WESLEYAN CHURCH MANNERSSTREET.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4884, 16 November 1876, Page 5

WESLEYAN CHURCH MANNERSSTREET.

The.rmnual'ttieeting in connection with the Home .Missions.was. held-last evening in the Wesleyan Church, Manners-street. The attendance was limited, owing to the wretched state of the weather.- -His Worship the Mayor occupied the chair. The following ministers were on the platform Rev. Messrs. Reid, Dewsbury, Richardson, Harper, Smalley, Thomas, Neilson, and Heteraka Warihi. There was a very good attendance of the choir, who sang several hymns during the evening. The ■ Chairman introduced the proceedings in an interesting address, referring to the work of the ministry, and then called upon The Rev. Mr. Reid, who made a statement as to the ; position of the mission, the subscriptions collected within the last fortnight, amounting to £7B, being £8 more than was required by the Circuit. The statement was received with applause.

The Rev, Mr. Smalley was then called upon by the Mayor., He expressed pleasure at being present at; a meeting of which Mr. Hutchison was chairman, and: congratulated that gentleman on his accession to the office of Mayor., 'He then proceeded to tell the meeting of Church matters in Napier, explaining the progress made there since November in 1875, when he had the pleasure of addressing a meeting- .in the . -Manners-street ' Church. They had 120 children in the Sundayschool, and 14 teachers, and the work was proceeding encouragingly. They had also built a church which cost £2IOO ; and generally they had met with great success. Before conclude ing, he; spoke of the necessity of an increase in the ministerial ranks. The ministry as a profession, appeared to be almost entirely ignored,' while other professions, were overrun. In connection with this subject, that is to say, alluding comparatively to the other professions, he regretted that the Press should assume an antagonistic attitude towards the pulpit. Editors 1 nowadays, said he, seemed to lose no opportunity, of having a fling at the pulpit; 4o point some unpleasant, funny, and impious pun or witticism at the churches or ministers. This was very much to be deplored, because they honored the Press, acknowledged its importance, and valued it accordingly. They knew that the staff on a daily paper performed a thankless, wearisome, and ill-paid task. He proceeded to speak of the change which had taken place in the instruction of the people since the time when that instruction was imparted orally to a very large extent, the which change was of course due to the progress of literature, and now the newspaper press performed a great work in the instruction of the people, and preparing them for their. responsibilities in this life. The ministry acknowledged its power in this respect, and felt its power'; but they would give the Press its proper place, and would claim supremacy for the pulpit, which was above all. The rev, gentleman concluded an eloquent address by trusting that this last meeting might have the effect of inducing some young men to join the ranks of the Ministry. . ■ , The Oil airman rose to remark that a large portion of the success which they were gratified to hear had attended the ministry in Napier, was owing to that gentleman himself, to his energy, zeal, purity, and scholarly attainments. The Rev, Mr. Neilson next addressed the meeting briefly, and spoke of the mission work In which he was engaged among his own people, the Scandinavians,

The; Rev. Mr. Smalley spoke very highly of the ability and eloquence of the rev. gentleman who had just .resumed his seat, and as he had beenunable to'speak at length, owing to’ his limited acquaintance with the English language, gave a short account of the useful and difficult work he had in hand among the Scandinavian population, attending as he did to no less than seventeen'places, and ministering to some 600 people. * The Rev, Mr. Harvey, from Poverty Bay, delivered an address, generally interesting and humorous in parts, in regard to the district of which he had charge. The church at Gisborne was, he said, £I.OO in debt, which he trusted would be cleared off, suggesting jocularly the possibility of some one of his congregation being possessed of £IOO spare cash, in which case he might do worse than give it to the. church. He expected great assistance from the' Home' Mission Fund, and, speaking seriously, he did not know what would be the result if those expectations were not realised.

The Rev. Mr. Hetebaka Warihi, from the Taita, delivered an address in Maori, and gave a statement of the amount of the collections from his congregation during the past few years, from which it appeared that the last year’s subscriptions were in excess of those of the previous one, from which he gathered that his flock, with whom he had not been altogether satisfied, were returning to the faith, and for this he thanked God. A collection was taken, which, considering the meagre attendance, was highly satisfactory. The Rev. Mr. Dewsbury very briefly addressed the meeting, and proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was heartily carried.

A suitable acknowledgment of the compliment having' been made by the Mayor, the meeting terminated by singing the doxology and prayer.