Woodville.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 4, 1 October 1913, Page 55

Woodville.

Vicar : Itev. Canon Eccles. At the .annual meeting of Holy Trinity Church on August 31st, the Eev. Canon Eccles delivered the following interesting address : — " My Dear Christian Friends, — " This is the 22nd annual meeting since I was elected as your minister, and on the ;lst of this month of August I have served you 21 years. I have great reason to express my heartfelt thanks to Almighty God for His increasing kindness and forbearance towards me during that time. I am m duty bound, also, to acknowledge my indebtedness to one and all connected with the Church, and to every inhabitant of Woodville, for their great kindness to me and my family during the same long period. As our congregation today, with a few exceptions, is a very different one from what it was 21 years ago, .1 feel it my duty to give you a short history of our position and progress since then. No doubt to do this, even m a small way, will look like blowing one's own trumpet, but. this I cannot very well help. " In the first place, let me speak of the Church fabric. As is well known, it then stood down the Gorge road, almost opposite to where the swimming bath now is. I here present a photo of it as it then was. The one public entrance door had a post m the centre as well as the inside door, so it was impossible to follow the good old Christian custom of taking the bodies of the dead into the Church for the last service — and when a couple got married at the chancel steps they had to separate at the door going out into the world. " Then, m the next place, there was no proper chancel, nor a communion rail for old people to lean upon at Holy Communion. The back gable wall was boarded up only nine feet. Our Communion vessels consisted of a small glass cruet, a champagne glass did duty for a chalice, a white china plate as paten, and a white enamelled basin served as a font. The windows of the Church had never been painted, and from each of the top windows two ropes hung down. These were for the purposes of opening and shutting the windows for giving air or excluding it. Then the whole building was most unsteady, according to ttie strength of the wind at the time. "The vicarage had just been * built, and, as all the old members of the congregation will remember, it was

planted down m a bare paddock of: black stumps. The entrance gate was m. deep mud, and, the way of access was over the mud on wooden planks. " Now, m giving you this short detail of the, way matters stood 21 years ago, I have not one word of complaint .to utter against those who laid the foundations Of our Church m Woodville, and I feel perfectly grateful to each and all of them. Thej' are worthy of all honour, and I think I have given practical proof .of my appreciation m that everything that was m the original Church is m the present building— the last item being added this very week. The old totara beam on- which the bell was hung is now serving as a house block for the shelter-shed now m Course of erection. " Now that we are connected with the drainage, I think I can safely say we are pretty well complete; and we have every reason to feel very thankful for our splendid position. " There is just one other matter m connection with these early days that I mwst m justice refer to. The Church on its original site was one mile from the vicarage door. Weil, my faithful wife and Miss Emerson (the late Mrs. Smart) walked six miles every Sunday for seven ''years, winter and summer, to take part m the services of the Church. We have, thank God, good workers m our Church at the present time, but I think this record will compare favourably with our present excellent stall. " From this old picture we turn to a new and cheerful one. First, our Church has been removed to a very central and good site, and it has undergone a complete transformation. We have now three entrance doors, with a comfortable inside door. All our windows are of beautiful stained giass, and the frames have been painted: We have now a line chancel, with proper fittings, a tower for the bell, and a steeple which can be seen from far and near. The old oil lamps have given place to gas. Instead of one lectern we have now a pulpit and a nice carved lectern. The old Communion vessels — the glass cruet, the . champagne glass, and" the china plate— have given place to a beautiful silver flagon, chalice> . and paten. These were almost the gift of Earl Roberts, Field Marshal of England, through ihis niece, Mrs. Collie, for which we all feel most grateful. Then the enamel basin has given place, to a nice font, the gift of, our good friend,. Mr. Samuel Bolton.. All .our property is now, I think, the best Church property m Woodville. • Here let me state, for the benefit of strangers, that the greater part of this fine property was paid. for. by

