CHURCH MEETINGS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1102, 15 April 1911, Page 10

CHURCH MEETINGS.

ST. MICHAEL'S, KELBURNE. ANNUAL MEETING. Tho sixth annual meeting of tho members or the Anglican Lhureh at Kclburnc was held in tlio churchroom on 'Wednesday evening, Arclideacan Harper (vicar of St. iVver's) presiding. The report of tho committee lor the year ended March 31, 11)11, was read uy the hon. secretary, Mr. J. S. Jameson. It stated:— On tho whole considerable progress has been made in church matters at Kclburnc during the year just closed, the Sunday services (now held morning and evening) being well attended, and tho various organisations working smoothly and steadily in their respective spheres. The district has lost a good friend in tho Rev. G. P. Davys, who in November last left New Zealand to fill an appointment accepted by him in England. Mr. Davys took a prominent part in the movement for establishing a branch of the Church in Kclburnc, and to his wise counsel and practical help is largely due whatever measure of success has been attained. Archdeacon Harper, the newly-appoint-ed vicar of St. Peter's, was accorded a hearty welcome by the church officers and committee on his first-visit to Kelbiirne on December 5. Information regarding the constitution of the committee, finance, and other matters was furnished to tho archdeacon, who, after expressing his pleasure in meeting the committee, gave a brief outline of the plans ho thought would be suitable for providing for the needs of the Church in Kelburne. During the few months tho archdeacon has been in charge ho has nov spared himself, and through his instrumentality much has been done to secure greater efficiency in the various church organisations engaged in advancing tho work in the district. The retirement of Bishop Wallis, who for months past has been a resident of Kelburne, will bo very much ' felt throughout tho diocese. His Lordship has always shown a warm personal interest in the ■ welfare of Kelburne Church, and the kind and practical help rendered by him in connection with the services a.t St. Michael's will bo gratefully remembered by the congregation, whose earnest hope will bo that the bishop may speedily recover his health, and enjoy many years of .happiness in whatever field of labour ho may bo engaged in in tho future. During the past year thorp have been several changes in the Sunday School staff. Mrs. and Miss Marshall resigned owing to other work demanding their attention. Several new teachers have taken up Sunday School duty, and the school is now well staffed. Children's services arc now held on tho second Simday in the month, the attendance at which is very encouraging. The number of children on tho roll ranges from sixty to seventy. Parents are earnestly requested to influence all the children of their acquaintance to attend the school —especially those who do not now attend any Sunday school, as this is frequently the only opportunity of imparting religious instruction. An effort will bo made at an early date to inaugurate a special department for infants, with 3and-tnblo and other necessaries. Donations of books for tho library will be thankfully received. Tho great improvement in the attendance at ths celebrations of Holy Communion and the other cervicea is very largely duo to the General Mission held-last year, which was so. abundantly blessed 'in its work in Now Zealand. In view of the improvement in tho attendance at the services and the increased e?.rnestnes3 resultant from tho mission, the idea of building a permanent church in Kelburne must not bo lost sight of, and if things continuo as at present the incoming committeo will have to consider the question of raising funds for tho erection of a suitable building. It is satisfactory to record that there is a credit b?.l'anco ■on current account of £io 7s. Bd. The net proceeds of entertainments given by tho Ladies' Guild, together with private sales of work during the year, amounted to £17 10s., which has' been paid iii to the church fund.

