DUNEDIN CITY MISSION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11044, 23 February 1898, Page 4

DUNEDIN CITY MISSION.

The annual meetiDg of the Dunedin City Mission (uusectarian and evangelistic) was held in the Y.W.C.A. Rooms last night.' Mr G. M. Thomson (president) occupied the chair, and there was an attendance of about 40 persons, including a number of ladies. Apologies for ndn-attendaDce were received from Mr J. A. D. Adams (who intends to taka a lengthened absence from Dunedin), the Rev. Mr L&ycock, the Rev. Dr Waddeli, Mr J. Wilkinson, and Mr A. Barr."

Tue balance sheet showed that the receipts for the year were £182 10a 2d, and th.e'exuenditure 2s 8d under that amount.

'The Chairman, in moving tiie adoption of the report and balance sheet, aaid it was now two jears siace,, a party met in Old Knox Ghurcn and affirmed the desirability of establishing a city iniasion. At tha meeting last year there was a. certain feeling of doubt; and diffi- £?..* as t0 how they were going to carry oil. The a.truggle hnd been considerable in the first year, which was closed with the account on the wrong side. Some of the speakers, however, and-tor Wright especially, were extremely hopeful as to the future, and helped to breathe into some" of them a little of that spirit of'hopefulness, and che year was beguu trusting that things were going to mend; and the balance sheet now before the meeting proved the hopes had bean fully justified. He would not say that dunug tha year there had been no auxieties, but time after tima the means of carrying on the mission wera always touud ats each monthly meeting cinie round. Since the committee's lass meeting subscriptions had come iv more freely, and one very gratifying fact was that Mr Wright hud received au order from a. business firm, who desired their name not to appear, of £20.—(Applause.) Thase were the things than encouraged the committee. They tried, of, course, to estimate their ways and means, and these unexpected donations were a wonderful help to them in their work. Dealing with the report, the speaker said the work of visitation was one of the main objects of the society—to carry on a house to house visitation in Dunedm among those 1.06 iv church connection and -being them back into touch with Christian life. It was a difficult class of people to deal with, but Mr WrighS.had met with a considerable measure of success iv it. Auother important branch of work was ihat carried on m the tinsel! street Mission Hall, which: lay a considerable distance from any church in town. Kespecting the donations, hs said that three of the city churches figured in tha balance sheet, which would appear as if there was a lack of sympathy; but that, he was glad tosay, was not the case, as a great number of the donors in these churches had already given their donations under the head of "private docatiphs." As for the State school Bible classes, he took it that this hardly came into the work of a city miswon, but it would have to come into it as loag as the Bible was excluded from the echoois. ihe classes had been .extremely successful, ispeaking for himself, he looked on it a« a veryserious blot in "our much-vaunted educatfon system that that Book was not read in the schools. Ha was an uncompromising advocate n utß tWe in the sonools» and, looking at *U the arguments advanced against its introduction, he. confessed he could not find one of them that justified the exclusion of the Bible.— (Applause. J He did not always hold that view, bat of late years he had 'come to hold it very strongly, and he was glad of the opportunity of «xpressing his opinion as a taacher. He thought they were doing an incalculable injury to the youth of the colony in excluding the Book from the schools. , He did not understand why they should profess to teach morality in schools when they excluded the basis of all their morals. As for introducing text books in which disputable points were taken out, it wss all nonsenseI.— (Applause.)

The Rev. R. J. Poktee seconded the adoption of tha report. He said the pjisswn had abundantly justified its existence. He was strongly of opinion that a city like DunediD, which had so many nou-churcli-goers, so many people indifferent fco the subject of religion, should have nob one missionary, but more, atid if the Christian public were alive to the indifference and the needs of those around them they would put is iv the power of the committee to eagsge, not only Mr Wright, but at least h*]f a dozen gentlemen like him, to eugage in the work of the Master iv this special way. o?he most effective way to deal with these people was to see them in their own homes. This was the method that mußb be adopted if the non-church-goera were to be reached. The speaker congratulated the committee on other results of the year's work, concluding by sayiDg that Mr Wright had been a very effective means of drawing many from darkness iuto light. The motion was carried. The Rev. J. U. Spbnce (Clinton) moved— "That this meeting heartily commends the Duuedin City Mission and its agent to the sympathy of the churches, Sunday schools, Christian endeavour, societies, and private individuals as being worthy of support and encouragement."

Mr P. Baeb seconded the motion, which w»s carried.

Mr AVitLiAM Brown moved—"That theretiring committee be thanked for their services, and that the following gentlemen ba elected a committee for the eDsuing year : Messrs H. E. Shacklock, G. M. Ban-, T. N. Wilson. George Reid, B. Rosevear, D. Booth, A. Barr, J. P. Simon, W. Hutchison, and Captain Thomson." He thought that when the public saw the extraordinary extont of Mr Wright's work it would lead them to take a deeper interest in the work of the mission. He was especially pleased with the extent of Mr Wright's work among the children, carrying scriptural lessons into those schools that were at present without the Bible. In that connection he was very pleased to hear from the chairman, as a teacher and as one who had experience of teaching, and whose opinions must carry weight, his views about the Bible in schools.—-(Applause.) The Rev. O. Michklsbn seconded the motion, which was carried.

Mr Wbight made a few remarks upon his work, statins the condition ia which he found

some of the non-church-going people in and about Dunediu. He thanktd the meeting for their words of sympathy. :