PARISHIONERS' MEETING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1817, 17 April 1888, Page 3

PARISHIONERS' MEETING.

The annual meeting of the parishioners of St. Stephen's ABhbarton, vras held In the ohoroh schoolroom last evening. There was a fair attendance, and the chair was occnpledby the Incumbent, the Eev E. A Scott.

After the meeting had been opened, th rev. Chairman addressed thosu present After a few Introductory remarks he aai that daring the year juat passed tfiere ha been 36 Sunday oelebratiocs of Hoi OommnnloD, as ogsirßt 34 duiin the previous year, and the ge^er: Average attendance had risen { om 18 8 to 21 50. Hla record did not give th actual number of ct mmunicarjts m t!i congregation, bot it was' about 160. A first sight this seemed encouraging — h did not Bay it was not bo — bnt there wa one very aerioua element to be taken int account, viz., that there was not a prope proportion of men to women, and h doubted If there were more than fifty fiv oat of the whole number who were men It was true that thla was no worse thai other parishes, and perhaps better thai gome, nevertheless he felt very strnngl; that m religion, as m moat other things men ahonld be the leaders. Doriog tin yeirhehad instituted an occasional erenin* Communion which was intended for thosi persons such as mothers of families whc were unable to attend the earlier celebra tlone. Twenty-three persons were confirmed daring the year just past, as against nine m that previous. Here again he bad tc point out that of these twenty-three persons only six were males, a matter sorely for seriooß consideration. Baptisms numbered seventy-five, as against forty-seven m the previous twelve months. Seven eoaples had been married m St, Stephen's Church, as against four m the preceding year, There was a curious objection m the minds of many persons to being married In the church. The privacy of the home was preferred, and as private marriages were against the whole idea of the prayer book, many members of the Church weie married by the ministers of other denominations . fie would be glad te see a revival cf the old custom of the publication of banns which seemed to him to be a kindly and courteous intimation to the congregation with which the batrothed persons worship of their intentions. The Sunday Schools were flourish ing,* that which met m St Stephens' Schoolroom and which he superintended cumbered 173 children as against 151 m the previous year. Ninetyfour were boys and 79 girls. The Hampstead School, which was under the management of Mrs Scott had' Increased from 81 to 112, 50 being boys and 62 girls. Thus the total number of 'scholars was 285 against 232, 144 being boys and 141 girls. He tendered the teachers who assisted Mra Scott and himself his hearty thark?, and pointed out to the meeting the self-sac'rifica involved to many of them who were busily engaged during the week and gave cp so laiga a portion of their well earned leisure. Mr Scott then made a few remarks m regard to the congregations. The evening rervica was generally exceedingly we'll attended, but he cculd not say as muoh cjncernk'g the morning service, and he hoped that he would see fuller congregations m future. Tbe offertories for the year had risen from £164 10s 4d to £224 9j 45. The general increase was In part due to the envelope system, through which £85 7a 2i has been contributed. At the Sepfisld services. whioh were now vtry well attended, £6 14) 4d was collected, moro than rionblo the amount of the previous year. While ■peaking of Seatield, ho gladly took tho opportunity of acknowled^icg tho afuistance of hia 3ay-re3der, Mr Marnuduke Red may ne, who had throughout tbe year conducted a monthly Bervice. j Although doring the past year there hid i been 50 burials as against 28 m that preceding, death had taken no one frointhtm who had been prominently engaged m Church work. They had, bewever, kist more than one ac'ltfe worker by removal from the district Mr and Mrs Dimant would be missed m many ways by tbe vestry and choir. In Miss Gates, Mlas Helen Barrett, and MtS3 Annie Gates the oboir had lost members whom it would ba very h»rd to replace. He referred to the necessity of more corporate life m the congregation ; to foster thia a communicants guild had heen formed. The " Pariih Magazine ', which was founded In January last and had now a circulation ot 250 oopies might also tend m tho same direction. Possibly an occasional congregational meeting having for its object, not parish business, but the discussion and consideration of higher matters would be of some service ; but this was m tbe future, and for the present they mu3t rely on classes, meetings at:d guilds to deepen that corporate life which he thought was so great a necessity m the Ohuroh of God. Tho J*ev Chairman claied hia address with a fen remarks fippropriite to the occasion, The Churchwardens' report was read as follows : — It is with satisfaction thi»t the Cburchwardensiubrnit toparishlonera their annunl statement of accounts. For nine long years the debt on St. Stephen's Church has been a great burden to tho parish, and it has frequently been a mv.ter of much difficulty to provide for the regular payment of the sinking fund aod interest. However, after a hngthy struggle and much persevecenc3 the building debt has been entirely paid off, and to-cUy the church property is freci of enoarabrancD. This is indeed a matter cf sincere congratulation. To tha lad it sof tho parish the Churchwardena^and Vestry desire to Under their most grateful acknowledge menta for the assistance rendered by them, and the active interest taken m tho debt extinction fund. The money collected and otherwise provided by tho ladies' committee or working party reaches the large sum of £124 lla, rb shown m the statement on the other side. Had it not been for the timely assistance offered by the ladies when help was co much needed tbe Churchwardens would pot have been able to present this favorable report. Ths mode of collecting money now known as the envelope system has been m operation during the year. The repult of the trial is such that a contlnnanpe of the Byatem is strongly recommended. Tbe liabilities of the parish now consist of bank overdraft, £220, and £57 10b, overdue stipend. The Ohnr.-h officers would very much like to see thia latter sum paid off, and In future that the Btipend be paid regularly. All subscriptions and offeitories now being received are applied m payment of Btipend. The services at Soafield continue to be well attended, and the offertories for the year have more than doubled those of last year. The church officers again deslro to express their gratitnr'e to the members of the choir who, ur<?»r tho leadership of Mr Horace Gates, have rendered faithful and effective sorv'ca to tho church. :> The balance-sheet showed the total receipts for the year to havo been £496 ?>i 3d. An amount of £175 15j had been raised towards tha extinction of the dobt on the churcb, and that debt waa now entirely paid off Mr Jameson, who read the report and balance sheet, referred to the satisfactory state b» the finances of tho pariah. Tha predlfc of exiinguiahiag tho building debt was entirely due to tho Incumbent and the ladies who had worked hard assisting him, Mr Beau moved the adoption of the report and bahnca-aheet, wljich was satisfactory m every respect, oxcopt In regard to the stipend, whioh ought to be a first consideration. Mr Bollock seconded the motion. Mr Jameson explained that the Incumbent himself had desired that tho other debts should be paid off before the balance of hJo stipend was paid.

