CONSECRATION OF ALL SAINTS' CHURCH.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 268, 12 November 1868, Page 2

CONSECRATION OF ALL SAINTS' CHURCH.

The new Anglican church, erected for the use of the western parish, near Van-guard-street, to the rear of the Oddfellowshall, was consecrated yesterday afternoon with the usual ceremonial by the Right Eev. Bishop Suter. The building, of which a description appeared in our columns previous to the occasion of the laying of the first stone, is entirely of wood, in the Byzantine style, and when the apse and campanile at the east end, with its western termination, are completed, will form a conspicuous and picturesque object. The ceremony commenced at 3 o'clock, when the petition for consecration was read by the iucumbent, the Rev. R. J. Thorpe, after which a procession of the clergy took place round the aisles of the church, repeating the 24th Psalm, * The earth is the Lords.' The prayer of the consecration was then read by the Bishop, followed by the reading of the deed of consecration by the registrar of the diocese, Mr Donald Sinclair, and the anthem ' I will arise' having been sung by the choir, which had beea increased by several valuable accessions, the usual evening service was read, partly by the incumbent, and partly by the Rev. Gr. H. Johnstone, the incumbent of Christ Church, the lessons being read by tbe Revs. W. D. E. Lewis and C. O. Mules. At its conclusion the Bishop preached an appropriate sermon from Haggai ii, 5, 'In this place I will give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts.' Iv concluding his discourse, his Lordship stated that the cost of the building, iucluding the purchase of the land on which it stands, was about £1278. £200 had been borrowed to defray the cost of erection, which was not immediately required to be replaced, together with a further sum of £200 borrowed from the Diocesan Loan Fund at a small rate of interest, to be repaid by periodical instalments, together with a deficiency of £171, which it was requisite should be raised at ouce. The Te Deum was then sung with good effect by the choir, aud a collection having been made, amounting to £26, the service was brought to a conclusion. The interior of the building presents an extremely light and yet substantial appearance, the pitch of the roof beiug good, and affording the most ample ventilation, a poiut too often overlooked in our churches. The fittings are of the most severely simple and temporary character, but the church has been constructed with an evident view to insure strength aud durability — a fact which will at once accouut for the expenditure already incurred iD its erection, since a building planned to accommodate tbe present number of the congregation, about 300, . might have been completed in a less satisfactory manner, a^ even less cost than the present structure has required. Mr Beatson was the architect, and Mr Henry the contractor for the building.