PARISH MEETINGS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18370, 1 May 1925, Page 12

PARISH MEETINGS.

ST. MARK'S, OPAWA. The annual meeting of parishioners was held) on Tuesday, April 28th. The report showed tl»at much had been accomplished during the year. Tho most notable events wore the building of a room as St. Martins for Sunday and church purposes, and the gift of an openair schoolroom by the Association of the Lovo of God. The residents of St. Martins o'liad given £79 towards the cost of building during tho year. The room would be -dedicated on Sumky, May 17th, by the Commissary. The open-air school was built on tho vicarage property, and an acre of land had been set aside for the children. Sister Eleanor was. the principal, and a eatiefaci tory start' had already been made. Substantial help had been given by sympathisers and "keen interest ( existed. The dedication ■would take 'place on Saturday, May 9th. Special mention was made of the work.that liad;,been done by the Guild in renovating the vioaragey and in many other ways. All the organisations of the parish seemed to Ibe in ' a promising . position. The Church ■was built in 1865. The festival had already been celebrated, but a tea meeting would be held'Sn a few weeks' time to commemorate the. sixtieth anniversary, when it was hoped that many old-time parishioners would attend. •Tho statement of accounts showed a credit balance of £5 14s Bd. Altogether £Bl4 fiad been given to meet the needs of the Church: , Mr 0. J. "Willis was nominated vicars ■warden. Mr J. Goddard was elected parishioner*' warden. The following were elected vestrymen:,—Messrs Clayton, Copeland, Furze, Harrington, Fullwood, 'Williams, "Wil-, Icinson. Pierr. Brydges-Joneri} and Cox. . t A vote of thanks was passed to the Association of the Love of God for its gift to tho -narish of a schoolroom for its day . nchool, and to the Rev. H. O. Hanby for his Jjentcn addresses. Yotcs of thinks were passed to the church workers, of the parish. ST. JOHN'S, WOOLSTON. There was a crowded attendance at the annual, meeting of St. John's Church, "Wooleton on "Wednesday evening, the Vicar (Eev. H. 0. Hanby) being in the chair. V , The wardens' report stated that the year had been one of progress in all departments, the attendances at service being better, the finances stronger and the, church property much improved. They attributed this largely *■> to the' adoption of the envelope method of finance, appreciation of Mr J. Purchas' management of this fund being expressed. Improvements costing, £223 had been made, including tho complete re-roofing of the Church, the installation of eleotrio light and electric organ blower, and the enclosing of the ohurch porch. Warm JSanks were accorded to Mr It. Saunders for his honorary services as organist, reference to his recitals before service being greeted with applause. Thanks were also expressed to Mr W. M. Gosset for his voluntary attention" to the 5 church grounds. The .balance-sheet showed a revenue of £ 194, Of which £l6O was loan money, ,£l6f offertories, £59 donations to roofing; fund; expenditure included £223 on improvements, £3B for loan charges, £IOO proportion of stipend) leaving a credit balance, of £l7. Pleasure was' expressed by the auditors (Messrs Godfrey and Franklin) careful keeping of "the accounts-by Mr J. Barwick. The trustees of the new Church Building Fund (Mrs Barwick and Mr J. lliingworth) reported that it stood at,£24o. Tho Social < Committee reported that £lO earned by ' the. fortnightly socials had been expended on the church property in permanent .improvements. The vicar's report alluded to the imprpve- ■ ment'in tho attendance at service, especially at Holy Communion, the last Easter com- • iminions , made being a record numbor. • Twenty-two persons had received Confirma- " • tion. . The Sunday School had more than doubled in membership, and the teaching staff now numbered about, 20. Miss' C. "Wright replaced Miss A. Gofton as superintendent of the Sunday Kindergarten. -<oy ■Scout .and Wojf. Cub troops had been formed; under'Mr J. Turner and Mr Carter respectively.; with a total membership of about 60. The clrurch's ministry had been extended ( -' by the .holding of a- regular Weekly Sunday evening service in the "Woolston Band Hall. Reports were given by officials of the Mothers' Union and G.F.S., indicating increasod memberships and flourishing "conditions: Mr D, Lingard was re-nominated by the vicar as Bishop's warden, with applause, Mr F.: B. Daniel being elected parishioners.' warden, and Mesdamea Johnson, F.'B. Daniel, M. Day and Messrs F. J.'Bromley,- J Dryden, "W. M. Cosset, S. Gondie, S. "W. Reid, and G. Thomson as vestry. Messrs Godfrey and Franklin were re-appointed auditors and were accorded thanks for their thorough audit. Thanks wero also accorded' Messrs Saunders, Gosset, G. Chattaway," the , Sunday School toachers, and other committees for their services. . The meeting concluded in an unorthodox way with "musical honours" for the vicar. OXFORD. The annual meeting of the four congregations of the Oxford parochial district was held in tho Coronation Hall, Oxford', on / "Wednesday .night, the vicar (the Rev. B. G-. iFox) presiding over a good attendance of parishioners. Th« balance-sheet showed a credit of £7B and the pariah Was sow free of debt, there 1 being no liabilities. Earing the year the 'remainder of tho debt on Si, Mary's Church, Cooper's Creek, had been paid; about £BO * had been epent' on tho ohurch properties. j' and over £4O hid been contributed to foreign ' missions. Owing to tho epidemic there had - been a falling off in the morning oorgregaf, tions, but on tho other hand there had Been , a distinct improvement in the' attendance J at services. The work of the v 'Sunday Schools had also 'suffered greatly i through tho epidemic,- but had been very ' encouraging in tho earlier pari of the year. ''waSChereV.flad been » aatiefactory number of * communicants, especially at Easter, when .tnora want nearly MM communicants. Dur-

