ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 240, 16 February 1911, Page 8

ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH

c S 3k C I (. RESIGNATION' OF REV. S. S. | ' OSBORNE, k A meeting of members and adherents. ( of the church was held last night, when \ j there was an attendance of about 100. i The Rev. ,T. M. Thomson (Moderator) } presided, and after prayer and the read- x ing of Scripture, asked the meeting to , decided whether the proceedings should k be open to those other than members j and adherents of the church—in fae.t,j , whether members of the Press should be- ( allowed to be present* | ( The meeting decided in favor of the Press. j The Moderator then referred to tin. j business for which the congregation had, } been called together. This was to con-l sider the resignation of their minister, , the Rev. S. S. Osborne, and appoint re-1: presentatives to appear before a meet-1 ; ing of the Presbytery in regard to thi» ; matter to be held at Eltham this (Tlmrsdnv) afternoon. Mr. Thomson ex-pri-sed the hope that those present wo'i d endeavor to curb their personal feelings and made no exhibition further than was commensurate with the sacredj nature of the surroundings and as af-i fecting the highly important interests of the Church that'were concerned. The Rev. Mr. Osborne, on being asked to state his reasons for sending in his J resignation, said the fact that four oi j the cldeTs among others had asked him' to resign was reason enough. For 16 vears he had been minister of St. An-! drew's Church. When he came it was. only a mission station, and the church was then in an unfinished condition. The sum of £4OO had been spent on the church and schoolroom during that time.l He was responsible for the work, not| onlv in New Plymouth, but also down •the* coast. His charge embraced 1500, squire miles, and was GO miles long by 25 miles in breadth', and now instead ot beinw served by one church service was held" every Sunday in nine. Then St. Andrew's had eight communicants, now there were 109 in New Plymouth, and! altogether about 200 in the district. The revenue was £240 per annum, while last year it was £465, and there were three churches in the district—at New Plymouth, Inglewood and Tarata—while ground had been secured at Waitara on which a church would soon be erected. At that time there was no manse, and he received only £2OO a year, out of which he had to pay £7O; now there were two manses. It was rather hard, said Mr. Osborne, that a ma» of his experience and perhaps exceptional character—becaus.e he held character was

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING. |

first to be defended—should be attacked by such men as sat on his right hand, and treated in such a scandalous manner; he could only expres himself in that way. The congregation could support those people if they liked, but he did not want to have anything more to do| with them. If the Book did not teach ■ them, lie would not teach them, and was not going to be coerced into doing so. He must acknowledge God had blessed him abundantly—very abundantly—since he commenced his work amongst them. He had sacrificed his time and abilities and money for the church, and now he was brought up and flouted in(this manner. He wished the public to understand that if ministers were to be treat-' ed like that, all he could say was, God help them. They could not wonder that the Church generally was in its present condition when such things were allowed j to be done. If they thought he was going to lie down in the mud and be walked over, they were making a great mistake. The charge had been carried a great deal too far. The calibre of the men in the ministry now was not what it should be; he could not advise his boy or anyone else's to go, into the ministry. The position was the same in other churches besides their own, and to a great extent it was because such actions as was the cause of their meeting that night were allowed to be done. There were plenty of decent men and women in their church, but they had allowed themselves to be led by a few. "I have the good wishes' and best feelings," said Mr. Osborne, "of every real godly man and woman in this church." (Hear, hear, and applause.) The Moderator intervened to ask that there be no applause in any way; it was not customary at meetings of this kind. Mr. Osborne, in conclusion: "My reason for the resignation is the affront and insult I have received from this congregation." Later, Mr. Osborne stated that he had handed in a detailed statement of the members during the sixteen years he had been pastor, and they could make whatever use of it they liked

