PARISHIONERS GATHER

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18765, 23 July 1935, Page 4

PARISHIONERS GATHER

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

THE ANNUAL MEETING KEEN INTEREST SHOWN There was a large gathering of parishioners of Holy Trinity Church at tlt' Parish Hall last evening for the annual meeting. The vicar, Canon A. F. Hall, who ]iroskle<l over the gathering, opened the meeting with prayer. Apologies for absence were received from Dr J. W • Williams and Mr R. C. Jeffries, In the course of his annual report Canon Hall, stated:--"In presenting a report of Ihe parish for tlie past- year, our lirst thought' is one. of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His many blessings for us and lor so clearly showing ns step by step what His will is. It is good at. (lie outset to remind ourselves that work of Gods church in this parish is not to be thought of as an organisation which is to be run for the approval of a chairman situated in a distant country and who merely distributes rewards ' and punishments upon receiving an annual report, but that it is a living organisation, every member of which is a partner —and with whom the Chairman Himself works and advises and inspires as far as lie is allowed to do by the individual himself. Therefore all work inspired by God and carried on in His strength must succeed in the long, run.

“The last, year lias seen some changes. Jho Rev. E. I. Parsons has gone on to a post of solo responsibility at Tolaga Bay, where his energy and zeal can have full play. Tin; advent of Mr Aires and Mr Moresby has been a. most welcome one and I am more than happy to have them working with me. I hope yon appreciate them as much as I do. I only wish I could have a third assistant, of equal calibre, but perhaps I am too ambitious. WORK AMONGST CHILDREN

“The work amongst the young' folk has grown and is showing results in a most marvellous way. We shall have to think of extra accommodation for tho Sunday work before long in the shape of a new annex to present building. In the suburbs, the Mangapapa Sunday School is nearly bursting the church walls for lack of accommodation. I'e Hapara has a. children’s church and its offertories have been doubled 1 Ivaiti Church is full of children and here again it. is a. marvel what capable teachers can do in a small space. So you see that speaking generally the work amongst the young folk is very bright and full of promise. Now this promise can only J be fulfilled by the personal example of the parents. “Tt is the church-going parent of today who makes the church-going parents of to-morrow. The cause of the leakage from church membership of the adolescent. is almost always the lack of example by those at home. Parents often come to me and ask me to get in touch with a child of theirs who does not go to church, when they themselves are not churchgoers. “This in itself is mainly duo to two causes : Firstly, tire fact that in their day they were forced to go to dull services unsuited to. their needs. This cannot be said now—the church is more awake than she lias ever been—and provision is made for all types of churchmanship and I venture to say that ser,mons are shorter and services brighter. The second—and lam speaking as _ a shepherd—is due to sheer laziness. Spiritually lazy parents are most infectious and a sourco of intense danger to the children of to-day. LIVIO HOD! ITS. “In spite, of a wave, of laziness which is sweeping over (he parish, especially during these winter months, I am happy to say that the Mothers’ Union has a membership of 100 and new members arc constantly coining. I could wish we had a Fathers’ Union with the same objects and' tho same keenness. The Men’s Club, however, is a live body, with an attendance of GO per eeuf. of its members every week, whereas the Mothers’ Union meets only monthly. This Men’s Club sponsors HI. Francis House, the good work of which is known by certain people as the ‘best doss house in New Zealand’ and has, in fact, put the ‘is’ into Gisborne!” Home six or seven men turn up to a weekly Bible class before club meetings and i feel that, this should increase and is a beginning of still better things. ‘‘May 1 say here that the continual evening work is a great strain on the clergy, and ask you not to expect the impossible, or you will have breakdowns. No man can work Id hours a day as a regular thing, which hasbeen the ease here for some time.

"Now, a word about Wainui. At a meeting held there la.st week, a church committee was elected aud a balance sheet presented. They have a hall; they have a debit balance to the bank of some fk’.'M because of it, and they are asking for more services which I hope to be able to give them in the near future. Will you who use Wainui so much in the summer do all you can to help this small body of faithful people in that district 3

HELP APPRECIATED. “I am deliberately not going to thank anybody personally to night for their work for the church during the past year. I should probably forget someone’s name, which would never do, but speaking soriously, there is no parish which has a more generoushearted or loyal body of workers than Gisborne has. I know you enjoy your church work. I assure you that i appreciate your help to the full. Let us go on developing the friendly family.spirit which is becoming such a marked feature of our life.

