Matawai.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume VI, Issue 9, 1 March 1916, Page 126

Matawai.

Vicar : Rev. J. Pigott. The new Vicar arrived m the parish on Thursday, January 27th. He was met by Mrs Fleming, who kindly provided him with .hospitality for the night, and Mr Cameron, who has been acting as lay mdssioner m the district under the VicaJf of Te Kanaka. We regret to state that Mrs Fleming is now m the Gisborne hospital seriously ill. Our prayers and sympathy are with her, her husband and family. On Saturday the Archdeacon of Waiapu arrived by the morndngi train to conduct the service of the institution on the following day. He inspected the Church site m the afternoon besides making the acquaintance of some of the parishioners. Mr Fleming kindly provided him with a horse, and .m the evening he rode on to the Motu, where he stayed the night with the Vicar at the hotel. Although hea/vy rain fell on Saturday evening, Sunday was comparatively fine a<nd we started the day with a Celebration of the Holy Communion m the Schoolroom at 8 a.m. a.t which there were seven communicants, the Archdeacon being Celebrant. At IT a.m. we had choral Matins, the Archdeacon preached and the Schoolroom was well filled. At 7 p.m. the Vicar was instituted to the newly-formed parochial district of Matawai. The Archdeacon conducted the service, gave a short address after the institution, and the Vicar preached at the end of Evensong. "We had a' very good congregation and the weather for Matawai was equally good. The Archdeacon was the guest of Mr and Mrs Ral de Latour that night, who kindly drove him over from the Motu. On Monday morning he left by the 7.40 a.m. train. We enjoyed having him with us and his addresses were a spiritual help to both the Vicar and the people. Rakaiuroa.— The parish is suffering a great loss by the impending departure of Mrs Shaw and family from Rakauroa. Mrs Shaw, for reasons of farrily health, has decided to leave Rakauroa m a few weeks' time for Gisborne. They are still keeping on the station, so we hope to see something of them from time to time. The Shaws have been devoted Church people and the mainstay of our ser-

vices at Hakauroa.' We shell miss them very much, but we shall always remember them, and trust they will be happy m Gisborne. Otoko.— This is quite a large settlement and the services ought to be good. There was a good congregation at the first service taken by the new Vicar, made up largely of the members of the different denominations, indeed, if it were not' for them, there would sometimes be hardly any service at- all. We have a good many Church of England people here, but there are very few communicants. It is only by obeying our Saviour's cominand<, " 3>o this m remembrance of Me," that we can hope for life m our Church work. We: trust that many of our own people will offer themselves for Confirmation. The Vicar has already enjoyed the kind hospitality of Mrs Hutchinson, Mrs Mac Lean, and also Mrs Bilham. We hope soon to have a Church committee m Otoko for helping forward everything m connection with our work. Services have been arranged as follows : — First Sunday m month : Sunday School io a.m., Matins II a.m., Holy Communion 12 ; Third Sunday m month, Sunday School 3.30 p.m., Evensong 7 p.m. Whakarau. — This is quite a small settlement, but there are a few- families who are a great help to our work, and we have arranged to have ' a monthly afternoon service at 2.^0 on the second Sunday m the month. Motu. — Here we haive what will some day turn out to be a pleasure and health resort. Even now Mr ■ Caultow's large new hotel is nearly always full up. Thanks to Mrs Buiby we have a bright hearty service here m the Schoolroom, but for the size of the place and the number of visitors staying there, Church attendance is very bad. Will Church people who are visiting Motu and may chanice to read these lines,- try and make a point of attending our services when we have them. We need a set of Communion linen a>t Motu ;■'• Miss Jennings has promised to work it if someone will be kind enough to present the linen. Toa Toa. — This is a thriving dairying, settlement between Opotiki and Motu. The Vicar went through there recently via Marumoko and Whitikau. Mr and Mrs Hening received him very hospitably and Mr Hening kindly drove Mm round and introduced -him to the settlers. Mr and* Mrs Pierrepoint were kind enough to put him up for the night. There are quite a number of Church families here, and there ought really to be regular services. For the present, however, we hope to have a service m the morning of the fifth Sunday when it occurs. This will mean only once a quartet , but it will be a start,

Parishioners' Meeting?.— The general meeting of parishioners was held on Thursday, February loth, m the Matawai Hall. Unfortunately, owing, to the races the train was late, and Mr Shaw, of Otoko, was unable to get up. Otherwise we had a representative meeting. The Vicar did not elect a warden.. Mr C. C. Ruby, of Motu, was elected people's Church warden, and the following are the members of the Vestry ".Messrs J. J. Emmerson (hon. sec), F. H. Burke, E. H. Morton, 0. Richmond (Motu), N. Shaw (Otoka). It was decided not to go into the matter of Church building for the time being, but to spend up to £55 in.' the erection of a cottage for the* Vicar. The meeting was quite of the opinion that £50 a year or more could be raised towards the General Church Fund m annual subscriptions, about £15 being already promised m the. room. Visit of Rev. J. W. Robinson.—T he Rev. J. W. Robinson, who was for two years stationed at Matawai, has been visiting the district. His many friends up here were glad to have this opportunity of meeting him again. He took the service at Matawai on Sunday evening, January 13th, and had a very good congregation.