Opening of the Westeyan Church at Ashurst.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1660, 17 March 1886, Page 2

Opening of the Westeyan Church at Ashurst.

TEA AtfD PUBLIC! MATING. Monday May^lieidbnsidered as a'xeclletter jday at Ashurst. Following upon the Sunday opening services m connec-, tion \|itli the above church, a public tea 'meeting took place m the church on Monday eVenihe:, and was well attended hot pnly by the people of Ashurst but by out3i)ide visitors from- Palmerston and elsewhere!. From five o'clock m the evening till eight tJbecry; was .''.s^ill they\come,^ i as vehicleVha 1 horse came' up and depositeji their burthen m the common that sSWi'ounds the new and handsome edifice 'now knOwn as the Wesleyah Church". The building is 26 feet wide by 32 feet long, anH'-wef should say will afford ample room jfor Ashurst worshippers for some time tfo'.comeV On Monday, however, it ?yvas npt nearly large enough to hold the assembled throng. There -had to be several sittings, to the. tea and: iwhen at last the tables were cleared out and the seats Arranged f orjthe after meeting it was discovered that about a third of the congregation had to remain about and outside of ; the door. The structure is; 'very handsomely fitted up inside and looked very gay while tne inaugural festivities were- in progress. The Ashurst ladies 'seemed to have spared no pains to make {the tea a thorough success, tor ibe good things loaded the tables m mere than usual abundance and' variety. At about B,o'clock the Rev. K.S.Bunn. opened the after meeting by giving out. a hymnj after the singing of which he repeated the Lord's praye^ and then .called) upon Mr B. Leary to take the chair. „. Mr [Leary said that he had been telegraphed^ from Ashurst tQ-.-jtake, the. chair,;butha'd dcolined on accomrtr'oif-the^ uncertainty of- his being able to be presenb; dud so the matter had been off is, mind jintil' riow 'he 1 found himself^ duly installed. He remeiftb>red;\ a' /similar meeting to the present „hejd here 12 agotyrheni ithere.iwas :?np .phurch. , "Helhoughfi tn^jt^an'sforniation ih'so short a tiini was creditable 'tb^'tjie , Ashurst people 1 and' 'to allconfcerned'i'He thoiigKt churches : were • a ' sien 'os> true 'progress. SChoy ! doubtless , remembered hearing ofthe man who had , been shipwrecbed,onr what ho feared was a deserj: island until on proceeding through the solitude lie oame m sight of a gibbett and his, heart overflowed with thankfulness at this sign of civilization.' : Doubtless the ■"• gallows .was'Ujsign of civilization, but he thought: a cnurch a much better. one and- when people turned their backs on churchesj ahd Sabbaths, it .was .to. make ,• a ; i:etro, , gressive step. He lipped that, the time, would soon come when this 'new church would be too sniallfor.itsconcfregrttion.The report was now read by Mr Kilffbrfl, the Treasurer, which showed that 1 the church I.and had" been paid for, price pf wh.icl| squv, Mr Mc^enzie, the vendor, had kindly handed back £10 by way of donation. Donations were made m labor and' material also amounting to i£2'r Is 6d, leaving the chuYch indebted to the amount of £187? is 6d,'Wliich had .been further reduced by collections- at opening services and proceeds of tea, besides jcash donations andjgtomisel to, the amoimt of £84 4* whion^O^-rej^egented ' the debt. *k' ;!^-~ss*b Mr' Hart, of Wairara^^apjloaaed to •cc tlio Ashurst people^o-sopnlto the fore with ji pioneer church. "tE^was a beautiful sign; it shewed true^,. vitality. The. Biblel h\dj lived and flourished through ages of % opposition; fbr'-the iruthl it taugHt were enduring, truths; and the people who lived -u'p^ to those truths ■would have a religion that, would never fail b!ut . suffice . , m( . ? 9yery . . of need, vary different from those founded upon th» ever .shifting ground o| specuJatioh.. ■■■•'"■• ' '■"■".' '"■■.'.. ".■■■'■'" v

i? Mr Grace i passed s.ome 'very high eiilofgiums upon the ' Ashurst- people. ; The Experience he had among them of late had ejlevated j them, greatly, m nis'estima-! ( tion. | He remembered -the J,ime when | they m Paknerston almost despaired conductihg their cause successfully m Ashurst, and were"very*neafly giving up ; thepiace ;-but|they resolved on one more effort- andtlie happy result was tliat they-, couldj now->worship there m a.churoh;of no mean pre't'ensjons. He thought the resullj wasin a great measiu ; e due to the energy of the' ; Asfiurßt^men %nd^omeri; of- whom he spph;eun terms &f tfie greatest praise, referring: specia]l3'' to the valuable aeryiceCrendißrepby^Messrs Searle, T^illiamsj'Eel ford, "arid Rumble. " The Rev. R. S: jßunh Vsaid tKese'retrdspeets'in which some of the % speakeis had been jindulging-'were. yery pieasant ; -when" the irltdrvehirig tinie was" rnarkeflj' as m this case, by a steady progression, and the success.aijhieyed'was aucli:as to b'ringi uppermost the feeling of gratitude. Referring to the building he thought Mr McKenaie^ha^acte^d m the..mosj; liberal manner by "reducing the pnee "of | his 'land «s b,e|had. He also' spoke_ of the services |of other, Ashurst . Helpers, ..and Pal-, mersljon helpers tool mentioning irfthis connection the, names of Messrs Grace and iDillbn. But notwithstaqding th.c of those who bad hetped thenvso ; •'matewally m building^^ iftaterW and labour, ■ as well as money, there was stiHan incumbent debt, which required an effort to dissipate. He. hoped. that effort. would • b.e ; commenced now, for if they could raise but £'20, then debt would be practically extinguished for 5 years, as £60 would be advanced by the Loan Fund for. rthat period free of interest. -After an earpest and stiring appeal on the more spiritual aspect of this church extension the rev. gentleman sat down, when a collection was .made amounting to £3 7s 6d. Vote of thanks jwore then carried.to Mr Bunn tot; (he serVje^s^'f the p'revibus' i Sunday, tome" choir coupling" with it the n&mes of Miss Mowlem, organist, I and Mr Hartley, conductor, to ihie local committee of ladies who had given the trays • consisting of Mesdames Kilford, Williams, Pankhurst, Grammar, and and tothe^Chairman. - r \ j The Cnairman ihi respondibg said he hoped some subscriptions would come m •through the week ¥ ,-when s <thgse would have time 'io consider the state of affairs.

.It was also ; suggested by somVone /present that from thQge unable to give at the present titqa prorqises would be So oeptable far tljree iflqn.ths. heno«. > Yery^sqccesjfylnieeting terminated, by c Ssr $unn pronaunciqg t^e Benediction. While the^assemblywas dispersing 'the choir sang" the beautiful aqthem " Now Lord we part m Thy great Name." The other musical items rendered during the evening were "Thine , 0 Lord is. theoGreatnessj • ' v.-In Jewry is Qfld known," " Rejoice, m the Lord" VSinffunto God," "Give ear to my Words/M'The Chri«tiarJVhappy> Resolut tion.'' The rendition of these anthems between the speakers helped greatly; to enliven the proceedibgs, which were animated throughout, and the privilege of listening to the sin«ing: alone was well wortH tjie price of admission to the tea; The ch,Qir :i as ,a ; whble^ and Mr Hartley the'dqndtiotor and Miss Mbwlein the organist well deserved the encomiums showered upon them by all present. Altogether Monday's gathering may he characterised a* one qf the most plea^aqt that has taken place ia the district fete low© time.