The Wesleyan Jubilee in Victoria.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 156, 29 May 1886, Page 5

The Wesleyan Jubilee in Victoria.

May 20fch, being the 15th anniversary of the foundation of Wesleyanism in Victoria, was celebrated with much enthusiasm. In the morning the jubilee breakfast in the Exhibition Building was attended by over 1,600 of the clergy and laity. The breakfast was followed by a monster gathering in the main hall. The Rev. W. L. Blamires, President of the Wesleyan Conference, occupied the chair, and he was surrounded by a large gathering of ministers and prominent laymen. A jubilee hymn was sung especially written by the Rev. J. G. Millard, and composed by Mr J. W Egglestono. The Rev. J. C. Symons delivered a commemorative address, tracing the history of Wesleyanism in Victoria, and giving statistics for this year, which were as follows : 480 churches, 123 schoolhouses, 82 parsonages, 109 ministers, 33 home missionaries, 16,095 church members, 751 local preachers, 4,691 Sunday-pchool teachers, 40,495 Sunday scholars, 94,228 attendants at public worship, two colleges. The total cost of the various buildings amounted to £530,000, on which there were debts amounting to £135,000 ; of the latter amount £35,000 was due to the Church Loan Fund. The value of the land given by the Government or private donors was £100,000, and. the amount paid for land was £22,000. A public meeting was held in the Exhibition Building on May 20, which was attended by about 5,000 persons. The jubilee fund amounts to £21,250 The principal objects for which the fund is being raised are the erection of a college affiliated to the University, ond the liquidation of the Church debt