ing the year nine persons had been confirmed, there had been sixteen baptisms, six burials, and two marriages. The election of church officers for the ensuing years resulted: —Bishop's Warden, Mr Geo. ."Winter; people's warden, Mr E. Skurr; secretary and, treasurer, Mr AV. FuldseTh; vestry, Messrs P. Fisher, Geo. Kyde, R. J. Southgate, A. Cleeve, H. Prichard, Percy Englebrecht, J. Forbes, F. Meyer, E. C. Thornton. C. Stevenson,.H. Thompson, Geo. Smith, Seo. Cross, E. Buckeridge, and J. S/kurr. Votes of thanks were passed to the lay readers (Messrs P. Fisher,' Horrell, and Somerset), and to the Sunday Sch4ol teachers, organists, verger, and the ladies of the congregations. ST. LUKE THE EVANGELIST. Tho annual meeting of parishioners of the Church of St. Luke the Evangelist was held in. the schoolroom last evening, .Archdesveon F. N. Taylor presiding over a good attendance. * f ' ' The churchwardens' report stated, inter alia, that they had been unable to close the. general account satisfactorily this'year, though tho position was • somewhat better than the ririnted figures showed. Offertories towards geiieral expenses liad declined by £46, due to bad weather and the recent epidemic. Donations showed a decrease of • £}22, but £2O had since been collected. The amount raised by special offertories, etc., for missions hud increased by .£29, the total noiv being £252. The new building was opened by Archbishop Julius, on November 9th, and had proved a groat boon to the children and young people. The amount owing 1 oh the. building fund account was £IOO, against which they had £2l 18s 7d. The vicar's report stated that the prohibition of children's attendance at church and Sunday school for three months had: involved a serious loss to the children and had had a perceptible effect, on the year's finances. The newly-formed, St. Anne's Committee hnd been very successful in its first year's work. There was n- growing recognition of the fact'that the Cliurch existed for the 'Service, of the community as_ a • whole* and from the Church's point of view it might seem odd that people who did nothing, and gave nothing, for the support of the Church should, without hesitation, come to the Church for help in time of need. But the Church would not have it otherwise. The English Church was, traditionally, the friend of the nation.

-Reports from various church organisations were read and adopted. The election of officers resulted ns -follows:—Vicar's warden, Mr L.. J. Darwin; people's warden, Mr G. V. "Worthington; vestry Messrs H.. G. Galbraith, G. Rich, J. Collins, H. Turton,-G. li. Campbell, H. -E. -Booker, S. Stewart, F. H. Banfield. C. V. Lee, and D. Hoare; auditor, Mr R. J. McLaren: representatives on the Council of Christian Congregations, Mrs H.- D: Andrews, Miss Hiatt, and Mr J. Andrews; Ladies' Committee, Mesdames H. D. Andrews. Allan. Ellis. Roner. Pvne. Lee, and Miss Clunio. At the conclusion of the meeting, supper was dispensed by tho ladies of the church and' 3 short musical programme was given. st. ;matthews. The annual meeting of p'arishioners of the St. Matthew's Church, St. Albans, was held in tho schoolroom last everting, Canon Staples Hamilton presiding over a good attendance . . . • The churchwardens' report stated that the financial, statement was oi a satisfactory character. 'The general account showed a credit balance of £io 9s 2d,; after .making a temporary advance of £23 16s 2d to meet the deficiency in 'the Victory Sphool account, f » The churcu fund account, which opened with a credit balahcd; of £32 8s Gd, now had a credit of £7l 5s 4d. The total amount paid over from all sources for missionary purposei was £l9O lGs 4d. The Sunday School account opened with a credit balance of £6 lGs 2d, and closed with a credit of £9 10s 7d.

Tfc» vicars report referred to til© retirement, 'after holding office for 35 years, of Archbishop Julius. The cliurch was more than 49 years old, and they would be asked to decide about the' jubilee. They should also take up the question of a new church. In connexion with St. Matthew's Victory Memorial School, tho_ reports of tho Government inspectors and of the Board's examiners in religious knowledgo had beon very favourable, and showed that the school was fulfilling a function in giving a tmo education to the children of the Church. The various .bodies in connexion with the Church had done valuable work'during the year, and thanks were extended to all who had helped in the year's success. The reports and balance-sheet were adopted. . . ."..'. ". - The election of officers resulted as follows:

Vicar's wardeu, Mr "William C. Armitage ( ; .people's warden, Mr F. J.- Saville; vestry, Messrs A. Baker, G. Bishop, G. M. j?owen, K. Burr. F. W. Deighton, A. H. Hobba, L. C. Knight, J. Sneyd, A. W. Watters, and E. "Wilson. -

ST. STEPHEN'S, ASHBURTON. The annual meeting of the parishioners c-f St. Stephen's Church was hold last evening, the vicar, the Rev. J. F. Wiseman, presiding over a good attendance. The vicar, in his annual report, stated that ho was glad to be able to say that, in spite of the fact that the infantile paralysis epidemic restrictions prevented all communicants under 16 years- of age from making their communions for several weeks, the number of communicants for the past year had constituted a record for the parish.'*. During the year there had been 75 baptisms, 18 marriages, and 43 burials. The parish had -suffered a serious loss in the departure of Mr R. Peters for Timaru. reader, superintendent of the Fairton Sunday School, a choir member, and secretary of the C.8.M.5., Mr' Peters had done splendid work;"' . : t

The churchwardens' report showed that thVenm of £124 7a 9d had been paid to the Church Property Trustees' in connexion with the section of land adjoining the church, leaving the sum of £llfo fie 6d still owing. At the' present time there was a sum "of £4OO on fixed deposit in respect to

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