CHURCH MISSION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 12

CHURCH MISSION.

ST. MARY'S ORPHANAGE. The sixth annual me&tfng of the Church Mission and St. Mary's Orphanage was held on the 3rd insfc. in St. Paul's schoolroom, and was. presided over by the Primate (Bishop Nevill). There was a large attendance of ladies and gentlemen, and amongst those occupying seats on the platform were his Worship the Mayor (Mr J. Loudon), Dean Fitehett, Rev. W. Ronaldson, Rev. W. Curzon-Siggers, Sir J. N. Ritchie. REPORTS. The report of the Church Mission contained the following items of interest: — Work in the parishes has gone on steadily, and visits to the number of 1798 have been paid, in addition to ordinary parochial visits to known parishioners. House-to-iiouse visitation was done in the mornings in St. Paul's, in order to obtain as complete a list as possible ior the new vicar. The claims on the Mission " House are ever increasing and ever varying, and one j is surprised in looking over a. week's record j in the day-book to see how much time is ! occupied in " seeing visitors." By this we do not mean our many kind friends who ' com© to us with offers of help or gifts of different description*; we mean the poor and the sinful, and the perplexed who want " just a minute "to tell their tale of woe— to take or reject, as the case may bs, the advice we try to give them; and they come the more willingly because they soon learn that what is said in the Mission House is sacred, and that their trouble is not likely to be made the foundation of a sensational story. ! Work in gaol and hospital has been I steadily carried on, and, as has been our custom since the beginning of the Church Mission in Scotland street, we had our carol | service on Christmas Day. We are in- ' debted to the chaplain of public institutions for his arrangements, and to our faithful helpers, the Misses Bray , (2), Peacock, I Pyrke, Gill, Martin (2), and Woodland, who j came to sing. Every Sunday afternoon brings visitors to the Mission. House— girls wh,o have no homes, and who feel the Mission House fulfils that need. Afternoon, tea is always prepared for them in the schoolroom, and they go to church in the evening with us. The following are the main matters touched on in the report of St. Mary's Orphanage : — Children to the number of 40 have been cared for «,t different times for a longer or shorter period while their parents, for various reasons, were unable to look after them. Of permanent inmates we Have at present 35 three of whom ate shortly to go to relations now able to look after them properly, so that in one way or another 65 children have been, helped by the orphanage during the three years of its existence in Leith street. | Add to that the Scores which passed through the kind care of the home at Bishopsgrove, and we begin to realise the Church has indeed done her duty in this diocese to the unfortunate and the bereaved. - We are ! I strongly of the opinion that better results | are obtained by tTying to work on the few for a number of years than having a greater ' number of children for a Bhorter time, i There are girls growing tip in the home now i who ore just beginning to show signs of selfcontrol gentleness, end (shall we say it 1) of " conscience." In work such as this I one must wait long and pray earnestly for ' the " soul's awakening," and perhaps the longer one waits the more hopeful and endur- , ing are the awakening and its results. . i The Government of New Zealand has not , yet seen fit to grant us recognition under ■ the Private Industrial Schools Act. j The Otago Witness was kind enough to i print snapshots from the orphanage, and to include in the same number some facta about th» Ohuroh Mission and orphanage; and " Dot's ' competition for the best-dressed 1 , doll yielded to us some lovely specimens for our Christmas tree, which we always have on Holy Innocents' Day. We can safely claim financial help while i we have such a committee and treasurer aa { at present ; and we should also like to remind . our supporters that the money given to such j <an institution as this does not go to pay high salaries to matrons and a-ttendants, but ' really goes to the maintenance of the orphanage and its inmates, and that the " machinery" of the house, if one may so express J it, is on the most economical scale. I We really have so many people to thank | that if we begin to give names we shall not know where to stop, but to our two workers, Mice Baylis and Miss Rehberg, we can never, discharge our debt of gratitude. To all and sundry we say "Thank you!" and to any friends who have not yet visited the orphanage we tender a cordial invitation to do so, the visiting days being the second and fourth Monday and Friday afternoons. The Primate, in opening the proceedings,

said it was gratifying to him to note that the attendance at the annual meeting was larger from year to year, and that the amount of support which came in the most voluntary way from the general public was also increasing. Of course, they did not exist only for the sake ' of raising money, but at the same time they felt that when an institution recommended iteelf so entirely to the sympathies of the public as this one did, it wag a very interesting thing to observe that the money for its support was always increasingly forthcoming. He thought they might take their measure of monetary support ac an indication of the value of the institution to the community. He expressed hiß gratitude as head of the diocese to the devoted workers who were continuing their selfdenying efforts for the success of the great work they had in hand. His Lordship concluded with a warm euloety of the splendid work being done by Sister Ernestine, Sister Frances, Miss Baylis, Miss Rehberg, and others. Hi 6 Worship the Mayor, who was cor- ; dially received, moved the adoption of the , reports and balance sheets. The objects of ' the institution, he said, were the visiting and the helping of the poor, the sitting up 1 with the sick and dyinir, the visitation of the Hospital and Gaol, end other refuge work, and the management and the control of the orphanage. To his mind the most important work that could be carried on was the care of the little children. His Worship concluded By congratulating the society on the success that had attended the past year's operations, and he wished , for it even a greater measure of success |in the future. As Mayor of the city he tendered hearty thanks to the deaconesses, the Committee of Management, and the ladies and gentlemen who had done so ! much to promote the success of the Mission Society and St. Mary's Orphanage.—(Applause.) j _ The Rev. "W. Curzon-Siggers, in second- ' j ing the adoption of the report and balance sheet, said that he would speak to l them in his capacity of president of the i Society for the Protection of Women and Children, because the report especially ap- J pealed to him as such. ¥irat, unfortu- I nately, women would ff«t into gaol, and from the reports he had received from ■ women and from those dealing with women in prison, he could testify to the good work done by Sister Ernestine in her ' prison work; indeed, her work amongst ! such women was a valuable asset to the morals of the^ community, and could not bo too highly' praised. Secondly, in the matter of the orphanage, the work of +he institute appealed to him because he had so often to deal with children who needed just such loving care as the sisters could give. He hoped that the State would soon make a grant to St. Mary's, which would enable that institute to extend into th« country. Here at St. Mary's the management seemi to have caught the genius of the Church in dealing with the orphans I by a email institute where home life was predominant. If the institute was to ex- ! pand, it must do so by going injo the 1 country. He noticed that the boots and I stockings account made a larjre drain on the charitable public. Muoh of this might be caved if they had a home in the country. Many doctors advocated that children should run about without shoes and stockings, and indeed their own children did so, a good deal to their evident good health. ; But if these orphans passed through the streets shoeless there would be the usual absurd outcry that the orphans were maltreated, whereas if they were in the country no one would regard their shoeless state ac other than proper and conduoive to hoalth. Therefore, the institute demanded and deserved increased support, so that it might, for the benefit of its inmates, expand into the country, and also might take under its wing more ohildren to be trained by devoted religious women, who would at the same time shepherd 'girl-mothers and save them from further transgression in the, it is to # be hoped, few suoh oases the institute might be called upon to deal with. The motion was carried with acclamation. , ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS. The election of office-bearers resulted as follows : — Committee — Yen. Archdeacon f Gould. Canon Woodthome, Rev. W. <ourzon-Siprare;rs. Messrs W. Burnett, G. '■ Joachim. J. M. Ritchie, Meedames James Allen, Gray, J. M. Ritchie, H. E. Williams. James Thomson, Misses Williams and Marcbant; hon. treasurer, Mr John i Nevill Ritchie.