CHURCH MEETINGS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 801, 26 April 1910, Page 2

CHURCH MEETINGS.

■ »-r - ST. MARK'S PARKH. The report to be presented at the an* nrial meeting of the Parish of St. MaTk'* remarks on the success of the past year. Since the last annual meeting the new; wing of the Sunday School has been, opened. The building'fulfils the highest, expectations of the vestry, and'is. well filled every Sunday. "■"■•■' The vestry draw the attention c£ parishioners to the fact that both church; and Sunday school, have been. painted :afcv ia cost of £% 55.. lid. . This sum, was taken out of.ordinary revenue without; any appeal to the parishioners. ' A sum, of .£l4 10s. 6d.,., had been 'spent.' in, strengthening the east wall of the Roseneath Churchroom, and a few other-re* parrs to the structure. The ' vestry' re> commend that'the sum of JGIOS be handed to the .Parish Trust Board. • This sum, ■ together with the proceeds of the sales of work, will this year augment the fund* of the board by £200, and bring the total: of the rebuilding fund to .£958 10s. Id. The Vestry feel that parishioners will b»: safe in adopting this recommendation us the year closes with a 'balance at the bank of .£96 14s. 6d., together with a m IX 3 -iP f J853 4s - - 8d - iu '''"« AVollingtoa lvust, Loan, and Investment Company (making a total balance of J2I4G 18s. 9d.), and, as far as can be anticipated, there is no probability of any great call on .-.he.revenues of. the church' during th» next twelve months.

The Rev. R. Coffey Memorial Committee. las, completed its duties, the-final meeting being held in November. During fte year a memorial font has been placed m-tho church, and a payment has been made to the City Council which will en- : / sure Mr. Coffey's grave' being tept in'' : ' order .for. all time.. After all payments..' 'had been made, the balance was handed * to the Parish Trust BoaTd to augment ; ■ the Coffey''Memorial Prize. Fund. -. The-V following;, js, a statement 'of. the fundi'i' since its inception:—Receipts: Subscriptions, £555.75: 3d.;'interest, lis. lOd;;" ' total, ,£476 19s. Id. Expenditure: Pulpit, .; .£lßl 12s. 4d.;. enclosing grave and.erect*/ liig marble cross, <6112 13s; 6d.; ; turfing - grave and keeping same in'order for all' time, ■£8 10s.; font, .£B2 2s. 6d.; Memorial ■ Prize Fund, ,£7B 12s. 6d.; bank 'charge,. advertising, printing, postages, 1 etc., Jl2 '" Bs. 3d.; total, .£476 19s. Id.- The.vestry'. '■ acknowledge their appreciation of the labours of the committee, notably of Mr. A. Staco,. secretary, and Mr. R. E, Rawnsley arid : Mr.'.W. L. Meek, trustees. The services at Roseneath have ' been carried On by the Rev. C. E. O'H. Tobin, Mr. C. H., Chatwin, Mr. F. G. Page, and, the other lay-readers. . Thanks are ex-'-tended to the Rev. D;'C. Bates for occasional help! at' festivals. The committee, ' of which: Mr. H. N. Morrison'is secretary, is giveii-all credit, for their-atten-., tion to the church-room, =which'-is now well, furnished for divine, worship, a font; (from St. Mark's), a new silver chalice,:: a credence table and a cabinet for hangings _ being the . latest acquisitions. Mr. ' Corrick has acted as organist.uvery Sun-! day evening, and in the. mornings Mrs.! . Greenwood and Miss Taylor.have.played. ~The Sunday school has suffered severely' by the loss of Mr. F. E. who has . been, compelled by illness to give up'his' work after' olevon years'of -faithful eer- > rice and by the loss of two such efficient; teachers as the Misses I. and C. Sanders, •. who have left the district; Mr. A.'E., Rising has taken Mr. LerwiU's place, but at least three more'.teachers are. required -. if the standard; of. tho school is to be,; maintained;.: , .'■.'.-'. /'■':"■

