bringing the total up to . £3838 5* sd. Mr. Buddie then moved the adoption of the report aqd balance-sheet, and the motion was adopted without comment. The Chairman then addressed the meeting, and after a few preliminary remarks he said it would be very desirable on occasions of this port that special invitations should be sent to * other Churches in the oircuit, and that they should have statistical reports of the membership. Many would like to know how they were progressing as a Church, and in that respect he did not think they wens progressing as they ought. They had not grown with the place as they ought. Thirty years ago they had larger congregations than At present, but at that time they were the only Nonconformist', in the place, and -> miuce then other Churches had come in ; but be did not think even this accounted for the f resent state of affairs. In regard to finance be had to complain that some gave too much, and some too little. The poorer portion of their congregation contributed alarger,amount In proportion to their mean* than those who could better afford it. He also spoke on the small attendance at the church when A local preacher had to preside and preach, and urged that they should make up their minds to be present at every service when it Was possible. . j Interesting addresses were then delivered by the Revs. J. A. Taylor, T. Bpurgeon, Bull, and others. The choir during the evening sang the anthems What are These, "The Lord is Loving," and "Awake. Put on Thy Strength," and a solo fvas sung by Mr. Prime. • The proceeding# concluded with devotional exercises. - ' (