ASHBURTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1461, 20 January 1887, Page 2

ASHBURTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

+ The annual congregitional meeting wag eld last night m the Ohnrob. There w»i a ood Attendance, and those p<*(?senfc having liapnaed of a capital t?a provided by hhi laiiios of the conijregntion, the bnsiloaß of the evening w\« proceeded with. ?hu t ffiocrs of i he Ohuroh submitted their eporti with reg^d to the work done In iag the year. T'\e Rev Mr Bsattie, m giving the re)ort o( the Charoh Sesiion, began by xpre*siug thinks and praise to God for arterial and v irlrnal blessings. To maet \ great nead two additional elders were ileoted at the bettiouiog of the year, vho had been a very great help to him n his work. He thought it was desirable ;■•> appoint two elders for Wakanui at an urly date, and also additional elders for \shbucton. He referr»d with thankfali«*B to the work of £rao« going on at Wakasui, the mc. eased interest m splri* ;ual ma'turs there, the wo«k-night ser* nc^s reoently established and the satisFaotory atate of the Wakanui Sabbath School. The good old phn of hearing »nd a king questions, adopted at the Wednesday night services at Afthburton, liad proved a gratifying sneoeas. Tho ittendanoa at the last Communion was the largest ninoe hts coming to Ashbnrton. On behalf of the Session he thanked the eholr, and espea'ally tho organist, for the good work done by them. There being an opportunity of obtaining the ■ervloea of IVIr Dnnoan Wright, for evangelistio work m Aohburton and Wakanal, he wuhed to know the mind of the congregation hereon. Mr Beattie conoluded by expressing thankfulness to God for kls sparing meroles daring the p*st yetr, and with warm desires for sympathy and mutual help amongst members of tht congregation. The Treasurer reported that In spite of the monetary depression the finances of the Ohnroh were m a healthy state. The Obnrch collections showed a steady in* crease, and the ladle j, for the Maintenance Fund, had oolleoted the largest amount that had been raised since tha fund was started Owing to the great inclemency of the weather, the annual soiree, although a zroat success m other respects, was not financially so suooesstal as usual. The extta Maintenance Fund showed results creditable to the congregation. The pressure of other daims caused, m 1880, a deGotency of £75 m the Minister's stipend, whioh.defioienoy had continued up to the present year. Tro donations, amounting together to £25, having been promised m case the balance were raised at once, the Finanoa Ooumittee resolved to make a special effort f>r this purpose Tae members ot tie Ohuroh lesponded liberally, and the amount, collected exceeded expectations, more than the sum requited being railed. The financial result of this year was that the deficiency of £85 that existed last year had been cleared r-ff and that this year was begun with a balance to credit. The best thanks of the Committee were due to the ladies who provided for the annual soiree, the lady collectors of the Maintenance Fuad, the collectors of the extra Fund, and all others who had helped by contributions or work. The Suaday School Tejohera* report was read as follows:— Although during the year , we hava be n unfortunate m losing tha services of some of our fellow taaohers, still ther^ are others able and , willing to take their p aoes. The atten- ', donee has been very good- There are 124 children on tin mil; the average attendance is about 77; the highest attendance was 101. The p-esent staff of teachers is 1> ia number— 6 ladles and 9 gantlemen. This number appeared to be sufficient for the work, as there appaared to hi a marked improvement m the discipline of the school Affairs financially are m a satisfactory conditton The following were elected as a Finance Gommlttpe: -- Messrs W. Bixtar, D Williamson, C Hogg, J. OuchfAne, G. Kidd, G. Lamb H. W Barrett, fct. Koir, J. L. Brown, J. K>.ir, B. MoOallum, Hepburn, A Webster and H> Grubb. It was unanimously resolved to invite tho Rev Mr Wright to conduot evangaliatio services at Ashburt>nand Wakanui. During the evening musioal pieces were rendered by the choir and vocal and instrumental items were given by Misses Kidd, Orr and Oliver Mr Webster and Master McU»Unm.