“This is a report, not a sermon. All I will say in conclusion is that none of us is perfect—neither clergy nor laity, but if we can submit ourselves more and more to God’s guidance in our daily life and take advantage of all the help that our church has to give 11s we shall in some degree approach to the vision of perfection given us by lluu who gave Himself for us.’’ 011 the motion of Mr. L. Meredith, seconded by Mr. A. (ileave the vicar’s report was adopted. The vestry’s report, published in Saturday’s issue, was submitted by Mr. A. E. I’yatt, and was adopted on the motion of Mr. T. Terry, seconded by Mr. W. Oakdcn. The balance sheet, on the motion of Mr. C. E. Robinson, was adopted. In the course of a. short discussion Mr. O. Blackburn called attention to the fact that rates totalled CIOO 13s and mig-

Rested that steps should be taken to have this amount lowered. Ihe position was explained by .Mr. G. G. Winter, bon. treasurer. OFFICERS ELECTED The election of officers resulted as follows:—Hon. auditor, Mr. D. 0 Hal- . ran; vicar's warden, .Mr. A. T. Coleman; people's warden, Mr. A. E. Hyatt. Canon Haul eulogised the services ot Mr. 11. G. Wellborn-no, who was reining from the position of church warden. He inferred particularly to his services in connection with tile Duplex fund. Mr. Black burn, in nominating Mr. l’yntl as people’s warden, said that only those on the vestry knew of the great amount of work .dll'. Pyatl had done for the church. He had camcd-out his duties faithfully and well, motion of Mr. T. "Ellery, the following vestry being then elected : Messrs. Oakden. "Paslev, Richards, Terry, Winter, ~s, Nelson, Nolan, Robinson and Well bourne. CHURCH FINANCE Discussing church finame, Mr. J.’yat.t ■aid that alter the special reference m tne reports to the matter of direct, giving, little further could be added on die subject, of raising money, for tho church. Tile (piesliou had been lolly disiiissui by tne vestry, which had agreed with" the vicar's submission that giving should be placed on a higher basis. He did not wish to cast any reflection on the services rendered b.y the ladies of tile church, but be considered that with faith ami prayer the church’s budget, could be balanced by direct giving.

He instanced the case of the Wanganui church which lmd introduced the system of an annual giving day. It was n question whether they should adopt such a plan or continue with the Duplex envelope system. Personally, he considered that they should go on with the Duplex system.' Tn the past, they had practically succeeded in balancing their budget by this means. There was no more obligation in connection with it than putting their collection in tinplate. It, only required a few more subscribers and they would succeed in meeting all the requirements of church finance. EXTENSION OF DUPLEX SYSTEM Mr. Pyutt also mentioned that all suburban churches had consented to the centralising of finance. He would like i to see committees formed with a view to obtaining more subscribers to the Duplex system. He moved that the Duplex system be extended and that a real attempt be made to balance the church budget mainly by this means. Some discussion ensued on the subject, Canon Hall stating that he had received a letter from Archdeacon Young, of Wanganui, urging them not to hold up their system as a pattern of church finance. He did not approve of their having one giving day a year and considered that weekly giving was more scriptural. Canon Hall pointed out that at the meeting held to consider the restoration of too church large sums of money had been promised, and he would like to see a number of those present that evening signify their intention to join tho Duplex movement. 110 considered that it was the right way to give to God, when viewed from any viewpoint. Tho manner in which subscribers were enrolled was explained by Mr. G. K. Pasley. It was explained by Canon Ilall that the system had been extended to the children’s church. Parishes that had given up their own methods of raising money and had adopted the system of direct giving had gone ahead with success. The possibility of quarterly giving days was suggested by Mr. P. Hockley, who inquired whether if, was not possible to have Duplex subscribers who were uon-chureh-goer.s. Mr. Wellbourne explained that most, if not all, of the Duplex subscribers were church-goers.

In supporting tho Duplex system, Mr. A. Andrews said that lie hoped the motion would be carried unanimously. Spasmodic giving was not businesslike, nor did it keep the parishioners in touch with the church. JIo trusted that they would be able to make up the money that they had previously received through the good offices of the Ladies’ Guild. Tho motion was carried unanimously. SOCIAL LIFEI OF CHURCH Canon Hall explained that it, was necessary for the social life of the church to have, various social functions and to this end he would like to see the meeting form a committee for this purpose. Such social functions would not be in aid of church funds. After further discussion, it was resolved, on the. motion of Mr. Robinson, that a social committee be formed from members of the various church organisations.

A motion agreeing to the centralisation of the finances, moved by Mr. Pyatl, was adopted. After a delightful supper, provided by the ladies of the church, had been partaken of, t.he proceedings concluded with several vocal items contributed by Miss Lois Davys and Canon Hall, the Rev. Air. Moresby presiding at • the piano.