the late Venerable.' Archdeacon Samuel Williams, and 1 think every member of the Church will agree with me that as the Archdeacon has not. only paid for the greater part of the, property, but was also one of the ; largest contributors towards the removal Of the Church, . his name ought to be perpetuated by a suitable tablet m the Cnurch. I wish also to remind our new friends that the late Rev. William Colenso gave me.. £100 towards the erection of the chancel, as a memorial to our late beloved Bishop Stuart, second Bishop of Waiapu. There, is another name which will always be remembered with gratitude, viz., Mrs. Maynard, mother of the late Mr; R. T. Clark, who was for some years People's Churchwarden of our Church. She gave the beautiful carved eagle lectern m memory of her son. I have a silver plate m Auckland to put on the lectern, but Mr. Tutenberg did not send it to me, as he expected me back m Auckland shortly after my first visit. It will be here shortly..- That leaves only two." brasses to be got. If the Ladies' Guild is successful with their forthcoming sale of work, and if there is any money left after paying for the drainage, I am sure they will hand it over to me for the above purpose. When this is done, I shall feel that 1 have finished my work amongst you. " Now, as you all know, and everybody else m the town, our Church property, as I think, is the best m Woodvilie. It is well fenced round ' with a laurel hedge inside, with four entrance gates, and a small gate for my convenience. We have also the beautiful Sunday schoolroom, which, according to Mr. Fielder, our good old Diocesan Secretary, is the best up-to-date Sunday schoolroom m the Diocese. It has water and gas laid on, and all other necessary furniture, aiid now that we are connected with the drainage, I think. I can safely say we are pretty well complete, and we have every reason to feel very thankful for what we have been enabled to accomplish. "I come now. to the vicarage. We have gone on improving m a slow way.. All our black stumps are gone. We have plenty of nice shrubs., and big trees, and by the kindness of the Ladies' Guild, who have taken m hand the drainage, which is now •complete, pur vicarage- is most comfortable, and m every way worthy of a better, occupant. . " I am' sure y©u will r excuse me for not praising any one m particular connected with the- Church, as all' ha\<e worked well together during the past. Allow me; ; to say that ■ I think, if there was a little more energy, put into the work of the Church, and there is no reason why

Holy Trinity- Church should not. flourish even more m the future than., it has done m, the past. That it. should do so is my heart's deepest, desire. . . • „ • "I shall now give you a few items, which I think will be interesting. When I came to Woodville m 1892,. the number of Communicants was. put down at 30. In the whole district to-day our purged roll . gives. 130. There have been , baptised by me, adults and infants, ;40Q ; young, people confirmed, 124 ;• marriages by me, 91, and by other clergymen ,14,:. making m all- 105. The Church offer-' tbry m) 1892 was £53 17^. ; m. the year now past it was £113. In< all the 21 years I have only disappointed the Woodville congregation on two occasions, once when our little boy died, which happened on a Sunday, and the other on the 10th of this month. I am free to confess; that during the past year, through, poor health, I have not fulfilled my duties as I should liked to have done ; at the same time, 1 must say that no important duty has ever been neglected by me.. . ■'" I have just two more items to. refer to, and then I have done. Thehistory of Holy Trinity Church isunique, and I think without an. equal' m this respect, that during the past.. 21 years we have had a fairly. good choir, and without a single quarrel all that time ; and the same can besaid .of our Veslry, To God's gracious mercy be all the praise. "In the next place, during the 21 years now passed a good deal of money has been collected to complete the works 1 have alluded to, but I am thankful to say that Mr. Burnett, with the assistance of my private records, could .account for every shilling, and would be glad todo so m order to satisfy any onewho might be curious to know. All our debts on Church, Sunday school, • and vicarage are paid, . and we start our new year with only a small overdraft on the Vestry account, which I hope will shortly be wiped out. Then we shall be perfectly clear of all debts, and when that takes place, if spared to see it, we will then rejoice together fully. . " I .will now conclude with thewords of S. Paul, ' Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus — that great Shepherd of the sheep through theblood of the everlasting covenantmake you perfect m every good work, working m you that which is wellpleasing m His sight through Jesus Christ, to wiho'm be glory p for ever and ever; — Amen.' " After the meeting, Canon Eccles was presented with a. purse of sovereigns by the ladies of theGuild. ■■ =' ■ ■■> •-