WESLEYAN CHURCH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 74, 26 February 1884, Page 3

WESLEYAN CHURCH.

Anniversary •Services. The tea and public, meeting held last eveninginconnection with the Weslcyan t .Church, Broad-street, was largely at- * tended, and was m every way a moat successful au,d pleasant social gathering. ' T^e^ following ladies ; presided. at v ,the ' various tables :— Mesdames . j. and H. Kibble.white, Harvey, J. Stubbs, and Nash; Misses Leamington, Tingey, George, Grace, and Dillon. The most ample provision had been made, and (nil justice was done to the liberal supply of good things prepated. The public meeting took place m the new ch ii reh,. there being a very large, attendance. Mr Bowron presided, and having briefly addressed the meeting, called on the Secretary to submit; his report. ; : ; Eeport In presenting this, the third annual • report of our Sunday School, I would remark that m thi», as m Sunday Schools ' generally, changes are continually taking place, Hnd while through the force of circumstance , some of our scholars are compelled to leave us>, our ranks are being swelled by those who join us. The number of scholars at present on the rolls is 163, of whom 83 hre boys and SOgirla. - ' '. These are divided into ]s. ; classes pre* sided over by h like number of teachers. The number of teachers including the • Superindent and. Secretary are IV. The average attendance of scholars during the past year was 116. , . . .■ The school is m possession of a Library containing about 100 volumes ; but owing to the fact that the books have been read .and reread, and , are ■■• consequently JookW a little dog.eared and dilapidated, thii useful arm i of. the service is not so well patronised as it ou&ht otherwise to be. The amouut collected by the scholars for the Home Mission Fund, this year, . amounted to 'the respectable sum of Ll4 17s 4£d. • ; . In- connection, with the school we/hi ye also, started a Banpliof Hope whicjif al^ . ready numbers 120 membere, a numba'r which is steac'iiy increasing, to the gr«f^t ( satisfaction and encouragement of the J JPre<« sident and committee ; and m calling your attention to this movement, I may' sttnte that the teachers look upon it as asisfce'r and an ally of Sunday Schools inthe grand work of .training the young, m the priiip ciples of temperance and our most holy faith, and I teel confident that your help and sympathy will not be withheld. I, must not omit to mention in' this report our young men's and young worn enfs Bible Classes, of -which as a baud oT teachers, we feel, I believe, justly iprduq. These f classes are. presided. ; o,vac by faithjful and efficent teachers, and there is room •for, and tho teachers will be happy tlo; welcome any who, would hear of heaven and learn the way. ; In connection" with the young mens otoss, the lomr evenings of the ; <somiog winter will 1 believe * sse the inauguration of a Young Men's Mutual Improvement. Society ; lot the discussion aad consider*** " tion of various scientific, political, histori« cal, and other subjects. Those of you who "may be intimate with the working of these societies will be well aware of their vast importance as nurseries for tho development of public Speakers, scientist?, and even ministers of the Gospel. Taking a retrospective ginnce, we find, though we cannot triumphantly point to the fruits of our labors m the conversion of many of our scholars as was done last year, still we believe a good wo:k has been done, is being done, and with God's help will continue to be done, during the present year, and we desire your assist- ' ftnee and prayers that our efforts may b,9 for the glory of Gbd and the extension of his Kingdom. ! -. Balance Sheet. Receipts— Cash m hand, L 5 IS3> receipts from ai/nual tea meetiup, Lll 12a 2d ; collections at anniversary meeting, LI 14s bd ; anniversary collections,L9 12s 6djproceeds of picnic, LI 7s: library pence, 3sld;total,L3o 7asd. ; Expeneeßr— Provisions for annual , teja and picnic L 8 9s 7d : printing, advertising &c, L 4 16a 6d : rewards for scholars, L 5 178: ministers expenseß<fec.,L2la6d;station cry accounts, L 3 17-» : postaue &c, 10s :i balance m hand, IA 15s lOd ; : total L3O ( 7s sd. Our liabilities for prtzes, &&pr. r at present, however, amount to Lll 3s 7gd, Ihus leaving a deficit of L 6 7s 9£d. The total amount of the collections yesterday was 1 L 8 17s 2d. ! In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, though the children are our scholar?, still remember they are your children, and when you help us by means of your overflowing purges and by sympathy from your ovei flowing hearts 'tis but that we may. l obtain prizes and enjoyments Id bestow upon them, and, as librarian, per*: mit me to .point out the vast importance , of le^ting;our scholars have aitople supply f of good,, sound, wholesome- reading, and for this purpose I appeal to- youjtyij sup;» .'plies, of what alone is heeded to make ours one of the best and happiest Schools . m New Zealand, ■■■ ' <".■ '"■■ . Mr Stubbs then read an excellently prepared report of the position of the Sunday ' School as compared with last year, (Fa tic u{a rs of this we are' sorry riot to be able to publish 'here.) Mr Stubbsstatedhebelievedagoo.d work ' had been done during 'the past" year, an d aske 1 that the parents and guardians ot the children would pray for continued blessings on the work. MjStubbs referred to the library of ihp Sunday School as being m a very dilapidated condition, and hopgd ; the friends of the children would assist then) to procure a superior qtpcfe of literature for their use. ' j The superintendent (Mr Grace) nexjt addressed the meeting. He referred to a statement 'made by the Secretury when reading his report vi^.', that this yi'as their third aninial report. He wished to inform those present that the school had now been open 7 or 8 ..years;.,,,- ■--.; \, : .... . ■ ; '' - - pChey ; had decided jto, place the financial position of the, school before their friends at their ..anniversary meeting, and .trussed their friends would by seeding hqw they were , progressing or rdqujring assistance give that support which was always needed m, a "work of Jhe.kind. He referred to the tem> perance movement which. was on of the branches of the Sunday Scliool,aud was glad to say that the number of mem bers on the Band of Hope roll was rapidly increasing, Ifyotn SQnje item of interest^siipplied liim by a t)ublin lady m the meeting;, as having been stated at a; Temperance meeting . m that city, He mentioned the fact that 30,000 children were lost annually by string drink. The Hospitals, Lunatic Asylum*, and 'Work Houses told a sad tale of iw'oe. [ O»fc , of 458 persons m one prison 398 were there through strong drink, A mutual improvement class would sh;orUy r be. started;., Ba hoped numbers of their young men would take advantage of tli is movement. He ' »vould cordially invite outsiders to join. The class would combine education and amusement, and they need not , by becoming members become Wesleyans a1a0,.. As superintendant of the Sunday School, he desired tpthank all the. kind friends for their yaluable assistance.

