DUNSTAN PRESBYTERY

Otago Witness, Issue 3522, 13 September 1921, Page 44

DUNSTAN PRESBYTERY

A meeting of the Presbytery of iJuust.in was held at M hhficinarch on Friday and Satmv. :y. Scptonilier 2 and 3, when the iUv. fi. Bioijini'el.j presided. A vote of .-yiupaihy was passed v. ;th Mr R. MM.;, iii li - pro-ouged illness. Y letri ;■ from the Rev. A. I',. Axelsen was rev,-; ed lliaukim. lire mo.uhe: of Pres b.'Uoy i r iheir expression of sympathy in In.; recent bereavement. A ifUrr from the Assembly Clerk was •.eccived int.mating that ihe Rev. Professor lieu it.-on had withdrawn from the position of Moderator-designate of Assembly, and it was unanimou.ly resolved, on the motion of the clerk, to nominate the Rev. D. Dutton for the position. Un the lnoticn-of the Rev. W. I’. Rankin, seconded by Rev. A. Lb Kirkland, the Kev. J. Gibson Smith was nominated for the position of Moderator of Assembly for 1922-23. ’ihe following ministers and elders were elected to represent the Dunsl in Presbytery at the General Assembly to be held in Dunedin in November: —Revs. A. V. G. Chandler, W. R. Rankin, A. D. Kirkland, J. Standring, and J. Ryie.v. and Messrs K. Sunnerd, T. ’A. Wise. Ilastie, and an elder from the Teviot Session. An application for a grant of £35 from tiro Teviot charge for repairs to the Miller’s Fiat Church was sustained, and recommended to Synod. ’the Superintendent of Home Missions forwarded information relating to home missionaries, and the Rev. A. V. G. Chandler reported concerning Ida Valley charge.— Ihe clerk was instructed to inform the home mission superintendent that the Presbytery was quite satisfied with the p,event working of ttie charge, and that the home missionary's term (Mr K. Swinerd) would not be completed till March, 1923, and to request the local committee to provide him with the upkeep of iiorse and trap. The Rev. John Paterson (Christchurch) forwarded alternative suggestions concerning the future Biblo-iu-schools movement, three courses being suggested: (1) B;ble reading, with the light of entry by ministers to teach the children of their own denomination; (2) the Nelson system; (3) the Bible used as a text book in the hands of the teachers, and under control of the Education Department,.—After considerable discussion it was decided to recommend to the league the adoption of the third course. Correspondence from the Rev. Dr Gibb having been received relating to the proposed League of Nations Union, it was resolved, on the motion of the Rev. A. V. G. Chandler, seconded by the Rev. W. P. Rankin, to approve of tho proposed congregational branches and to recommend to ministers and session the formation of such branches to further the aims of the league wherever possible. The Rev. R. E. Davies and Mr W. Seoular forwarded communications relating to the Sustentation Fund and the increase of ministers’ salaries to £3oo.—lt was decided to postpone the proposed canvass of the Presbytery till after the meeting of General Assembly in November. The Clerk reported that all balance sheets of charges had not been forwarded, and | that the Sustentation Fund “minima” could not, therefore, be fixed. —The clerk j and the Rev. J. Standring were appointed a committee to collect the necessary information and report to next Presbytery meeting. The arrangements of the itinerary for the proposed visit of the Bible Class Union agent to the Presbytery was left with the Rev. H. Bloomfield. The meeting then adjourned, and an enjoyable social was held in the evening in the A. and P. Hall, Middlemarch, all the members of the Presbytery taking part. The Presbytery resumed in the church on September 3 at 9.30 a.m., and the Rev. A. V. G. Chandler presented the report of the commissioners’ visitation to the AlexandraClyde charge, and the Rev. L. N. Walker was appointed to read the following deliverance to the Alexandia-Clyde congregations: — “Adopt the report: give thanks to God for the work of the Church ir: the Alexandra-Clyde charge for over half a century; commend minister, office-bearers, I and all church workers for their earnest labours; express gratitude to the congregations for their generosity towards foreign missions and other schemes of the Church ; urge members to more regular attendance at the various services of the House of God; enjoin the Management Committee to secure for the minister at least the j amount of the equal dividend by a more j systematic organisation and collection of the I local Sustentation Fund, j Mr W. Fleming, of the P.S.S.A., then | addressed the Presbytery, urging the claims ; of the Debt Extinction Fund of £6250 which, he said, was hindering the work or ! the orphanages and tho old people’s home, ; The opinion was generally expressed that ; the present was ail inopportune time for a special financial canvass in a country Presbytery.—On the motion of the Rev. W. p. Rankin, seconded by Mr Lennox, it was decided to support the appeal and to leave it with the P.S.S.A. Committee to arrange with the individual ministers for a visit to their individual charges. After further routine business the Presbytery adjourned.