WESLEY CHURCH SOIREE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 290, 28 March 1877, Page 2

WESLEY CHURCH SOIREE.

The annual soiree and public meeting in connection with the Wesleyan Church took place last evening, in the Volunteer Hall, and passed off with more than the usual amount of success. About 500 persons, young and old, sat down to a very excellent spread, provided by the ladies of the congregation. In all, there were 1G tables, each of which were tastefully decorated with vases of flowers and other ornaments, the whole presenting a very pleasing appearance. The chief attraction, however, was a very artistically-made cake, surmounted by a capital model of Wesley Church, done in sugar, and the work of Mrs. Smith. Taking, the tables in their order, we found they had been provided by the following ladies, who also presided over them :—The Misses Smith (2), Mrs. Elmslie and Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Brownlie, Mrs. Grenfell and friend, Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Lane, Mrs. Barraclough, Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Rule, Mrs. Galbraith, Mrs. Wilding, Mrs. Sidon and Mrs. Grant, Mrs. Wansbrough, and Mrs. Sheppard. There was also a table provided by the bachelors, and which, we noticed, was patronised by three clergymen, but whether this was owing to the rev. gentlemen's appreciation of bachelordom, or as a mark of their approval of the efforts of the single men, was not stated. After the good things so amply provided had been discussed, to the utmost satisfaction of all present, the tables were cleared for the

PUBLIC MEETING, which -was presided over by the Rev. W. Armitage, pastor of the church, on whose rig:it were also seated the Revs. Fitchett and Todd. The choir of the church, under the cmrluctorship of Mr. Brownlie, were also placed upon the platform, Mr. Jones kindly officiating at an harmonium lent for the occasion by Mr. Wansbrough. Tiie business of the meeting was opened by the c-oir singing the anthem, "I was glad when they said unto me." A short prayer was next offered up by the Rev. Mr.' Fitchett. Tin's was followed by the choir singing the anthem, '• Holiness becomefch Thine house.''' The. Ghairm.vx remarked that trie duty lie had to perform was a very light one, consisting simply of introducing the various speakers to the meeting. Still, lie felt ifc his duty to make a few remarks. These annual gatherings were either attended by feelings of pleasure or pain pleasure,' if they were satisfied that th" work of the past year had been attended with success ; and pain, if it had been otherwise. Ifc might be that they were not able to look back with feelings of pride at the results of the past year, 1-ufc still, he thought that, they had reason to congratulate themselves that their labours had not been wholly in vain. The Methodist Church was essentially a church by itself, although there was much in its form of worship resembling that of the Presbyterian Church. John Wesley, when he founded his church, borrowed much from the Presbyterians. As a Church, the Wesleyans had been credited with more than an ordinary amount of earnestness, and it became their duty to see that it did not lose the prestige it had obtained. The Wesleyan Church was still a very young one, especially in Otago ; but it Was their desire to build up a Church on sure foundation. The reverend gentleman expressed his pleasure at seeing so large an attendance, and at seeing so many present not belonging to the church, as it showed that, although they belonged to other denominations, they sympathised with the good work they had in hand. He then concluded by calling upon the Treasurer to read the financial statement.

Mr. Lane, in doing so, said that lie was sorry to say that financial matters had not progressed so satisfactorily during the past year as he should like to have seen them. He also reminded them that, during the present year it would be necessary for the congregation to erect a parsonage for their minister, and hoped they would contribute liberally towards that object. He then read the following St.-vte3iext of Accounts of Wesley Church, Oamauu, for the Past Yeah. Circuit Fund. income. £ s. d. Sablwth Offertories 209 0 2 I Contributions from Members of Class Meeting 43 17 6 £25"? *' EXPENDITURE. „ , £ S. d. Minister's Stipend . ■•■ ■' •>- n n Payments to rwnexional Funds 6a 0 0 £265 0 0 Thus showing that the expenditure has exceeded the income by the sum of £l2 12s. Trustees' Account, income. £ s. d. From ordinary sources ... ... 78 17 6 Special income, on account of introduction of gas into the Church • 21 0 0 99 17 6 EXPENDITURE. £ a. d. Ordinary working expenses of the Church 30 5 0 Legal expenses arising out of the conveyance of the Church property to the New Zealand Wesleyan Conference 33 0 0 Gas Fitting 21 0 0 Gas Accounts 11 5 0 Interest 7 10 0 £lO3 0 0 Showing that the expenditure ha 3 exceeded the income by the sum of L 3 2s. 6d., so that

on both accounts the balance -uUe to the* Treasurer amounts to LIS 4s. 6d. There is at present a debt of L3OO upon the Church property, for which the Trustee*) have to pay 10 per cent. I

