ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2560, 7 September 1915, Page 2

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

ANNUAL-MEETING. The annual meeting of the congregation of St. John's Church was largely attended. The annual report slated that seventy young men from St. John's had enlisted, and that others were. going into camp. Appreciation of the labours of the minister (Bov. Dr. Gibb) was expressed, and in sermon after sermon ho had atruok the patriotic note with a passion _ and s powev that had set evei-y heart, vibrating. The Communion roil contains - 850 names, twenty-four more than last year., last year the managers reported a slight increase in .the number of scholars at-, tending the two schools. This year they report a slight ..decrease, from 291 to 280,. but the decrease iB more nominal than real. The junior Bible classes are included in the Sunday school retuirns, and these classes parted'.with an unusually ' large number this l y«ir- t:o the senior, . olass,' . namely, 34, a fact whidh much more than accounts for the shrinkage of the 'roll. But the hope orincreasing to aiiy material' • extent Sunday school attendance is hardly to bs entertained.. In this branch. of . work the suburbs are in it, St. John's is out of it. The ordinary Sunday Collections amounted to or up wards of i!2O 10g. per Sunday." A large part .of tho sums recorded in the preceding section, was obtained as special retiring collections on Sundayi The amount is 31682: The total. Sunday collections therefore amount to ,£1769, -oi' Mi ,per Sunday. Seat rents, amount to .£453 1i5.... The stipend of the Deaconess—.£loo—has been very generously contributed by 'two members of the congregation. . The revenue,- while large, is barely' adequate' to the expenditure, there being a deficit of <£61 011 the year's •work. There had been nothing special in theiway of expenditure. It is obvious that some.improvement in the method of ordinary finance is demanded, and the managers are now considering the situation. Contribution by envelopes instead of the open plate might solve the problem, but there would be no need to have recourse to this if only a larger number of sittings were taken. The question of seat rents is not without its difficulties! but it is clear' that the congregation's. income ought not to be made chiefly dependent on what is, after . all, ; a somewhat , method—the Sunday collection. The total receipts for congregational purposes ■ aTe .£1723, which, added to the i 11385 raised for "outside" objects, make the revenue for the year ,£3ll3—a surprisingly large sum of money in view of the fact that there hag been bo appeal , for buildings, debt-reduction, or any similar purpose. ' The adoption of the annual report was moved by the Hon. J. G. AV. Aitken, who referred in terms of wami appreciation to the work of Dr. Gibb, both m the congregation and in the affairs of the church generally. He called attention to the large amount of money that had been raised, specially noting 'the sum donated to. the relief of the poor in Belgium ahd foT wounded soldiers. Referring to the revenue for congregational purposes, he pointed out that while very large, it had not exactly ■ met the need, and advocated some more reliable method of-finance than mere dependence on the Sunday collections. . ' Mr. W. Allan seconded the motion. He endorsed' all that Mr. Aitkon had said about the minister, congratulated the church on the prosperity that hud characterised its Work duiriug the year, and urged hearty support of the scheme by which, in addition to their general contributions to foreign missions, they had bccome responsible for the maintenance of the Rev. G. 11. M'Neur, in Canton. ' Mr. T. H. Gill, fpoke .of the work of, the Wotaen's Association; which hadduririg the past year exceeded all former records. Women, he said, had always been the backbone of the church, and' they owed a great debt of gratitude, to this association. : • . ■, ■ • Mr. J. S. Butler dealt with'the men Who had gone t roni the ranks of the congregation to the service of their country in the war. • TII9 roll of honour contained 72 names, und quite a number more had volunteered rnd would pteseAtly find their way to the training camps. Dr. Gibb, in a brief addrtes, spoke of weak aiid strong points in their organisation and thanked the office.-bearers and people for . their help and encouragement. He felt humbled by the too-warm words of appreciation- used concerning himself in the report and in the speeches, that evening; but lie knew-that if there was to bo effective work in a church i there must bo reciprocity and an atmosphere of mutual esteem and appreciation between minister and peojjle.