ST. MARY'S ANGLICAN CHURCH GERALDINE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 3469, 22 July 1899, Page 3

ST. MARY'S ANGLICAN CHURCH GERALDINE.

A well attended meeting of parishioners I of St. Mary's Anglican church, Geraldine, was held in the old church building on Thursday afternoon, presided over by the Eev. Staples Hamilton. There were several ladies present. The Eev. Hamilton said he was pleased to meet such a good number of parishioners, because it showed that they were takiDg an interest in the affairo of the church. It was unnecessary to lay before them his thoughts with regard to the proposal to errect a new vicarage, etc., as he had gone fully into the matter at the recent social gathering, but he would ask Mr M. C. Orbell to move certain motions of which he had given notice. Mr Orbell asked if the vicar had made an estimate of what his scheme would probably cost the parish. Mr Hamilton said he was not an expert in such matters, but his idea was that they should try to raise a fund in the parish of £6OO, and in addition to that they should sell the present vicarage at a fair price. Altogether he thought they ought to raise quite .£1,050 and more if the vicarage sold well. Of this money he would spend £650 on the new vicarage, about .£250 on a new school room, and .£l5O in removing the old church from Geraldine to Orari and fitting it up. With regard to the £OOO, he thought they could easily raise half of that amount by subscriptions spread over two or three years. At Leeston —a small place where he was once stationed —they raised .£250 in two or three months, and surely Geraldine could raise £3OO. Another .£250 could be borrowed from the Church Property Trustees, and money might otherwise be raised by means of a parish fete, sales of work, gift auctions, etc. Mr M. C. Orbell thought that the raising of £IOOO or £llOO was rather a large undertaking for the parish to embark upon, seeing that they had already decided upon a new departure, which meant the raising of a larger sum annually than they had ever raised before. He did not think that there was any need to immediately carry out the proposals made by Mr llauiiltou, especially in regard to erecting a new building in place of the old church. He was quite sure the parishioners would see the proposals carried out as they could, but not at present. He thought the first thing to bi done was toerect a new vicarage. He moved therefore—" That tlio Church Property Trustees' consent be obtained to sell the vicarage with 20 acres of laud attached, either by private treaty or public auctions, the reserve price to be £ ; possession to be given to the land—excepting the front paddock, and garden—on completion of the sale, the vendors reserving the right to retain possession of the vicarage for a period not exceeding 0 months from the date of sale." Mr G. J. Denniatoun seconded the resolution, which was carried unamously. Mr Orbell next moved " That the Church Property Trustees be asked to inform the vestery what portion of the purchase money —if the property is not sold for cash—they will allow to remain on the security of the property, and at what rate of interest." Mr Dennistoun seconded the resolution.

A discussion followed, opened by Mr Ensor, as to whether it was not proper to insist upon the purchaser paying cash and making his own terms for borrowing money else wis ere.

Mr Orbell reminded the meeting that the property belonged to the Church Property Trustees, and as the question was immaterial he would withdraw the resolution with the consent of the seconder. This was doue.

Mr Orbell then moved " That the vestry arrange with the Church trustees to commence building the new vicarage on the present site of the old church or other convenient position as soon as the present vicarage is sold." Mr Dennistoan seconded the resolution.

The Rev. Mr Hamilton mentioned that he had inspected two properties at the north end of the town, which were under oiler, but neither of them was suitable for the vicarage. One property stood on only half an acre of land.

Colonel Moore said that with the half acre referred to by Mr Hamilton the owner had pointed out that two sections adjoining could possibly be obtained, which would increase the land to about an acre and a half. The piice would be about .£2OO less than the cost of erecting a new vicarage, but if the vicar would sooner have the vicarage on the Church ground there would be no need to consider outside offers.

Dr Hislop asked if there was room on the Church ground to build the vicarage without removing the old church ? Mr Hamilton replied that they could squeeze the house in, but it would not be advisable to do that.

Mr Bartrum would be very sorry to see th 9 old church shifted. He had looked round the church ground and thought there was plenty of room for a house. It would entail a lot of needless expense to shift the old church and replaster it, put it on a new foundation, and so forth. Mr Shiers said the church ground was one acre and a-ha'f and 25 perches. The resolution was here put and carried.

