APPEAL FOR FUND OF £20,000

Southland Times, Issue 23693, 16 December 1938, Page 14

APPEAL FOR FUND OF £20,000

ANGLICAN DIOCESE GENERAL PURPOSES OF CHURCH An appeal for the establishment of a centennial thanksgiving fund of £2o,you to be used for general purposes m the Anglican Diocese of Otago and Southland was made by a delegation of Dunedin Anglican churchmen at a meeting in St. John’s Hall last evening. The delegation consisted of Dean Cruickshank, Dean of Dunedin, and Messrs A. H. Allen, W. E. Earnshaw, J. Simpson and W. D. Jenkin. Archdeacon J. A. Lush presided. There was a good attendance of clergymen and members of the church. Several parishes outside Invercargill were represented. Mr Earnshaw outlined several aspects of the appeal and said it.was proposed to mark the centenary of New Zealand in the Otago and Southland Diocese by establishing a Centennial Thanksgiving Fund of £20,000. He emphasized the need of a special tuna which could be devoted to the general purposes of the church. There several trust funds in the diocese, but there were no funds available for general diocesan purposes. In order to carry out the work of the church it was necessary to have funds, said Mr Earnshaw, but . at present the only way the Anglican Synod could obtain them was by way of an assessment on the various parishes. He thought the establishment of a thanksgiving fund to be known as a Central Endowment Fund would meet the needs of the diocese and afford some relief to the assessments made on the parishes. CONDITIONS OF CLERGY Speaking on behalf of the clergy Dean Cruickshank said that they did not pose as financial experts, but they were fully conscious of the troubles of the business man. He appealed for better conditions for the men who took up the work of the church. It was purposed t~ launch the appeal for one year only and the funds would be used for all general diocesan purposes. The Wellington Diocese was aiming at £300,000 to mark the centenary of New Zealand, and Christchurch ..-as asking for £25,000. He thought Otago and Southland would be able to do heir part. He reminded the meeting that the church was a Uivine body in: the world, but it must have humati means. Mr Allen outlined the organization of the appeal. Committees would be formed in each district, he said, and in January it was intended to hold a meeting in Dunedin of the chairmen of the committees ai.d the organizing committee, whose headquarters would be in Dunedin, and discuss plans. “It is a special appeal,” said Mr Allen. “We desire to raise the standard of efficiency in the diocese, but to do it funds are necessary,” he added. A general discussion followed and an indication was given by those present that the appeal would receive sympathetic consideration.