Wesleyan Church Carterton.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVIII, Issue 1749, 21 October 1885, Page 3

Wesleyan Church Carterton.

The Anniversary tea and public meeting in connection with the Wesleyan Church at Carterton, took place last evening in the Old Town Hall. The tables were well laden wth good things provided by the ladies of the congregation, and full justice was done to them by the visitors. The attendance was not so large as was expected, but that was due probably to so many people having been away from their homes lately visiting the Ex» hibition.

After the tea meeting a public meeting was held in the church, Mr H. Callistec in the chair, and Mr T. Weston leading the choir. The report of the financial position of the church was read by Mr Andrews, shewing very satisfactory results. The following is a synopsis of the report; The church was opened three years ago, then owing £IOO ; have since raised and have now in hand £26, which the committee confidently hope to increase to £6O this year, so as to pay off £6O of the debt. The balance can be borrowed from a con nexion fund for which no interest will be charged. Every pew m the church is taken and more sittings applied for ; the school accommodation is also too smal for the attendance and inadequate to ac commodate the scholars with comfort’ this defect they hope soon to be able to remedy by increasing the room. The committee heartily thank Miss Challice and Mrs G. Gordon the organists for the year and also the choir for their valuable services.

Mr Ward then addressed the meeting. He announced that a lady (Mrs Scott) would shortly arrive in the Wairarapa to carry o.i the work of evangelism. He impressed upon his hearers the urgent necessity for entering upon this work with great earnestness and vigor. In speaking of revivals he remarked that ,Mr Ward Beecher had said that prisons wore like a clock ; give them a start and they would go and keep going. There were scores in Carterton, perhaps, who seldom went into a church who would through these efforts be induced to seek salvation, for without such revivals the religious out look was a dark one ; without these revi vals they wovld be swamped by sceptic!; m, sucalled freethought. Already he found this evil penetrating the community, to an extent, and without they went out and preached the gospel in an earnest ;nd energetic manner, the inroads of this evil might become more serious. Some t .dd that they uid not understand wholesale conversions, but he did notseo why God could not save one thousand at once as well as one. Were there not 3000 sa\ed in one m ,Jerusalem. It had been remarked by sceptics that Cnristianity was all heart and no brains ; at any rate there was no warmth of feeling in Freethought; there was no heart in Freethought. It wasotherwise with Christianity; every reason there were false blossoms, but s* me blossoms resulted in fruit ; and did not fhe good far outweigh the evil ? What was the chaff' to the wheat ] saith the Lord. He believed revivals sometimes were attended with excesses ; there were excesses in the revivals of Luther’s day ; but look at the outgrowth of the attendant good. There were also excesses iu Knox’s day, but what was the main result: the churches of Scotland were filled, and numbers of souls brought to repentance and saved from the gloom and darkness of godlessness. He had received a telegram from the Rev Mr Thompson (Presbyter an) who regretted he could not attend. The speaker concluded with an earnest wish that all true men and women who loved their fellow creatures would use every exertion in assisting the great work of redemption, by attending the meetings of Mrs Scott who would arrive in Masteitou in about a week’s time. Let them travel to Mastertou or Grejtowu to assist at the great work in the Lord's vineyard. Mr Seth Hart said the Wesleyans of the district had commenced iu a revival, and he trusted they would continue reviving and would tiuiau with revivals; he had seen evidence of it everywhere in the Valley. At one time he travelled all the way from Greytown to Mastertou to preach to the people, and only met two. He had proceeded from Whangamoaua to Carterton and only found one dozen listeners ; but last Suuday there were 7U at Daletield listening to the Word of God, a place which a short time ago was without even a track, and unsafe to travel to iu the dark without a chance of getting a black eye through falling over a log. The speaker raid the Lord had done great things for theta and would do a great deal more if they only work earnestly. The Rev Mr Buttle expressed the pleasure he felt in hearing the satisfactory report, also to find the children were attending the school in J such numbers. They should endeavour to keep the children together with all the exertions in their power, for they were the Methodists of the future, and the religious impressions they received were never effaced. He referred to the Church meetings held at Belvedere, Daletield, Waihakeke and other places, and raid this village work would eventually feed ihe central congregations. The speaker said in referring to the coming visit of Mrs Scott, that men and women who have special gifts in the way of evangelism should be considered regardless of sex. Let them go out among all classes, if they could not reach the poorer classes iu their churches let them unite with me Salvation Army and all other good bodies in finding them in the streets ; let them reach all classes and strive to bring them to acknowledge and regard with due reverence the Ruler and Redeemer of the world. Mr Weal.a proposed a vote of thanks to the ladies. The local preachers and the chon, Uuic 1 was seconded by Mr Grigs and camel. Mr uaulton proposed a vote of thanks to the chair, which was seconded by Air Catt and unanimously agreed to.