HOLY TRINITY CHURCH.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14363, 31 July 1917, Page 7

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH.

I Tho annual meeting of parishioners m connection with Holy Trinity Church was held last, night. The Vicar (Von. Archdeacon Packe) presided, and there was ia large attendance. • In tlie course of his pastoral letter, the ; Vicar, .said three things were warned Ln [connection with the work of lhe Cliurch Y vision (a new and more Catholic- Christianity, marching out to inspire the 1 whole national life-), courage, and brotherhood. Tlie Ladies' Guild, he continued, has been able to assist most generously the Church and missionary work. Tlie Mothers' Union has been a real help to mothers m discussing many social' problems brought into prominence by the war. The Girls' Club has presented the vestry with a new piano for use m the hall, and this year is working to place m the church grounds a. fitting memorial cross on which may be inscribed the honored names of those who have made the supreme sacrifice. The Men's Society has met regularly and interesting and useful papers have heen read and discussed. ... There are five Church Sunday, schools with an aggregate of over 400 children", it is still difficult io find sufficient regular teachers. We want funds to start a Sunday kindergarten school and pay a qualified teacher long enough to train others to take up the work voluntarily. The choir merits unstinted gratitude- for,, m spite of many members being called to the colors, it has never failed to lead God's praises with great dignity, and heartiness. . . . Owing to the difficulty of obtaining male voices the organist has had no easy task, and. I hope new members will come forward and help to lead the congregation. The Guild presented the "vestry with £20 at Christmas. Your vestry have had an anxious and strenuous year financially and owing to many very wet Sundays the offerings are considerably below the average, <I ask- every member of our communion to remember he has a duty to the. Church of his adoption to sup : port it regularly. - • ... VVc cannot enter upon new work until the overdraft is settled. I believe m your liberality and m yonr desire that the Churcnxshould progress. I can bring another fellowworker into the parish when you have enabled your vestry to relieve the present anxiety. The debt on the main church building has been extinguished by a very generous response to our Christmas appeal, organised to facilitate the carrying out of your -wish that your Church should b 2 free from pew rents. There has been , a very gratifying* sum collected fey -ptcial appeals;. namely for the Belgians, the Red Cross, and, the Chaplain's Fund. This last is open for further contributions and our chaplains still write for money ito help those who are fighting our battles. Turning to the suburban churches, the Vicar said, that at Mangapapa a second curate is sorely needed; There : has been added to the church a handsome carved screen by one whose whole heart is centred m the progress of church life m this district; the Sunday school is m a flourishing condition, and with a curate settled there I believe the mortgage on the building (£350) I would soon be wiped off. Kaitir church has been beautifully, furnished, with altar, ' carpets, reading desk,' a ,new; organ- and a stone font, and the building is now [ used exclusively for purposes. of worship. |Tc Hapara is the proud possessor of a 1 new church upon wliich there is only a | debt of about £140. Parishioners m this ' suburb have done a noble work, generously assisted by the Mother Church. The suburban churches need communion vessels and a gift of this kind is the greatest privilege anyone can make, .1 I heartily invite worshippers at the parish church to make visits to the district churches m order to appreciate more J fully the work that is going on. The Vicar expressed thanks to the Hospital Board and staff m Connection With the services held at the hospital every Sunday morning. He expressed gratitude to the lay-readers -and Sunday school teachers for help. He, .referred , to' the helpful work of the Rev. A. E. McCutcheon, and said Tolaga Bay had gained a hardworking and faithful priest. He welcomed the additional help of the Rev. F. \V. Chatterton, who had joined the staff until such time as the vestry could see their way to appoint another permanent curate. . The Vestry's report stated: A" year ago the position showed an excess of liabilities over assets of £408 Cs lid; this year our assets exceed liabilities by £458 ls Bd, notwithtanding tlnty £5*35 7s 7d assets then appearing has disappeared by items written down or Written off. . The salient factor m bringing this about was the Christmas offering to redeem debentures (£1380). which formed the debt on the cliurch. So liberal was the response that not only was this object achieved, but a surplus of £106 13s 3d was passed on to the Te. Hapara Building Fund. During the year a tasteful and useful church has been erected on the section already owned at Tc Hapara, at a cost of £352 10?, of which only £130 12s 6d remains to be paid. General offertories show ' a falling off of £C 5, an unprecedented number of wet Sundays having militated against attendance. Special offertories and donations, exclusive of the Christmas Day offering, show an increase of £159 6s 3d, while with that added, £1.50 12s Gd, we ''.have an' improvohient dt £1009 !lßs 9d. Stipend Fund: The amount collected here is more', by' £88 lis 3d. Pew I rents collected show a fallipg off of £64 |4s 6d, while the outstandings are '£114, 'as against '£50 a yea.* ago. This year, ithe amount, handed m from all sources | was £2801 16s lid; ■ as against £1400 14s 3d a year ago, which, at the time of happening, was claimed as a' record, and your vestry desires to express their deep gratitude for the cheerful and ready response , to all their' appeals. Turning to the expenditure there Is little t{rat calls for comment. Stipends are lower by £16, due to .the removal of our senior curate, the. Rev. E. A. McCutcheon. The Rev. D. B. Malcolm 'now fills that position. The, bank overdraft stands at £596 io-. Id, and your vestry feel that this shpuld not be a continuing burden on the guarantor!;. Therefore they have es; tablished a sinking fund, and m the meantime £50 per annum out of income is being set aside by monthly payments while a special offertory on your* Patronai Festival -".Melded £35 lis id There is now standing lo credit at bank £5G 7s 9d, reducing the net indebtedness to £540 8s 4d. Special efforts will be made from time to time to augment the contributions, which is made more possible by the eascr load referred to m another connection. During the year you haye lost the services of two of your most active and efficient vestrymen, m the persons of Dr. J. W. Williams and Mr. j. Renwick, both of whom have placed their services' at the disposal Of our King and country. To the paid staff, both clerical and lay, we tender our appreciation of their zealous and ffective services, while to the Rev. E. A. McCutcheon we offer our congratulations upon his appointment as Vicar at Tolaga Bay, and thank him for . his services while he was ' with us. We would place on record the splendid ,and willing service rendered by the members of the choir, Sunday school staff, Ladies' Guild, C.E.M.S. Society, with special mention/ m the latter connection of Mr. F. RHill, for his faithful work at the door. To Messrs C. D. Arlidge. T. D. Baker, C. E. Armstrong, D. O'Halloran, lay readers- M r - L - Redward for painstaking services as treasurer, and particularly to the. Rev. F. W. Chatterton for his ready and valuable assistance, we would tender our heartfelt thanks. Satisfactory reports were also submitted by the various societies and guilds. In moving the adoption of the reports and balance-sheet, Mr. C. A. deLautour said the vestry were to be congratulated upon the success of the effort to clear the church of debt. Mr. J. C. E. Kissling seconded the motion, which was carried. The Vicar re-nominated Mr. T. JexBlake as Vicar's Churchwarden. Mr. E. P. Mount-fort was elected People's Churchwarden. In .declaring Mr. Mountfort duly elected, the Vicar said he could not refrain from saying a word about their old friend, Colonel Winter,