ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 368, 20 April 1910, Page 7

ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHION | ERS. There was a fair attendance last night at the annual meeting of the parishioners of St. Mary's parish last night. The vicar, the Rev. F. G. Evans, presided. ANNUAL REPORTS. The Churchwardens' report, embracing the many different phases of church work, were submitted as follow: — CHURCHWARDENS' REPORT. The changes and economies effected last year by the duties cf secretary and treasurer being undertaken by members of the Vestry has been continued during the year now ending. Additional savings in the expenditure liave also been made in another direction. The verger resigned as from Ist of October lasc, and since that date the bell-ringing, lighting of Church, cleaning of brass, etc., and the care of the church yard has been undertaken by a number of church members, organised by the! C.E.M.S. By this means a sum of £35 j has been put on one side towards re- j demption of debentures owing on pansu debt. The balance-sheet indicates that financially we have gone back, opening! the year as we did with a credit balance of £6B Is, and closing with £37 13s 3d. The year, however, has been financially somewhat out of the ordinary and extra and unexpected demands have arisen. The late Rev. S. Spencer's prolonged illness, with the consequent disorganisation caused thereby and the necessity of appointing an extra clergyman for some months to minister to his district, also the heavy expenditure made necessary by the state of the roof of St. Mary's Church, and other matters, have made demands on the organisation and upon the finances of the parish •which we are pleased to be able to inform you were met and easily overcome by the whole-hearted manner in which you responded to the appeals made. , Roof of St. Mary's Church;—An alarm.ing report having been received as to .the state of the-church roof, a- speciali meeting of the congregation was called I to consider same. It was shown beyond any.possible doubt that not only were the main supports o'- the roof in the south aisle riddled with the borer,'but; that the roof as a whole had'started to "spread"; in fact, was in a dangerous condition and-must be taken in hand at once. The meeting authorised the. Vestry to take immediate steps to.carry out repairs. This was done, and we now have pleasure in stating that the. whole cost, amounting to £145 ss. lid, .was mot by, contributions from the congregation, sufficient being subscribed to .pay in full all costs for repairs and. renewals, and a thoroughly . good job j has been, made, and .the roof is .now stronger and in. a better condition, than ever before. A general overhaul of'the exterior of roof was made at the same time, the belfry was repaired and painted, and, the same done to west 'Windows and other parts of the structure.. It was indeed fortunate that these repairs • were carried out when they, were, for we tremble to think, what.might,.have, •been the result of the furious storm of the. 30th and 31st. March on the building in the weakened condition it was in ; prior to the repairs, being effected.,,,-.

CHURCH OF, ENGLAND MEN'S ' SOCIETY. The establishment of a branch of this Society -pi connection 'St. Mary's Church' is a 1 matter for congratulation and has result.ed;,Ju bringing a number of our young men into closer touch with the Church, and as time goes on we anticipate a widening and more sympathetic interest will be developed in the spiritual side . of. our parish work by. means of the Society. We have already alluded to practical work being undertaken by, individual members. These, remarks ap.ply equally to the newly-established branch of the "Girls' .Friendly Society," now firmly, established as one of the parish institutions. ST. MAitY'S WILD,

I The secretary of this. Old find vdu»d j Church institution reports that the Guild has earned and received a sum of £2O for the past year, a very satisfactory result. Of this the sum of £l7 10s has been paid over for the following church purposes—Vicarage debt,. £s;' Back-Mock Mission, £2 10s; GovettBolland Memorial Fund, £lO. The Rev. I-I. 0. Hanby, Vicar's, curate, left the Parish on 31st December last to take charge of the Ohura district as I Home Missioner, with his headquarters at ,' Taumaranui. During the twelve months he -worked at St. Mary's, Mri ,Hanby showed by the energy displayed in visitation and working up the Sun'day School, that he possesses the qualities that go to make a successful clergyman. We wish him God-speed and success in his new field of labor. On Mr. Hanby's departure, the Vicar secured the services of the Rev. John Wilkinson as curate. Mr. Wilkinson has been with us long enough to indicate that the Vicar has been fortunate indeed in securing such an earnest and conscientious worker, and we have high hopes for his ministration amongst us. ! ST. MARY'S SUXDAY SCHOOL.