The report and balatioe-aheet wei adopted. C MPLIMENTARY. Mr Billcck proposed a vote cf than! to the lad?B3 who had oolleoted the larg sam of £124 towards the extinction c the debt on the cburch. The motion was unanimously carried. Mr Bean proposed a vote of tharka t s -the choir. Secondtd by Mr Kneon an • ; carried unanimously. J Mr Mayo pnpoaed a vole of thanks t 1 tho lay readers of tho piriab. 7 Dv Trevor seconded tha motion whic was carried unanimously. A unanimous voto of thankß wag, oj the motion of Mr Littleoott, pas3sd ti Mrs Scofct and the ladies who had under taken the decoration of the chnrch. Oa the motion of Dr Trevor, secondet by Mr Jameson, a hearty vote of thank wt»B passed to the Sunday school teaohera A hearty vote of thanks was, on tin motion of Me M*yo, accorded to Mi Oraen, who had formerly kept m ordei the church grounds. Mr Bollock proposed a vote of. thauki to the Oharch wardens and Veßtry, whicl was seconded by Mr H. Gates and carried, THE PRIMATE. Mr Jameson moved "That th: parishioners of Aehbvrton desire to express their regret that m consequence o< infirmity and great a^e, his Lordship the Primate sees it necessary to resign his important and sacred effico." Dr Trevor seconded the motion. He did not think any man who had ever been m Canterbury had more thoroughly gained the esteem of all classes than the Primate. The Rev Chairman having briefly Bpoken, the motion waa. unanimously carried, OFFICERS. Mr Jameson wad re-aopointed clersymnng' Churchwardan. Mr J. Bland was on the motlou of D? Trevor, re-elec'.ed parishioners Churchwarden. Messrs Lfttleoott, Mayo, J. Curcis, FeltoD, Paul, Thomas and Kneen were elected Vestryman. AN rXPLANAT<ON. Mr Bean eaid that he desired to make a personal explanation. It had gona forth tba 1 . he Intended moving a proposition at that meeting, and he would hava dene so had it not been m deferanca to the Rev Chairman's wishes. Ha took this* opporluniiy of making an explanation as he felt it was due to himself and those who thought with him. As the Chairman knew, it was m deference to his wiabos that tha proposition wai not brought forward, and it waa not dua to lack of moral courage od his (Mr Bean's) park but he hai too muoh respect for the Rev, Chairman to cause him snnoyanoe In any wiy. At the snraa time he reserved to bimsslf tha right of acting m some other manner at a futare time. The Chairman said ha was glad Mr Bean had deferred to his wishes. He had no wish to stop free discussion among the Churoh members, but he hardly thought a meeting sach as that wbb, was a proper place to coislder a proposal sach as he knew Mr Bean bad contemplated to bring forward. THE EKVEIOPE STSTTM. Mr L'ttlecott explained the working of the envelope system by which during the past year about £100 had been realised. The>-Q was no reason why the system ehould not be extended, and hs thought It pejfectly feasible for the stipend to be paid by means of it. There we?e now about fifty subscribers, and ho did cot see why tha number Bhould not be increased to at Je^st 100, He moved " that this meeting endorse the desirability of continuing the envelope system nd th-.-t ths Va?.try be rcqaesleJ to ex'eud the ayetem as mack ai possible The Chairman B»iJ 'ha*; there, wai cue obj-jctljn to the nyotem^, sb when there were BpFc'sl offertori-s, the o^j c v . for wh/c'i tbesa w_-ra prcm>to^ nuft.-nd He brought this under the notice r.f (ho congregation so that whan thore was a special offeitory they WDuld not allow it to suff-.c. The motion was carried. CHURCH GROUNDS. It was resolved, ou the motion of Mr Ferriman, that tha ir.cjmtrjg Vestry should ba reqaestad to takd steps to keep m order the choroh grounds Tha usual ojmpliraant to tbe chair oondaded the prrceedings.