ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2848, 12 August 1916, Page 2

ST. JOHN'S CHURCH

ANNUAL REPORT INTERESTING RECORD OF WORK The annual meeting of St. John's Church was held on, Wednesday evening. There was a large attendance, the Hail being quite full. The annual report opens with the following reference to the war:—

Another year has passed away, a year of'-deep sadness, of, portents by sea and land such as, only a short- time ago, we never dreamed any of us should see; and still the carnival of slaughter goes on. We are constrained sometimes to wonder whether God has forgotten to be gracious. But that all that has happened is in accordance with the principles upon which He governs men and nations, as these are set forth His Word, what believing mind can really doubt? Germany is the, chief transgressor, and the Avar we are waging with her is for us a righteous war; tor we are fighting for the fundamental rights of nations and of man as made in tho image of God. But there our justification ends. We, tbo, as a nation, had largely forgotten God, and what sooner or later happens to nations that forget God is plainly writ. Wo can only pray that we may be purified by the things wo have suffered, and Gmerge from the conflict, a renewed and revitalised people consecrated to tlie servico of the Most High. The report goes on to say that- despite tho inevitable unsettlement the work .of, the congregation has proceeded apace. We have a little more than held our own in the number of the membership in full communion. The attendance at -public worship has beeii large and constat; the finances are satisfactory, and again a very large sum <jf money lias - been donated to purposes other than' the maintenance of ordinances. We can trulv sity that God has not forgotten tisfiiideed, it ; (s _ wonderful how wo have been sustained in a. time of Unparalleled unrest, and we take courage"to believe that,as in the past so in tlie coining time, the hand of God will be on us for good. Let our motto for-the new year be' this: "Trust ye in the Lprd for ever, for lii the Lord Jehovaii is everlasting strength';" , The Roll of Honour. Last- year we recorded the fact that a considerable number of our voiing men had joined the- forces now doing battle for King aiid Country. This number has been largely added to during the present year. Most of til cm are unmarried, but some have left wives and'.voiing families behind them. AVe are proud 1 of' their valour and gratefiil to God to thifik they are upholding not only the. national cause, but, as they iiave Ojl))oi'tuiiitv. tho eaiis'e of Jostix Chl-is't/;. Dnniig the Period under i'eview one, Lieutenant William Hopkirk, lws Iren killed, and one, Private G. Hftasc, is missing, making since the War began a death and missing roll of 5. George HaasO was -'i well-known and deservedly popular Bible-class'man. William Hopkirk, the second son of a greatly esteeriied elder of the church, was a. singularly fine young m;ui, a devoted Christian, anil a faithful soldier ,of.'..earth? aiid heaven. His military zeal speedily secured for him the rank of a c6nimisfeioned officer, but he was not destined to beet- this honour long. On June 1 he fell in action, and so entered into rest. The sympathy 6f tho Churchwent out with unfeigned sincerity to his bereaved parents, whom the session prays God may continually comfort and uphold. ■■ ■ ...- The MJnlster;;' Tlie report, bef3iOfߣBsß® l 'tion]& as a rule, penned by.-tile - Minister,- who is edger to acknowledge"the .services of all who have helped in-the work of the congregation, with, bfcourse',' the sole exception of himself. ' But manifestly a report of the church's activities which made no mention of Dr. Gibb would resemble an account of a regiment with no mention of .its captain. Tho officebearers gladly supply this omission. Throughout; this year of .war, ,the : Minister has Ijeen involved in a multiplicity of duties, congregational, denominational, and public, which have taxed even his remarkable vigour- to the point of strain; ' and his labours havn not only been more abundant, but : if possible even moro helpful and, strengthening than ever before. The volume of Dr. Gibb's tasks seems lever to increase, but never at tho expons'e of efficiencyand quality. The pulpit proclamations, both when dealing with questions, of the hour and with the concerns of tho individual life, interpret the Word of God with true insight and -to the edification and inspiration of all the hearers. In the work of tho pastorate, Dr. Gibb has earned tho gratitude of many disconsolate hearts for his loving and comforting ministrations. We 'are grateful for the 'services he renders and the place he fills in tho community, as wo are also for his work in the onerous chairmanship of the Home Mission. Committee, the Orphanage, and the new col. lege for boys—a venture; like the Or. phanage, due to Dr. Gibb's initiative. In all these, and in various ' other spheres, he labours without ceasing, and to his mature judgment and wide experience they arc all greatly indebted, Kirk Session. There are 29 elders, one fewer than at the commencement of tho year. Mr ft. T. Caldow resigned this office shortly before his transference to Invercargill. The Communion Boll: The Roll-now contains 654 names, an increase of 4.0n last year's figures. ( The Quarterly Communions.—The attendances wore: September, 486'; December, 436; March, 437; June, 532. The June Conimunion constitutes a record, being the- largest attendance thus far, save under the quite excep. tional circumstances of the Jubilee Communion three years ago. The sacrament of., baptism was administered to 20 infants and 1 adult. Attendance at public wioriship has been large. The evening congregations continue as a rule to tax the accommodation of the church, and the morning attendance, allowing for « 'ittle fluctuation, has also been exceedingly good. The Committee of Management. Tlie committee numbers 25 members (exclusive of the elders, who arc ex officio members). Two, Messrs. E-. J. Crawford and J. A. Orr, are on active servico. Though the anuual election of members falls within tho new year the names of the recently re-elected and new managers may be specified here. They are: Messrs..D. Douglas,-G. H. Elliffe, ,G. Gilmorir, J. ;Knbx,'and H." Smith. The Women's Association. This association has an active membership of. 68; in increaso of 3 on last year, with an average attendance of 30. There are besides 40 honourary members, who pay a double • subscription, hut do not . usually attend the meetings. The association has undertaken to supervise and cater for the' Soldiers' Club, Sydney Street, on oneSaturday evening of the month.This worfc involves, not a little labour, and expense, refreshments on an ample scale being provided for the hundreds of_ men--who visit--the club. Various friends have come to tho. help of the association with gifts in rash and kind, and thus far there has been no lack. Wo commend the women for this fine patriotic service, and commend it to the sympathy and help of those who up to the present have borne no share of the burden.