I have pleasure in reporting for the past year as follows: Attendance.—For the first nine months of the past year the attendance showed \i gratifying increase oi scholars, but since the holidays there has been a slight falling off "in numbers, principally amongst the boys, but this may be partly accounted for by the increased attendance at the morning school, which, thanks to the valued efforts of Miss Devenish, ably assisted by Misses Pelham, Skinner and Bayly (2). now numbers nearly fifty. Bulb Show—Early in September our Annual Bulb Show 'took place and was most successful in even- way, the display of blooms Tioing far in excess of other years and the financial result being equally satisfactory. The Annual Picnic was held at Glenavon on the 27th January, and was thoroughly enjoyed by the children. Our thanks are due'to Mr. 11. J. Frethey for so kindly allowing us the use of the grounds and also to all kind friencts wao assisted in making it a success. During the past year we~have lost the services of several teachers, notably the Rev. H.' O. Hanby, who took a very real interest' hi all school matters. His successor, the Rev. John Wilkinson, has filled a long-felt want .by commencing a teachers'" 5 instruction class, and is also giving valuable assistance in the working of the School. We have also lost the services of our secretary, Mr. H. Simmons, whose place is to be filled by Mr. Yeomans. General.— During the year the whole of the school "buildings have been repainted, without cost to the parish, the committee of management having provided, from the earnings of the school buildings, the whole of the funds necessary f"r the work. Our thank* are Hue to the B.ev. A. M. Brndbury for so genomns'v naintinsr and fixing n new ""d artistic drop scene for the stage of the 1 tall building. la concfasioiij I have to

thank the teachers and all others who by their efforts have helped to carry on and assist in the working of the school.—Stanley W. Shaw, Superintend■ent St. Mary's Sunday School. ST. MARY'S CHOIR. The choir consists of 48 members, made up of 33 adults and 18 boys, divided as follows: Soprani 29, alti 7, tenori 4, bassi 8. The total attendances for the past year has been— Adults Boys Morning services .. 1127 513 Evening services .. 1310 479 Praetices .. .. 1157 Totals .. 3GOO 992 The average attendance at the services shows a decided improvement, and despite many removals the members have been well maintained. The attendance at practice is not as satisfactory as it should be, and while the total membership is higher than last year, th&figurca in this particular show a falling off. The music in the custody of the choir is now largely held in a properly constructeu cabinet, and in due course the librarian will have completed a proper catalogue of what is in hand. The prestnt linan-1 cial position shows, that the General j Accou»t has a balance in hand of £23 ] lbs 4U, as against £lO -s 4d last year., This is due to the Vestry having granted us for our own fund the collections of I both morning and evening services, and \ also a more liberal response on the part of the choir. The object before us is to purchase almost a complete set of surplices and cassocks for the male members, those in present use being sadly out of repair, and in some cases simply falling to pieces from age. New hymn books, chant books and psalters are badly required, the incursion of rats last spring having made havoc among the books. The amount required for these expenditures will be considerable. Several new surplices have been obtained from England for the ladies, and, with the addition of some new mortar boards, are a great improvement to our. stock. The custodians for all departmenta have done all they can to keep them in good repair, and thanks are due to the Ladies' Guild and the Girls' Friendly Society for assistance in this matter. The organ improvement sanctioned by the Vestry has still to be done. The Choir Committee have not lost sight of the amount held by the Vestry in debentures and are arranging efforts to assist the Vestry to meet this.

" ENVELOPE SYSTEM. Since my last report, in March, 1908, there has been a very large increase in 'the number of subscribers to the Envelope System. At the end of that month, forty names were on the roll, and the sum realised through this channel for the quarter totalled £23 19s 9d. At the end of the March quarter for 'l9lO, the number of subscribers has increased to 62, and the amount realised for the quarter totals £4O 19s !)d. If all would conscientiously give their money (however small the sum) through the Envelope System, there would be small cause for anxiety as to the finances of the Church. —L. H. Devenish, Hon. Sec.

Id conclusion, the Vestry desire to fender their thanks to the lady collectors for parish funds and the Maori and other missions, the director of the envelope system, Sunday School teachers, choir members, lay readers, and all other -workers, and the honorary auditor, Mr. P. 0. Morton.

Mr. \V. H. Skinner moved the adoption of the reports and accounts, and explained that the shrinkage, as compared with the previous year, in the receipts for church services, was due to the fact that the dates of collection had been altered to conform with the church's financial year, and the receipts shown were therefore for only nine 'months instead of twelve. The 'electric lighting of the church was -being proceeded with as opportunity offered, and -should be completed -by next summer. He singled out for special mention Messrs. J. Paton (hon. treasurer), F. E. Wilson- (-hon. secretary), C. E. Baker, Lush and li. E. Fookes, members of the vestry. Steveta! questions Were asked Und answered.

