THE PRESBYTERIAN ASSEMBLY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1595, 12 November 1912, Page 3

THE PRESBYTERIAN ASSEMBLY.

OPENING SERVICE TO-NIGHT.

The General Assembly, of the Prcsby-, torian Church -of New Zealand will meet in St. John's Church at 7.30 this' evening. Tie opening service will be conducted by the .retiring Moderator, Rev. Geo. Lindsay, of Duiiedin. The neiv moderator will be elected, and will deliver his inaugural address. The singing will be led by St. John's Choir, :Tlie Assembly will be attended by 239 , voting members, and 130 other members who have the,fight to take any part in the proceedings, with the exception of voting. More Men from Home. The report of the Home Mission Committee .to be presented to the Assembly states:— . .„ .Tho success of the venture of seeking recruits, for the staff in the Home Country encourages as to persevere in this method of tryini; to meet - the strain of an insufficient local supply of competent agents. Last Assembly gave the committee permission to bring out five men during the year, bin the restriction to five was merely out. of consideration of. the expense involved in the payment of their passage to the Dominion. We have got tho five we asked, for, but have not had to pay for five; and owing to the-kindness of .the various donors and congregations the 'ordinary income has escaped, if not scot free, at least with a very much smaller tax than was anticipated. The committee desire .the , permission of the assembly to. bring out ten men this year, if the lunds at their disposal and other attendant circumstances seem to warrant this. The Assembly may be we shall not incur any unwise financial risk; but men we must have. If we get the right men the' finances will be forthcoming. All our past experience substantiates this belief. It may seem to lie outside dur'province to .refer to the need of our getting ministers as Well, as home missionaries from abroad; Yet even strictly speaking we arc most, deeply concerned in this problem too."''lt is the aim of the com* mittee to pave the way, as for as lies in their power, for home mission stations to become sanctioned charges. Taihape and Matamata attained that rank during tho year, but. there are many others that would do so if only ministers were avail' able.. In the -Waikato Presbytery alone,, Himtly, Morrinsville, and To Puke might ■become full charges if ministers were in sight. The committee would press on the Assembly the urgency, of the need of grappling. with . this problem, Sow can the; Home Mission Committee' hope, to de-.. velop the stations into charges when the number of vacancies.in existing charge? is so great—fourteen at the time of writing—and hardly a man available to fill them ? The committee will gladly odd to their correspondence frith the Colonial ■.Committee of the U.F. Church a request for a certain number of ministers as well as mission agents if the Assembly will instruct them to'do.-so 1 , and provide the necessary fundi to defray cost of pas, sage. It is not to be- thought of that the Home Mission.Fund should be burdened with this obligation. , Sabbath Schools. According to the report of the Youth of the Church Committee, 1 the Sabbath schools show progress all along the line. The total .number of scholars in 1912- is 36,066, as against 35,069 in 1911, an increase of 997. "The steady increase .in the number of schools, teachers, and scholars is in every way gratifying, It should be pointed out, however, that our Church is still far froni having covered its field of, operation amongst the children of the Dominion. ' According to the latest census (1911) .there are 16,000 Presbyterian children in this Dominion between the.ages of 5 and 15 years, . When, it is considered that many children under 5 and over 15 attend-our-Sabbath schools,-it will be seen that there are at least 10;000 Presbyterians outside of the influence of our Sabbath schools. For some years this committee has urged that .we should/aim at an enrolment of at least 50,000 Sunday school scholars. There is evidence that, with a,nio*a.vigorous .and"general' policy of Sunday Sehoarexp'ansio'iij.this number might be reached ~\vit.liout' 'difficulty."" 'Social. Service. '.■'. ,; •" .The Social Service Committee; • in presenting the reports of the three assacia'tions, states:—Each ■ associations tells a tale of fruitful service for the Kingdom of : God. Advance has.been mane ail along the line: . Christ-church has purchased and opened its home for the children, while Wellington and-Dunedin.have been busy during 1 the year erecting their new homes. The liberal- support given to each association -shows how our .people appreciate this saving, work-'among the young, and encourages Us to go forward to the work of the coming year with confidence. We have particular cause for. thankfulness to God for the wise and faithful agents He lias sent us. To air tho individuals and congregations: .who.,have helped by gifts or personal service we give hearty thanks. Again we commend this work to the prayers ami liberality; of all lovers of the children throughout our con-: gregatioiis, . .. of Protestantism, The fothmitteev on Humanism and Eitualism makes the following recommenda* tions:— - • 1. That the committee be authorised to appeal for, say, .£IOO prisie fund, from which prizes will be-awarded to—(1) "our senior boys and girls; (2)-bur young men and women; (3) our students for the ministry . for essays oh—(a) ' Martin Luther (boys and girls), (b) John Knox and what he did for Scotland (young men and women), (c) Calvinism as a force in the life of nations.(students),-.. 2. That the -committee bo authorised to arrange for the publication in the "Outlook" of a -ssries of .papers on "The Heroes of'the Reformation and the Principles of Protestantism." ' . 3. That the committee be instructed to, note the political encroachments of Eo-' manism within, our Umpire, and report on. same. 4. That your committee be' authorised to get a legal opinion as. to/the legality of the issuing of certificates ti> parties already married to go through a second marriage ceremony. ' Balance-sheet, J The following is the summarised bal-anoe-sheet of the .Presbyterian Church of New Zealand at August 19,1912:— .- £ s.'d. To investments and deposits 123,398 5 3 ~'Freelwld properties ... 1,590 0 0 „ Jubilee fund loans.,-..', 3,568 II 8 „ New Century fund loans' 7,26* U 8 ~ Bank of New Zealand, Wellington , 1,321 9 7 „ Bank of New Zealand, Dunedin ..,.;........, 174 0 8 „ National Bank, :Dunedin... 163 1 5 „ Sundry balances ....... 13114 7 „ Ministers* arrears '...-. 1,762 19 8 ' . ■'.'"'.' .£139,377 1? 6 £ s. d. By beneficiary funds 72,515 0 1 „ Scholarship funds 11,891 8 11 ,; Foreign mission funds 9,141 19 2 „ Maori mission, funds .2,310 10 9 „. Sustentation- and . home mission, funds 3,193 13 10 „■Congregations and presby- \ teries 13,030 1 11 „ Jnbliee memorial fund ... 9,817 O 0 „ New Century fund 7,407. 7'. 7 „ Knox College funds 7 5 284 15 2 „ Assembly ■ expenses 1,16G 3 4 „ Cash account; trustees ... 780 Q 0 „ Sundry balances ......,...;■ 889 16 9 - .- .£139,377 17 6

Much daman* has Ween tlorie to the oratory of St. Piran, popularly known as the "Lost Church in the Sands," Hear Truro, Cornwall. The glass panel in a concrete shell, through tthich the visitors' viewed the ruin of the church, was broken and names have been -scribbled and cut on the door. The church is su> posed to have been erected over the remains of St. Piran, ens of the missionaries sent from Ireland by St, Patrick.