CHURCH MEETING, TE AROHA.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1321, 16 December 1880, Page 2

CHURCH MEETING, TE AROHA.

Bishop Cowie, accompanied by the Rev. W. N. de L. Willis and the Rev. William Colder, arrived in Te Aroha on Tuesday afternoon. At the request of the BisliGp, steps were immediately taken to convene a meeting, which was held at 5 p. m, in the dining-room of O'Halloran's hotel. His Lordship, in taking the chair, said he had embraced the earliest opportunity of coming to see what steps could be taken to minister to members of the Church of England, of whom there were a large number on, the ground. He hoped the field would turn out all that was desired, but for the present it was sufficient to make temporary arrangements for holding services. The Rev. Mr Calder had already visited them, and had expressed his willingness to pay periodical visits. It was desirable that a committee should be appointed with whom communication might be held, and who would make the necessary arrangements for the services. It was the rule of the Church for the clergyman to appoint a churchwarden and the district to appoint another. The Rev. Mr Calder said x\lr Kenriok had kindly consented to act as his churchwarden, and on the motion of Mr H. Whitaker Mr Puckey was chosen to represent the district. The following gentlemen were then proposed and elected as members of the Committee :— Messrs T. G. Sandes, Lambert, Burgess, Denby, H. J. Turner, G. >S. O'Halloran, Jackson, David Morgan (native), and Adam Porter. Mr A. Porter said that as other ministers of various denominations would visit thorn it would be advisable to fix: the dates of the services so that they wou^d not clash with each other. The Rev. Mr Calder said he would be able to come once a month, on the Sunday nearest to full moon, and after some discussion it \\ as decided to hold the next service on January 9th, at 10.30 a.m. Some dibcusAiou took place as to the appointment of a lay-reader, but on the motion of Mr Kennek the matter was left in the hands, of the Committee. A cordial vote of thanks to the Bishop and clergymen for their early visit was carried with enthusiasm and briefly responded to by the Bishop, who stated that the work of the Church was so rapidly increasing that he was very rarely at home. A vote of thanks to Mr O'Halloran for the use of his room concluded the proceedings.