Mr. C. W. Govett asked if St. Mary's, parish could be conducted without a' curate, and, upon Mr. Skinner .replying in the negative, asked why St. Mary's congregation, should not pay for its curate. Mr. Skimmer said the vestry was not ,in a. position to pay the vicar and curate their salaries direct without a very substantial reduction of salaries all round. Mr. Govett ns'ked if £l<GO or £IBO was sufficient for a vicar? j Mr. Skinner: No. Mr. Govett then asked if it were fair I for the vicar to be expected to pay his r cmiate ouit of his salary. ) Mr. Skinner explained that tile vicar, i when he came, undertook to do iJie work of the parish, and he now found; he was not physically able to deal with the growing requirements. Mr. Giovett asked if there wae any fund for extending hospitality to missionera who came to this parish? Mr. Skinner: No. Mr. Govett: Then that falls' on the vicar, too? Mr. Skinner said that this was the case, but it was not necessary, for he and several others of the congregation) would 'be most happy to hospitise visiting clergy at any time. He himself had offered to assist in this direction'. Mr. Govett sa.id that sooner or' later —later, he hoped—the congregation I would -be faced with the necessity for) appointing a new vicar, and it was as well to face the position now, for it was indefensible. - Mr. F. E. Wilson said it was only fair to point out that the matter brought up by Mr. Govett had notlung to do with the vestry, for his curate had been appointed by the vicar himself without consulting the vestry in the matter at all. No doubt, in doing that, the vicar was mindful of the fact that the vestry had only recently undertaken the provision of the Salary of a second curate. Mr. Govett considered it had a good deal to do with the vestry, and it was | a matter the congregation ought to know about. Mr. Shaw asked if Mr. Govett know j of any parish that contributed more liberally in offertories than St. Mary's Mr. Govett did not, nor did he know of one which paid its vicar so poorly. Mr. Shaw said that by cutting off Te ileniiii and the Moturoa districts "m cold blood," they could make St. Mary's able t» <pay this curate; not otherwise. Mr. Skinnier further explained that when the. vicar came here there was only one assistant in the work. Now the vestry paid two, and, the vicar requiring still further assistance, en-jj.-.ged and paid another curate out of his own pocket. The flninual reports and balance-sneet were then adopted. The St. Mary's Hall management committee submitted a satisfactory report and balance-sheet, which was adopted on the motion of its chairman, Mr. T. Woodard. I Mr. J. S. McKellar submitted very satisfactory statements of the Back Mocks Mission and St. Mary's Extension Funds.

MOTUROASUNDAY SCHOOL. Mr. R. Neville Ren-aiid. superiiitendi'iit, reported hopefully upon the work of the newly established school at Moturoa. The school commenced with one teacher in May, 1!)01). but since then Mrs. Hawke and Messrs. Kyrogdon and Enroth had come into the work. Mrs. Enroth was now relieving during Mr. Kyiigdon's' absence, and it was hoped that her services would be permanently secured, for > more wore iv{juired. The school commenced the year with an attendance of 20, but there were .now 43 or 45, and he was expecting many additions. The s-hool was much in need of books of all kinds. Whilst thanking the parent school ior a grant of prayer-books, they needed 'books for the library, Bibles and maps, in fact everything to work a school with. There was a small credit balance. The chairman referred in most grateful terms to Mr. Renaud, who utilised his very limited spare time in vivii>iv» and in work amongst the young people.—Tfie report was received. , •WARDENS AND VESTRY. The vicar announced that he had chosen Mr. P. S. Whitconibe as Uts warden. Mr. W. H. Skinnier was nominated as people's warden by Messrs'. J. Cook and Kyngdon, and was re-elected amidst applause. The following vestrymen were elected: Messrs. J. Piiton. C. E. Raker. C. B. Kyngdon, J. Cook, H. M. Bannister, H. E. Fookes, Ludi, T. C. List and E. W. Garner. The following gentlemen were nominated, but declined office:—Messrs. F. E. Wilson, G. F. Robinson, 0. W. Govutt, S. W. Shaw, S. J. Smith and E. Griffiths. Votes of thanks to the vestry and to i all workers concluded the business, and the meeting closed with the Benediction.