PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19160, 17 November 1927, Page 2

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

PRESENTATION OF REPORTS.

The Presbyterian General Assembly resumed yesterday morning with devotional exercises and Communion service. When the various reports were tabled over 500 members were in attendance. The new Moderator, the Kev. James Aitken, presided. The Life and Work report was read by the Eev. Walter Maclean (Dunedin). In it appreciative reference was made to the work of the Assembly Evangelist, the R«v. John Bissett, since his return to New Zealand from a holiday abroad. The Evangelistio fund showed a considerable improvement, though the reduction of the deficit from £272 to £135 must be attributed chiefly to the budget functionings. Both the Minister in Charge of Post and Telegraph, and the manager of the Broadcasting Company ot New Zealand, Ltd., had been approached on the matter of the broadcasting of religious services. Sympathetic hearings had been obtained, and the promise of a conference with representatives of the Church. Care would have to he exercised if broadcasting was to prove a help and the dignity and spirituality of worship maintainedThe Committee recommended that the Assembly and Presbyteries suitably commemorate the tercenterary, in November of 1928, the birth of John Bunyan, the interpreter of Puritanism. The motion to adopt the report was seconded by the Rev. R. , Mackie (Mataura) and carried. Finance. Mr Andrew D. Thomson (Wellington), convener, of the Finance Committee, then presented the finance report.— The budget for 1927-28 showed the estimated total expenditure as £41,181, and the amount required from congregations as £35,932. The income for the past year, including the £1253 brought forward, had been £5420, and the expenditure £4152, leaving a balance at the end jf the year of £1268. The expenditure for the current year was estimated at £4260.

The special appeal for the Jubilee Scholarship Fund had produced £9307 6s; after deducting amounts presented for special scholarships, and the expenses of collecting, £494 6s 4d, the net amount of the fund stood at £6626 18s Bd. The Committee recommended that the fire insurance, Jubilee, and New Centenary funds, together with the Home Mission Capital funds, and the ''Outfields Mission fund be made available for the purposes of guaranteeing advances made to congregations of the Church. It was decided to use reserve funds for the purpose of guarantees. The Committee recommended that a fund known as the "Presbyterian Quarter Million Fund" be instituted in an effort to raise £250,000. The proposed allocation of the fund was detailed. At 12.30 a civic welcome was extended to the visitors to this City by the Mayor, Mr J. K. Archer, on behalf of the citizens of Christehurch. Women's Training Institute. Mr Henry H. Barton (Dunedin) read the report of the Women's Training Institute. The attendance at the Institute during the past year had been small; the number in residence included one voluntary worker, A larger number of enquiries than usual had reached the committee from those thinking of service in mission fields. Attention was dtrawn to the growing need for missionary workers in all fields. The committee considered that the most important work done was along the lines- of religious education, and tliat the most important elements in the training were those "which would supply students with the material necessary for imparting religious instruction to children. The report, expressed regret _ that nothing further had been done in the provision of a retiring allowance for the deaconesses. The report of the superintendent, Sister Margaret, gave dfetails of those in residence and outlined the repairs completed to the residence. The report was adopted. Statistics. The statistical report stated:—"An aggregate table giving a survey of a period of years will enable members to see more clearly the progress or otherwise of the Church. The aggregates on the whole show an increase this year. The addition to membership by confession was 2815 —easily a record. Of this number 980 come from the Bible Classes and 99 from the Sunday Schools. Additions from overseas have averaged during the last five years 613 per annum, this year 821. From sister Churches an average of 145 per annum, this year 143 This is 1.6 per cent, and .28 per cent, of our membership. In the latter case we can scarcely be accused of poaching. The total membership has reached to 50,798. The net gain for the year is 1918 —a 3.9 per cent, addition to last year's roll. The Church has clearly won back to its normal rate of pre-war increase. The net annual increase from 1903-1914 (inclusive) was 1215, and since 1922 (inclusive), when something like normality was reached again, it has been 1422. Last year 1186.. this year 1918, which is not only a tremendous improvement, but a record. During the last five years Auckland and Waikato Presbyteries show a net annual increase of over 200 members, Wanganui, Wellington, Christchurch, and Timaru of over 100. Wellington and Dunedin Presbyteries show a phenomenal increase this year over the previous rate. There were 19 charges vacant at June 30th, and at least five under the care of a missionary/' The report was adopted. A vote of thanks to Mr Howes for his statistical work was carried unanimously. Foreign Missions. The Rev. G. H. Jupp (Dunedin) tabled the report of the Foreign Missions Committee. Discussion was postponed till to-morrow's session.% The report referred to the growing unrest in China, stating that the awakened national spirit of China is a persistent reality that must be reckoned with. "Our chief concern,'' said the National Council of the Congregational Churches of America, "is not for the future of missions as such, but for the welfare of the Christian Churches in China.'' Upon the completeness and thoroughness with which it was able to adopt this attitude would depend largely the Church's usefulness in the great Republic. "In India extraordinary possibilities present themselves. On the one hand there are the cultured classes impelled by a 'mass movement in mind' towards Jesus Christ; on the other hand, multitudes of outcasts, largely urged by a desire for social uplift, continuing to make their way into the Christian Church. "In the New Hebrides the Mission Synod is faced with a sadly depleted staff. "The attention of the committee has in large measure been focossed upon the home base, this being rendered!; necessary by the financial aspect of the | work." v ' The financial statement showed that the loss on the year's working (August

18th, 1926—August 18th 1927) was £3571 16s lOd; the ordinary income was £18,003 10s; one remarkable feature was the large amount—£s69l Os Hd—received by way of legacies. The following are the details:—The general treasurer's statement indicates the following amounts which have been received during the period:—Estates John Bandeen, £2175 15s lid; Wm. Souter, £900; Wm. Allan, £250; Wm. Spence, £100; J. S. Holmes, for C.V.M., £1000; J. S. Holmes, for India, £1000; Sir John Ross, £SO; M. G. L. Rutherford, £5 ss; Miss Irvine, I £SO; J. A. Aitken, £2O; E. McFaddten, £25. In addition, from the estate of E. A. Allan there has been received on trust the sum of £IOO for the support of a native teacher on Paama. From the estate of Mary Ann Reynolds, administered by the Public Trustee (Dunedin) the sum of £lO annually is at present being paid in to the funds. The ordinary income showed an increase of £2114 17s over that of last year; the ordinary outlay £2822 18s 2d over that of last year. Outlay for 1927-28 was estimated at £20,717. The outstanding feature of the work in the home base during the past year had beeji the campaign of information and inspiration conducted under the leadership of the Moderator, the Rev. G. H. McNeur. The mission was conducted for the purpose of informing the Church in regard to her missionary tasks. The campaign began in Invercargill on May Ist and ended in North Auckland on August Bth, and reached every Presbytery and practically every _ congregation and home mission district in the Church.

The Rev. G. H. Jupp (Ihinedin) introduced the following speakers: Nurse H. M. Arnold (India), the Rev. A. L. Miller, M.A. (Canton), Mr J. W. Mansfield (New Hebrides), and the Rev. W. Mawson, M.A. (Auckland), who gave illuminating addresses on the work in their respective mission fields.