The .thanks of the vestry are die to Mr. C. H. Chatwin, secretary of the Mi* sionary and Benevolent, Society, .'to 'the',', lady collectors, and all. subscribers.- Mora" subscribers are urgently needed to take', the places of those who have left :tho parish. The Parish Magazine had to.be dis-, continued at the'end of Deoembeij aa{. the vestry were.not justified in incurring,j vthe loss, on the paper. It is hoped toij make freshi'.arrangements shortly,'for.; publication of the news of the parish.?' The vestry commends -to .the parish itwo new!- ventures rf-The C.E.M.S.,; ; wMch.:has i ' done, much elsewhere to promote .church , life; and the-coming- of.a.-deac6ness, Sis--, ter! Constance, "who brings'.to'. the. parisK"V \vide experience. .. The.'.vestry are, ; confi-. dent that. there. is a field for. work in Wellington: The vestry extend their thanks to all church workers.

The report on the working of St.,. - Mark's Sunday School states that.. th* l ': parish has good reason to be: well 6atas-i fled with the work of. the school' the past year. ;The attendance has been, good, and there has been,a.marked; in-*., crease, in the attendance 'of, the .infants',.. -~ division. This is due to the introduction.'; of the sand table and-the, able manner! in .which the lesspnv are. given by .the' / teachers of this- division.- The usual att-j , mial examination, was held.in .November „ . last, :'and the results were gratifying . to-j: the teachers and creditable to the schol-j: ars. For the first time.the Coffey Memo-1 rial Prizes were awarded;, the winners -' /being: Upper gchool, boys' side, Mariner Holm, Leslie Williamson; girls' side; : Breta ,Holra, Alberta Palliser. Middla School—boys' side, William Fisher, Charles Clift; girls' side; Olive Fisher, • ■■ Elsie Johnson. Theso prizes havo given a great incentive to careful work. Thanks are due to the parishioners for their generous 1 assistance. .The library has' received considerable support during th« ' year./ ■ ■•;-•..-• •.. :■-' ,-'••'.- ■ ■'."■• - The attendance-at the'Koseneath Sunday School averaged- between 40 and-45. '- • The Young Men's Club made Bteady ; progress.-The active membership of the ■ club.is now 64.' •. "-. The Girls' Club is also in" a satisfa<K tory position, and has a-; membership ' of 66. ' ; - . '-. "'■ ■ :•••'•' '■'•'

■ -.'••-.-.■■.': \'.ST;-THOMAS'S. The annual, report, of ! St; ThomasV - Church, Newtown, states that the Island Bay portion of tho district has been con-'." stituted- a separate parochial district,' with the Rev. W. Fancourt in charge. ■ Mr. Fanc'ourfs past services are suitably acknowledged. The finances of the parish >: are said to be in a less satisfactory condition than formerly, the balance-sheet disclosing a net liability of.-.£37- on the goneral account. A strong effort should, it is urged, be made to increase - th» ' ordinary ; revenue. A substantial reduction - : has.been made in ,the debt on the Sunday- '■■• School. .Special donations during, the year.;:. include an anonymous one of ,£SO and. •:■ £15 contributed by St. Agnes's Guild from the proceeds of their bazaar, .while,, the management committee have trans- , ferred to the debt fund from, the '...; revenue earned by the hall and paid JBISO '.. off the mortgages. The liability on the '.'"■ flat mortgage has now been : completely extinguished, and the monthly payments on the instalment mortgage have been reduced from £5 to M 10s. The amount of the principal required to set the church • free from all liability to the Metropolitan -. Building Society is about £113, which with debentures to the value of JE4SP leaves a total debt of .£563 on the build-' ■'■ ing. The' services in St. . Cuthberf3 Churchroom, Berhampore, have been,con-. . tinued, and good' progress is reported, ■ from that part of the parish.: With the V.; assistance of the successful bazaar held"' , in May, the committee has not only paid' v.. all current charges, but has been able to contribute about £2o as the first instal- '•' ment'towards the reduction of the heavy - debt of .£650. Perhaps the two most urgent needs ,in the future arc the-pro-vision of a vicarage and an "assistant curate. The parish was reminded by : the , Synod two years ago of its obligation- . under the first head, and.it is -clearly time, the report states, that definite step's are, taken to place the parish on an equal footing in this respect with other parishes of much moro recent foundation.