On tho motion of tho chairman, seconded by Mr. Longhnrst, the report was approved and adopted. The archdeacon in : his address referred to the progress thatjiad boon made in church matters at. Kclburue during the past year, and expressed a hope that the time was not far. : .distant when. circumstances would justify the committee in proceeding with the erection of a permanent church. Reference was'also made to the loss the diocese was about to sustain in the retirement of Bishop Wallis and to the warm interest always shown by him in the welfare of the church at * Kelburno. The election of officers was then proceeded with, and resulted as follows:— Hon. secretary, Mr. J. S. Jameson (reelected) ; treasurer, Mr. D. Bray; committee, Messrs. Austin, Cachemaillc, Collins, Stephens, and Sturborant; auditors, the parochial auditors of St. Peter's (re-elected). A'cbrdial vote'of thanks was passed to Mr. E. D. Cachomaillc, the retiring treasurer. ST. MARK'S. A MEMORABLE YEAR. The following is the report of the parish of tit. Aiarlt, ior tno year ending March 31, liUi, to be submitted at the annual meeting of parishioners: Tlie year now eloseu has been meinorablo iu the history of the Church of Aew Zealand, because of the visit of tho General Mission. T'lic vestry and churchwardens of St. Mark's record their thankfulness to Almighty God for tho spiritual blessings that iiavo deseen.cled irom Him into our midst through tho mission. They gratefully acknowledgo their high appreciation of tho earnest and devoted work of our missioner,' tho Rev. 0. F. C. do Carteret. They placo on record their regret at tho sad reasons that havo compelled the Bishop of Wellington to resign his office, and express their sympathy with him and Mrs. Wallis. It is with the sorrow that comes when friendship of many years is severed, that they mention the death of Mrs. Coffey, whoso labours for and whoso interest in the welfare of the parish wore untiring. Death lias also deprived us of ono who faithfully served the parish for many years as churchwarden and vestryman, Mr. Francis Stevens. Tho last annual report commended to tho parish two new ventures, tho C.E.M.S. and tho coming of a deaconess. Tho C.E.M.S. has served a useful purpose in the economy of tho parish and did excellent work in preparation for the mission. Of the work of Sister Constanco but one opinion can bo hold: there was need in the parish for her and she lias admirably done what was needed. The thanks of tho vestry are due to all those who took part in the sale of work and entertainment for tho support of Sister Constance's work, when the sum realised was £125 3s. 2d. In this connection they ' gratefully acknowledge the work of the" stall-holders—tho bee, St. Martha's Guild, the choir, the Girls' Club, also of a. committee of ladies under Mrs. Redward, who organised a produce and variety stall, and of the Misses Rapley who took charge of another stall with great success. The Misses Holm gavo their inestimable services for the entertainment. Tho finances of the Parish aro undoubtedly in a secure position. The gonor-il offertories show an increase of £28 as compared with last year's; the live special offertories on the other hand show a decreaso of £10. There is a loss of rovenuo under the heading of seat rents, hut morn "than half of this loss i<; duo to the fact that there are fewer Church boarders at tho college than in past year. Thp vestry call tho .attention of jjarjsbioners to tho laxsu

sum spent in necessary repairs to church and vicarage. Tliey "leel tlun tliis must be a constantly increasing figure on the balance-sheet, both buildings being riddled with borer. The year has closed with a credit balance of £36 17s. -Id., as against £9(5 14s. (id., but there is a stun of £LjO on deposit, part of which is earmarked lor the Parish Mission. They liavc pleasure in recommending that £101) be handed to the Parish Trust Hoard. By the recent death of Mrs. Coil'ey, the Church property at Kosoneath lulls into the hands of the Parish Trust Hoard for the benefit of the parish, but, according to the terms of the Rev. Richard C'olfey's will, it is probable that many years will elapse before the parish reaps' the benolit of the larger part of his generous legacy. The services at St. Barnabas's Church Doom havo been maintained without interruption through the year. Mr. C. H. Chatwin lias conducted the morning service, except on the, first Sunday of end; month, aml the Rev. G. E. O'll. Tobin has taken most of the evening services. A very successful sale of workwas held in December, the proceeds of which (£24) have been set aside as the nucleus of a fund to provide a now organ. Tho vestry express their sorrow at the death of Mr. I' , . E. Lenvil], the indefatigable superintendent of tho Sunday School. Tho attendance at the services and at Sunday School increased largely till Christmas, since which date many families have removed from the district. Mr. H. N. Morrison has again shown himself a pillar of strength in this part of our parish, and to him we owe the gift of an altar desk. Mr. A. E. Rising has charge of the. Sunday School and good work is done here, but the school has suffered through lack of teachers. Tho main Sunday School at St. Mark's Las maintained its prestige for the excellent tone that pervades the school. Mr. R. P. Bray has continued his tactful work as superintendent and wo havo a full staff of teachers. Among tho teachers who have left us during the year, special mention should lie made of Miss Lonvill and Miss Eva Holm. The thanks of tho parisb arc duo to an anonymous donor of a handsome largo copy of tho-Hymn-Book for tho organ, a brass altar desk and Book of Offices. The Parish Magazine was revived in August, 1910. Tho circulation has unproved lately, hut it is still much 100 low to enable the paper to' pay for itself. A successful branch of tho Mothers' Union has been inaugurated villi Mrs. Townsend as president, and Sister Constance as secretary. It ha.s brought many into touch, ivith the church, ami it has a largo sphere of usefulness before it. The Missionary Benevolent Society has maintained its. contributions for work outside the parish. Thanks are due to all the subscribers, to Mr. Chatwin tho secretary, and to the lady collectors. Tho places of Miss Blow and Miss Lcnvill, who, after years of usefulness, have left the parish, have been taken by Mrs. Harrower and Miss Martin. Removals from Wellington have created vacancies in the ranks of our choir, but tho standard of excellence has been maintained under Mr. Watkins.

