ST. JAMES' CHURCH ROXBURGH.

Mt Benger Mail, Volume I, Issue 51, 20 April 1881, Page 6

ST. JAMES' CHURCH ROXBURGH.

A meeting of the Committee of St. James' Church, Roxburgh, was held on i Wednesday evening last. Present— I Messrs Cooper (chair) Burton, Coop ; (Secretary), Forbes, Michelle, Roger, Ryan, and Dr Webb.—The minuses of : last meeting were read and confirmed. i | The Secretary read a letter received from j i the Bishop of Dunedin suggesting a | clergyman (Rev. Mr Long), who would I '. take charge of Tapanui and Roxburgh. I It was proposed that Mr Long should j : reside in Tapanui, and give fortnightly ' j services in this district. The matter was i j fully discussed by the Committee in all : its bearings. All present were unanimous ' in opinion that the services of a clergy- ' \ man are very desirable for Roxburgh, j ' so as to keep up and increase the congre- ! gation and promote the general good of ■ \ the Church. Instead of an annual con- ! j tribution of £IOO, the Chairman suggested i ! that they could, were the clergyman to j | reside in Roxburgh, make the amount up to £llO, which with the parsonage would make Roxburgh's contribution higher than that of Tapanui ; and Mr Ryan said it would be easier to raise £llO it the ! clergyman were living in Roxburgh than £IOO for an occasional visit. Stress was laid on the fact that the Roxburgh con- ! gregation have a church free of debt, and j j a parsonage, while at Tapanui the church i is burdened with debt and there is no I

parsonage. It was unanimously resolved i 1 that Messrs Cooper and Coop should j write to the Bishop a letter expressing the opinion of the Committee that this congregation would furnish £llO as a j yearly contribution, and the use of the ! parsonage, if Roxburgh is made the headquarters of the clergyman. Dr Webb j pointed out that ihe £IOO contribution formerly mentioned was on the footing that the clergyman should be resident in Roxburgh.—A letter was received from Rev. W. Ronaldson asking an offertory on behalf of the Maori Mission Fund, as had been agreed to, all over the Diocese. The request was complied with, the day fixed being Sunday the Ist May.— The Chairman mentioned that the d-ito of ' Rev. Mr Byng's promised visit to Roxburgh had not yet been fixed.—JFhe meeting then closed. jr