HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18763, 20 July 1935, Page 14

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

GOOD FINANCIAL YEAR SUBSTAXTIAL windfalls CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT I The conversion of a debit of nearly ! £4OO to a credit in the course of n year is not. unique in the history of 1 church management, but it is of suf- | lieiont interest to earn congratulations for the treasurer and vestry of Holy Trinity, Gisborne, who are able to demonstrate such a recovery in their annual balance sheet, for the year just closed. The balance sheet, with the annual report, is to be placed before the annual meeting ot' parishioners on Monday evening at the Parish Hall, and should give satisfaction to the supporters of the church in Gisborne. Two donations, , both anonymovjsj Xvere mainly responsible for the improvement in the position, as will be noted in the annual report, published below:— ‘‘At. the close of another church year wc again review the work, and chiefly would we render reverent thanks to Almighty God for the many blessings or,stowed upon the parish and town of Gisborne. Our sincere . thanks are due to our vicar and his assistant clergy for their continual ministrations. -Their work goes on progress vely, : and we would stress particularly the wonderful results of their efforts among the young of the parish. The future should be bright with so many young people receiving .'Uch loving and careful instruction. “The continued increase in the communicant life of the parish is also, we tcel sure, due to the sound religious teaching daily imparted to us. “At this time it is well to remember many old parishioners who have during the year passed to their rest. It is difficult to single out any one person, but" we Teel, we must place on record the life and work, of Canon H. Packe, Mrs. J. W.. Nolan, and Miss E. M. Pasley. “Thanks are again due to our many organisations; to the.Ladies’ Guild" and suburban guilds for their help m matters financial; to our organist, choir, Sunday school teachers, lay-readers; and -finally to Mr. Lasky for his unfailing help and courtesy to us all and our visitors, and also for his care of the church, and grounds, we offer our grateful thanks. We. must, too, thank the Sunday school children of Holy Trinity and suburban schools for generous contributions towards funds. CHANGES IN STAFF “General.—During the year changes occurred in the staff. Mr. F. I. Parsons, after three years of service in this parish, was given his first cure, and transferred to Tolaga Bay. We ask God’s blessing on him, and for his new work. Your vicar and vestry, taking into consideration the size of the parish and the amount of work waiting to bo done, decided on a venture of faith and engaged the services of twd assistants to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Parsons’ departure. The Revs. 'J. M. Aires and Moresby have already done much good here, and we take this op-, portunity of extending to both these gentlemen a very cordial welcome to the parish.

“The Men’s Club is a very fine body, and in the work at St. Francis’ H° U!i e are continuing their efforts on behalf of social service. The year was marked by the visit of missioners in connection with the ‘Youth for Christ Crusade,' and later a band of workers from our own Church Army gave us of their best. Many are grateful for renewed strength as a result of these visits. OVERDRAFT WIPED OFF "Finance is always a difficult subject to reconcile with church work, but we uo otter thanks for a wonderful year. Wc commenced with an overdraft of just on £3OO, and a further liability oi - £BB in unpaid accounts. We end witn u small credit balance. This greatly improved position is mainly due to two wonderful contributions: (1) We received a communication from a firm of solicitors enclosing a cheque for £2 tif Ss 2d, which we were to use to wipe out, our entire overdraft. No inquiry was to. be made as to who had sent this wonderful gift. (2) A parishioner who also • wished to remain anonymous then sent us a cheque for £SO, which was to go towards reducing the unpaid accounts. :

“We could only express our and your gratitude for such munificent gifts. We then had to. face the year, and as a point of honor see that we did. not again fall into debt. 1 This ideal was mainlv achieved.through, the-ffforts of our energetic and devoted 'treasurer, Mr. G. Winter, and also those of Mrs. Winter. 4 Iso we .were compelled to" .balance finance with economy in that,'although the clergy received their . stipends as agreed upon, we could not flatter ourselves : with,' the thought that the reward in any one case was sufficiently worthy of their work. It is certain that we cannot- expect to retain the services of our two assistant clergy at their present small remuneration. This whole question of finance has long troubled us, and should be faced and placed on a higher basis. NO SALES OF WORK “You will have read ah article pub-' iislied in the last issue of the Parish News, and we ask your earnest consideration of its suggestions and aims. We know what has happened in' other parishes—sales of work, etc., have been relegated to the past. In our own parish, too, the Ladies’ Guild has declared against working year after year, merely to finish up' with' a sale of work for money, and have fonnod themselves into a missionary body to work for the needy at home and abroad. “The main ingredients of our first effort should be faith, prayer and work, and as a:guide for practical performance wo have the option of striving for one day of giving each year, or of obtaining .more subscribers to the duplex envelopes system. Which of these stiggestions., should be adopted is for you to say at our annual meeting. Again, would it not be better if all funds were centralised, aud controlled by the elected vestry, instead of each suburban church contributing a small amount to stipends, and using all their other moneys for maintenance. “We close With a call to all parishioners to help us in the new year. Do let us have a full discussion as to ways and means at our meeting, but let us not forgot to pray for guidance in those discussions.”