Thu vestry in iho name of the parish convey their thanks to the Ladies' Sewing Beo (under Mrs. G. T. Bell); the St.. Martha's Guild (under Mrs. H. S. Moore); the Decorating Guild (under Miss Holm); the Lay-Roaders; tj ic Guild of Bell-Ringers'; for their liiitirlng,' selfsacrificing, and efficient labours for tho good of the parish. The -Ministering Children's League (under Miss Chatwin), held a successful sale last May and raised MO Bs. for tho Chinese Mission, which since its inception has been largely dependent upon this parisb. Thanks; are due to them and-all other workers in tho parish for their labour and devotion."

The churchwardens and vestry express their gratitude for tho loyal help and support of tho parish as u whole in tho work of the Church, and pray that (iod's blessing may rest on the work done for Him, and that He. way guide, the parish of St. Mark to greater usefulness in the future.

REIKORANCI CHURCH. The report 'of Mr. W. D. Bennett (secretary and treasurer) on the Anglican Church work done in the Rcikorangi portion of the l'araparaumu . parocluai district during.the twelve months from March, 1010, to March, 1911, states: "At the . beginning of the year a Chureii Council was elected, consisting of Misses Monk, C'ornor, Jamieson, and Messrs. Cornor, Carter, Meek, and Bennett. The duty of the council is to watch over and to assist in the various matters pertaining to the church. Three meetings were held (luring tho year, all of which wero well attended, thus showing that tho ■ interest of the church was being well preserved. The thanks, of all church members aro due to Mrs. Elder, of Waikanae, for her most kind gift of carpet and tapestry. These have lately been placed in the church, adding much to tho comfort of tho interior. It is tho intention of tho council to shortly form a working 'beo' for the purpose of completing and renovating the boundary fence. During the year a successful 'social' was held to raise funds for incidental purposes. The balance-sheet shows a credit balance of 135., but this is only in so far that it affects money received and handled by the local treasurer. -As a matter of fact, wo are in debt to tho extent of £3 2s. 2d.—that is to say, wo owe £3 2s. 2d. to the vicar's stipend. Of this amount £2 2s. !)d. was owing at tho end of last year, and this year donations and offertories havo fallen short by 19s. od. of the required £20, which is our annual donation towards tho vicar's stipend. I earnestly appeal to all church members to co-operate with mo in endeavouring to wipe off this deficit as early as possible, so that we may bo placed in a sound financial position. It is with regret that I havo to record tho loss of Miss Jamieson, who has left tho district. During her stay hero she proved herself a most witling and conscientious worker for tho church. Mr. Gregory, who has also left tho district, is, I am sorry to say, lying seriously ill in Otaki. In conclusion I wish to thank those ladies who have attended to the cleaning of the church and assisted in many other ways."