Mr Orbell next moved " That the cost of the new vicarage, with outbuildings, fences, etc., shall not exceed the sum of £650." Mr Dennistoun seconded the resalution. Mr W. Shiers said that the old church was about 45 years old, and he failed to see the ultility in pulling it down. He would let it- stay where it was. He had heard it suggested that the tower should be left as a memorial,but if they did that the tower would simply be blown down with the wind. He failed to see the force of pulling down one building to erect another in its place. The Rev. Mr Hamilton reminded the parishioners that the old church was a consecrated building, and as snch was worthless for parish purposes except as a Sunday school, and it was inferior for that. He came to the parish to work, and in order tu do a successful work amongst the young ho wanted a building in whtch they coultfrneet for social as well as religious purposes. He was anxious to have the implements in his hands to do the work he had in view. He wanted to form classes for young people, and a guild, etc. As to the question of whether the old building would stand removal, he mentioned the case of an old church building he had known to have been removed from the mouth of the Rakaia to Methven, and there was not even a crack in the plaster when it reached its destination. He had hopes of stripping the plaster and taking out the cob in the walls of the old church at Geraldine to facilitate its removal to Orari, where the people were mostly of the poor 'class, and were badly in need of a place of worship. Mr Shiers remarked that it would be impossible to get the building over the Geraldine bridge unless it was taken to pieces. The resolution was carried.

Mr Ensor moved— •* That a competent opinion be taken as to whether the old church building can be removed to Orari, and the provable cost of removal." Mr W. Hawke seconded the resolution, and said he believed the building could easily be shifted to Orari, and the bridges could be negotiated by taking down the handrail.

Mr Bartrum thought if they had plenty of money they might do all that Mr Hamilton had proposed, but in his experience he thought that a school room was a convenient enough place for church at Orari ; in fact, at a schoolroom they would get together people from several denominations And what guarantee had they that the church would be kept in repair, as instance the cise of the Pleasant Valley church, which was falling into decay ? Mr Hamilton did not agree with Mr Bartrum. His experience was that people would attend a church better than a school room. . Mr Shiers said tliey could remove the chrrch if they took it to pieces, and in that case it would cost more than it was worth. The resolution was carried.

Mr Hamilton intimat,d that he waf prepared to give towards the fund to carrying out his proposals, and he trusted others wouldfgive substantial sums. Mr J W. Pye was inclined to think there was room for the vicarage <m the church ground, and he moved " That the> vicarage be erected on the present, site of tho church ground." Colonel Moore seconded tlie resolution. Mr Dennistoun suggested that the building be removed to anotner part of the church ground and be enlarged to double its present size, instead of removing to Orari. ~.11. i j The Rev. Mr Hamilton said that would never do. The building was a consecrated one, and could never be used for other tha religious purposes. Mr Pve asked what the Orari people were prepared to give for the old church. The Kev. Mr Hamilton said he did not intend to place ono part of the district against another in this matter. He intended to have one general fund for doing all the work of erecting vicarage, removing old church, and erecting school room. Mr Hawke pointed out that the Orari people had given the section for the church at Orari, and had always subscribed to Geraldine funds.

la reply to Mv Orbell, jnr., Mr Hamilton said that, Orari, being a poor district, he would apply for help for their church from outside churches, and might get £SO in this way. Mr A. H. Orbell suggested moving the old church a few yards from its present position to make room for the vicarge. The resolution was carried.

On the motion of Dr Hislop, seconded by Mr F. Burn, it was agreed to get a competent opinion as to whether the old church can be removed a few yards to enable the vicarage to be built. Mr Barklie, jnr., thought Mr Hamilton's scheme the right one, and believed it was only a question of time when it would be carried out. But the parish was not prepared to raise money for all the proposals at one time.

Mr Hamilton said the £6OO could oxtend over as many years as they liked, but he ought to get his buildings at once. Colonel Moore moved, and Mr M. C. Orbell seconded—" That the question of moving tho old church to Orari and building a new schoolroom be left until the new vicarge is built and paid for, and that subscriptions be. asked for and a fun I started for carrying out the work at once, and that any surplus be carried to a fund for the shifting of the old church and building a schoolroom." Personally, he, as treasurer, was not prepared to go in for such a large amount of debt at once.

Mr Hamilton said from his point of view lie would sooner go without the vicarage for a year or two and have the new school room, but Colonel Moore pointed out to him that he would then have more tramping from the vicarage to town than he had already. Mr Hamilton further said that he wanted to start a yonng mens' club and have a gymnasium of some sort for them in the schoolroom. Mr Ensor moved an amendnenfc to the motion—" That the old church be moved to Orari, and a new schoolroom be erected at Geraldine before a vicarage is built." Mr Mason seconded the amendment, which was lost. The meeting then terminated.