Sabbath Softools. Year by'year the reports presented, by the schools make ever more evident the conditions under which the congregation is doing its worlc. Taking the period covered by the present pastorate for purposes of comparison, we find that while the membership of the church in full communion has steadily increased, the Sunday schools have as steadily decreased. Thirteen years ago there were in the Mount Cook School 206 scholars, to-day there are 39. In the main school there lias also been a marked shrinkage, though nothing to be compared With this. This year the roll is 235, an increase of 15. .But the situation is perfectly plain. The adult congregation grows in membership,,the junior congregation diminishes. We have ceased to be a parish church with a noighbotiring population upon which W6 can draw. Young married people' in ever increasing numbers seek dwelling in the suburbs, and there are very few families with children of_ Sunday school age who seel; .connection with us. More aiid more the congregation's life centres in the Sunday services. The reoort also refers io the work of a number of other organisations connected with the Church. Finance. The ordinarv collections amounted to £1222 17s:, or £23 10s. 4d. per • Sunday.- Seat rents, £465 165., or £12 03." in advance of last year. 'Hie rents from class-rooms, etc., £55 13s.—a decrease of £31 on last year. The total receipts for.congregational purposes are £1745. Tjje total expenditure for such purposes is £1795. The item of repairs this year is close on £100, or £50 more tliau last year. To the ordinary income recorded in the treasurer's statement (£1745) there is to bo added a sura of £79. being the amount raised and expended by the organisations of tho congregation in carrying on their 'worjc, making a total of £2824. Adding this, to the'income for special purposcsj the revenue for the year reaches the figure of "£3209 — a large sum, in view of the fact that' there has been no appeal for debt reduction, buildings, -or any- similar purpose. v ■

'Hie iidoptioi'i of the report and bal-ance-sheet was moved by Mr. A. D. Thomson, who referred, amongst other) matters, to tile roll of lionoUr, expressing gratification that so large a number (if St. John's young ineii had volunteered for active service, to the excellent work done by the choir, and to the value of tlie contributions by means of envelopes as the most effective method' of supporting the' ordinances of tho church. , The motion was seconded by' Mr. 'Baiy. Mr, Butler, sjlcakiny to the motion, referred specially to tile Work of the Bible classes, and pointed out the large amount'of money tliat- had been raised- by the Young Women's Glass and also by the Voting Men's Glass, the latter a somewhat: remarkable, feat, iii. viefr of the number of iiieinbers who were riorf afc the front." "Mr! Hopliii-k spoko of tho work in the Sunday School, commending the Sunday School teachers for their self-denying labours, arid asking tliij parents to show their interest in. the school in tho most practical of all ways, by seeing that their children were regularly in attendance.

Before putting tho motion, Dr. Gibb' desired to voice their gratitude to God for tho successful work of the pa6t year. That- success had been evident lti many directions) hut he might call attention to the very latge sum oE money—£l4oo—that had been raised for altruistic purposes; that is, for objects outside the congregation. A? to_ finances for cougregational purposes ffiero could be 110 , question that collection by envelopo was much the most satisfactory method. He referred to tho difficulties of the work owing to St. John's being now a down-town Congregation. '"Presbyterians in ever-in-creasing-: numbers were pushing into the suburbs,' anct'their Sabbath schools "suffered. During his pastorate tho membership of the church in full comrtvunion bad . nearly doubled, while this Sunday School had decreased by v about one-half. Th.e facts wero significant ,of ' the increasing difficulty of securing new families for the church. He referred further , to' the loyalty and patriotism of their young' men. There were close on 140 names, oii tlie Roll of Honour, and thei<Hvere numbers niore who'bad voluate'ored but had not yet been called up. Ho -finally congratulated tha ■workers pu tbeir year'.xaehieyemertt, and gave tiuutte for tho loyal.. and hearty co-operation he bad experienced in bis work. ,As to the appreciation of hisefforts -'contained in the report, ho "could on.ly say f.'Tha'rik you." With (regard, to the warning to him to go a bit slower, that was easier said than done. Often Jig bad been remonstrated with by ldnd friendi) for taking so heavy a load upon his shoulders, and immediately thereafter the samo kind friends'bad dropped a few further burdens on tho eame shoulders. The motion was carried unanimously. ,