The Choir next sang the hymn "The Bright Forever More." The Rev. A. R, Fitchett was then called upon by the Chairman. The* rev. gentleman said he ought to address a few words to the improved and greatly improving state of the Wesleyan Church in Oamaru. He had no doubt that the Church would take its proper place, and do its work well. While the statement just read showed a slight balance on the wrong side, he was not sure that the balance against them should not have been still greater. It would have shown ;\ greater amount of faith in themselves. Referring to a remark which had fallen from Mr. Lane in regard to the attendanco on wet Sundays being small, and that the offertories suffered in consequence, he (tha speaker wished them to understand that ministers usually preached their best sermons on wet Sundays. Henry Ward Beecher said to his congregation—"l want you all to understand that I preach my best sermons on wet Sundays." He (tho speaker) would suggest that the members of the Church note wet Sundays on their calendars, and put by their coin, whatever its value, and give it .the following fine Sunday. He hoped that something would be done to remedy the great want of a minister's house. He reminded them that although they were not at present svipposed to provide a married minister, Mr. Armitage was a married man ; in fact, as an American humorist had said of a gentlemen belonging to the Salt Lake Territory, "He was very much married." He strongly recommended them to set about the erection of a parsonage without delay. | Hj did not think that the progress of the Church would be of a startling nature.-. It would not go up like a rocket, to come again like the stick. Still he believed that the progress of the Church would be of a steady and increasing nature. He had considerable knowledge- of the Rev. Mr. Armitage, and had every confidence that that gentleman would do his would do his work thoroughly and well, and he had therefore no doubt of the ultimate progress and prosperity of the Church and° conjugation under Mr. Armitage's charge. He wished to say a few words to them in regard to their Church music, and as a candid friend was always considered a valuable institution in a family, he hoped his remarks would betaken in good part. He would like them to do more to cultivate singing in the Church, which was not so aatisfacfcory as it might. They had no diiiicnfty sncti as existed in Mr. Todd's Church and other Churches in the Colony, in regard to instrumental music ; but he held "that instrumental music should be strictly subordinate, and as a guide to the voices" in giving forth of praise to God. Music should be a branch of worship, and the singers should preach the Gospel jnst as much as the minister of the Church. He would like to see the young people o the Church meet regularly t^/v^Pr^" .•■' the practice of singing—not recreation, but as a branch of worship. He saw amongst them, young people possessing the necessary requirements _ for choir singing, and he felt sure they might easily got together a good choir. Mr. Fitchett then proceeded to say that the present was a critical period, and that a great many criticisms were published _on the work which Christianity was doing in the world ; but the critics neglected give Christianity credit for the work it had done. Why, it would be impossible for a Charles the Second or a George the Fourth to sit upon the Throne of England at the present day, so great had been the change wrought by Christianity in public opinion and public sentiment. The work winch Christianity had done was really astounding. Through it the laws had become more humanised, and the possibility of war greatly decreased. They mifht be referred to the late Turkish atrocities. Why these things had occurred over and over again, and the only difference was that public now shuddered, at them, instead of looking at them as matters of course. The world was gradually becoming better ; and this was owing to the influence of Christianity. One of the worst features of the present times was the ex : stence of croakers and grumblers —men who talked of hearing nothing good or wise. They might talk of the "ood old times as they liked, but they would ha*e to search a i°«SJ w ay back to find the good oV ""«"» they talk of It was t.i~- - uat even m England th'er* -*" 1 existed some remnant of feudalism, but the Colonies were blessed in not having anything of the kind to mar their progress. The men in the Colonies were far better educated than they could be at Home. With the settling of the Colonies the foundation of a new type of nations was being laid, and we should be the last tq cry out that this was a dark age, that the times were evil, and that all was re-= trograde. Although he would not say anything about Mr. Bright and the doctrines of free thought which he upheld, because that gentleman was not present to defend them, he felt compelled to say that the freedom of Christianity was the dom of thought. It had been said that to become a Christian was to give up all right to think for themselves. This was not true, for they were told to inquire and to hold on to all that was good, If he thought that Christianity had the effect of robbing men of the right of thinking for themselves, he would not be * preacher of it. Then again some people ■ spoke of the failure of Christianity on the \ ground that its followers were not all of *. one denomination ; but they were all aiming at the same end. In conclusion, he trusted that all the , churches, of Oamaru would enjoy a long.ai d^siingfN prosperity. The reverend gentleman \—> address was an able and interestl-ig one,