Mf Worker (^tindon) said it i*ave him grait pleasure to , bo present on this happy occasion. He thought sortie of those pVosnnt wove anticipating Mr William's farewell address, so he would not keep thorn very long. 'M.r'W-1-liams woall lie leaving shortly for Lyttelton. He would not. be making a very groat change, and would doubtless have the pleasuro of being amongst tliem occasionally. He referred to the delightful way m vhich. the little ones had" sung dv.ring the .evening,; and thought the conductor was entitled to the highest commendation for the, efforts he was putting forth to raise, the tone of the singing m G/od'H House. He thought that church singing should surpass that of the theatre and con-* cert hull. He remarked that at the Conference ho noticed scarcely ja minister who had not .on the blue ribbon. The temperance movement was' making a great s'rida in Zealand, ' and he believed would continue to held and increase. At their .city; of Sanddn they at one time, could «pb purchase 1 any blue, it having all bceft bought up. In oonciusion, he hope<l they woiild Jill wear both the libbons, the. whito m side, viz., purity next the, heart', and the blue outside. Rev. Mr 'Williams was glad to find the time so well taken up, and would not detain them very .long with what to 'had to say. . He was pleased to see Mr Bow ron m the chair. Jij reference to the Mutual Improvement Glass abotit ■; to'be'started he hoped they -would tafee a wrinkle from the Wanganui^olks The/ had an excellent 'Society Iheile, and he believed' were doirig a good work Those who attacked Christiauiiy he found s usually left. Sunday Schools alone. Although the freethinkt>|;s had • started what they called a " Cliildrens' Lyceum." In this Lyceum was circulated a catechism, and he was amazed th,at men claiming "to be ..'intelUgejit shbui'd^pjiace Veil a proUnctrdn m tho'^iVandij of children.' 1 One of the" , Questions- iri Hhis , book was ■■« Whom xlo you regard as UisUnguished ;; Saint^" the aiiswtv to which; is " Jos&s and Mahomed." 'The motive being to inipross on the minds of childf^ii> tluU_these two are on the level.. Wns it n6t a cohdetrtnable thing ? If otir Lord be only looked 1 at: iroin the very weakest stand-point, did lie not outshfSe m splendour of manhood, and intellect.; il . beautyjthe greatest of nven thathnLVC ev> ir appeared, on our earth ; but to compare our ; Jesus the healer of th.c Jiscaaep, the consoler and sympathiser with the afflicted; the ever, meek yet .intelligent, always wherever he went doing good; the man who' suffered the> agony of crncitixion at the homes b, ah excited people,, and yet on that' very cross . forgav,e" his liujrderer.s ; to compare "Him" with Mahomet tlie sensualist and blood-stained warrior, jis I consider a most fearfuhind, blasphemous outrage. At the Dnnedju^Jfreiethought Camp, 'they had luuV a split lately on this "very question of the Lyceum, and tiomc of 1 heir membei-s bVid began to see the wretched and dpnioralizing effect such teaching would have upon the minds of their little ones,, and had left the body m disgust. .They should havetheir Sunday schools brought to the highest possible state of efficiency, so that ro outside inducements should affect their children. He.remembered, when a .much younger, man he had atteuded a meeting for the.' , reclamation of fallen women m Lon- • don and heard a number of those po6r creatures singing the hymns they had . evidently not forgotten ; hymnsi they had learnt at Sunday.. What au awful change from the God's trnin;- p ing school to the streets — abandoned, l.he , Rev. gentleman m concluding eariiestly urs;ed the menibers' of tbechurch to as ist m the gre^t work of tr'aiiiiijg the young to take! a loving interest m the, we fire of 'their children's future;* The Chair. i.an now requested the col leer ion to be made, and hop d the friends would not berfeelirjg tor the 31 pieces but get the largest coin they could find. - • ■ j Mr Grace after the coll c ion ha;d been taken up, etateJ wth evident pleasure, that the receipts far the s«'?*_. vices this year were th^ highest m connection'with tiioae sei vices ever yet received. Total for Sunday and Mondajy evening collection-! £12 lls 8 I. Mr VV. Whiteheiu huving' moved ; a ; vote of tha' ks to th«i ladies arid Mr Williams to the Chairman (Mr Bow-' ron) a very pleasan* epd enjoyable evening was brought to a close. We must not conclude our r^poit without remarking on the very exo ljent mannerin which the singing was conJude 1 by Mr Hartley assisted at the har' monium by Mrs Oarty. ' [