with amusing anecdotes, Sid w:w« trfix*twatly eh««c«a during tts The Ch *"<•■« *"* briefly expressed the t ',,.,. !,.• li;uf experienced white Itstenoleus" ' l t tut nff t" *■'"' !'« ,f ' yi " ,w »pefil«sr, and called noon k! eee bearer* to make the usual C ° After' fi> lf » eeTl ~! '- c^°'r jang. the anthem, "Thine, O tiud, b the greatness.' Tlia CttAtfcAtAtf then called en The E«v. Mr. T»Dt>, who. • satd it afforded tu«* S™*- 1, pt«»»'pw *•» *« "? c » more at the annnal gathering ot thy WeaIt»yan Church. There were a tar greater munber of points in common between the Wesleyan Church and the Presbyterians than there were of difference. He eontfratitlatedi them en the progress made during the past year. H» »t*<> congratulated the Rev. Mr. Arm it age on the number present at that meeting and he was also pleased to sae a lacjjw nmuber ofhis „wn congregation present. The suhjeet he had chosen was the "«,»od Time* Coming," and he would, strangely enough, follow \i P the speech of Mr. fc itchett by tafcinv a look into the future. Already theysaw signs of the approach of those good times." Numbers of prophecies had already been f til tilled, and if they took the trouble to look back at history they wonlil see how well the events fitted in with prophesy. The social and polit"eat events of the present day clearly showed the approach of these good times., One sign of that near approach was the great change in the eo-idition of the working classes-. They were gradually being raised, and had reached a higher platform than they had ever previously done. He asked the audience to glance at the great dilFerency in the social and temporal situation of the working closes between the present day and those of a century ago. They had more opportunities of enjoyment than the wealthy men of 100 years since. This was a sure sign of the coming of the I'nod times. A second sign was the spread of knowledge and education -amongst alt chases. tte disagreed with many _in his belief ch."fc even secular education alone was better than no education at alt, la these Colonies they hail much to he thankful for in this matter. He had married hundreds of couples, many of whom lmd been unable to sign their own names, but among all idiosn who were unable to do so, there was not a single one of them colonials. The third sign was the it ;neral dilFusioti of the gospel of peace. Which ever way he looked, he saw si."us of the uoming "of b< tter times. Another g". eat sign of the good times coming was the greater freedom of thought and action existing in the present day. That freedom was far greater in the pr: eetit day than it had ever bee"- be-fore. Tin re tvies al-o a great dhtVre-nce in the wording of I : Christian Church during tie.) present century, which might fairly be t. nued its - .;. -;;.,,'-,;;-\ era. The work which-had been 'a-.- Ip !.;• past 80 years wes very ;- -<•?• The .- .-|i; r f.hf-P . n'-i.:- ;■;!'■ '•■■:'!■■■•■■• ~,,urr "es in'- w! •■■:. »' '■'■*'. ■-■'■■ I-' 1 '■ •■ -. ; V".P..' \-:{ ■•' -'tn-V >''<>■ •"• ■■■■•••. •-'"'W biUV ' li i"'" I ''""' '" ' r; ' '' ; '"' : ■" l IW;. ( ;.'i;i-'.«. 'i ■■'[■ UK f\.N ; -a: i he -". '"" " ' ■' ; '.n, the ~,; 11, -. ~!' r.iie previous speaker In regard I-.,, i <*■ -. - -:«.| of education. In his espe- ,■:, ii,-.- i:.. h.-.-.l never met a colonial youth or a colonial maiden who, when called upon to sign the marriage certificate, had been unable to do so. Anthem--" l will arise and go to my Fiither," by r.he Choir. Mr. W.\'-NST.;vOc;<i!t briefly moved votes of thanks to the ladies who provided the ten, to the Choir, and to the Rev. Messrs. Fitehett and Todd, The motion was carried by acclamation. Anthem, by the Choir—" flow beautiful upon the mountains.'* Tlii! tlev. Mr. Todi> moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, and; said he thought an omission had been made in the previous -motion, as no mention bad heen inailo .-'i i.'»«- naehelei's. The tiev. Mr. ToPD then pronounced the i"rn<:du:lUon v and the Choir having sung l- Wo rtha-ll meet beyond the river," the meeting terminated, everyone being highly pleased with the evening's enter tain men fc. i [b may not be out of place to oi- M( ., rvi . tfiah the Choir throughout, the evening rendered the musical portion of the proceedings in a highly creditable manner, and that the whole affair was carried was carried out in a style that might well be imitated.