COUNTER PETITION. The Moderator then read the following letter wbich had been received:— "We, being members and adherents of the St. Andrew's Church, respectively submit that the petition asking the Rev. S. S. Osborne to resign his charge has given much pain to a large section of the congregation and to friends inside and outside the church as well. We cannot let this opportunity pass of expressing our sincere admiration of the many estimable qualities shown by him during his long residence amongst us, his never-failing sympathy with the sorrowful and afflicted, and ready helpfulness to the poor and needy, ever given in the most unostentatious manner. We have no hesitation in saying that no man is more highly respected for sterling and upright character, and though his utterances from the pulpit may not at all times have pleased a certain section • of the congregation, they were nn doubt dictated by a conscientious desire to fearlessly do hi.s duty. "Whilst feeling that the Presbytery will deal out even-handed justice to all parties concerned, we would desire you to know that there is a large number of the congregation who have no sympathy with the petition re-1 ferrcd to, among whom are your obedient servants; Mr. and Mrs. Win. Campbell. Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Sinclair, Dr. and Mrs. E. A. Walker. Mr. R. McMillan, Thos. F. Beck, 1 Mrs. T. F. Beck, Miss E. Beck, Mr. A. 1 Ireland, ilrs. A. Mac Donald, Chas. Rea,l Mrs. Chas. Rea. Margaret Rea, Rosiuaj Rea, G. G. Boulton, A. Boulton, M. Bou!-l ton, J. Way, Eleanor Way, E. S. Kirlivy H. -I. Price, Arthur Blanchett, Mrs. A.J Blanchett, Dorothy Blanchett, Roy Wan-I

chett, Daisy E. Blanchctt. P. S. Lawson, Sidney Paul, Ronald E. Paul, Mary Munro, J. Cooper. Teresa t'mzicr. John Crozier, Bessie Pettigreu' Tribe, A. Rogers, Frank Tait, J. M. J. Il.iwker, Catherine Dingle, Helen Robson, Susan If. Cokor, Isaac Morrison, Elizabeth Anii Martin, Albert Edward Martin, .lessie Webster, Anne Lawson, Agnes G. Sinclair, Burnett Sinclair, G. Coyle, F. Coylc, L. Coyle, Mrs. J. Coyle' M. J. Bain, May Bain, Marvin Conway, .T. C. Webster, Margaret McGiven, Christina Noddcr, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Grant, M. D. Sinclair, James and Mrs. Wilson, J. McGregor, J. Blyth, M. Fraser, Mrs. Eraser, A. Mcintosh, M. A. Mcintosh, Christina F. Mcintosh, G. M. Wiley, R. 11. Quilliam, R. P. Quilliam, Mary Hempton, John Taylor, M. Alexander, G. I). Grant, Myrtle R. Mackie, Mary Lawson, Marie E. McDonald, Susie fietts, Caroline I Patterson, Jean Patterson, Lily Hookham, W. T. Hookham, J. Binnie, M. Ward, H. Ward, R. L. Mcllroy, Alice Paul, Margaret R. Free, Harriet Mac-1 Niven, Frances Agnes Leatham, Alice Edwards, Robert Edwards, Daniel Murphy, Bella. Murphy, Kate Bacon, Frank T. Bacon. Mr. Mcintosh moved that Mr. Osborne be respectfully asked to withdraw Ills [ resignation. Mr. Beck seconded the motion. I The vote of the members of the j church was about to be taken, when it was pointed out that Mr. Mcintosh was I not a member, and therefore the motion I was out of order. Mr. James Way essayed to move the I motion, when he, too, was informed that ' he was not on the roll of communicants. | The position had reached a deadlock when Mrs. Markham moved that Mr. Os--1 borne be respectfully asked to reconsider his resignation.—This was seconded by Mr. Beck, and on a vote of the members being carefully taken, it was deI feated by 20 votes to 15. ;| So that the mind of the adherents i would be known on the motion, their I, votes were then taken also, and the 1 voting was 25 in favor to one against. ; The Moderator said that the result i would be reported to the Presbytery fori . their consideration, but, he pointed out, ' no resolution had been carried by the 1 congregation. '- Mr. McDiarmid moved that three ret presentatives of the congregation be b commissioned support the resignation - before the Presbytery, one of the nume ber to be representative of the session, i —This was seconded by Mr. A. J. Way. I. Mr. Mcintosh moved that no elder be i included in the deputation, but this f i found no seconder. e Mr. Ewing then suggested four repre1, sentatives, two from each side, and the s motion being withdrawn, this was sec--1 onded by Mr. A. K. Smart and carried. s The appointment of the four repre-

sentatives occupied a great deal of time, and was not accomplished, as it happened. Messrs. McDiarmid and Ewing were nominated for one side, but no one could be found to appear against the resignation, various excuses being given both | by men and women for not accepting ' nomination. Mr. Mcintosh remarked that it would be well to have only the two gentlemen who were proposed, as, at any rate, i they would have all their own way. One lady, on being nominated, said she always understood that in the Presby-, ; tcrian Church women should not tako a prominent part in church matters. i The Moderator: I don't know that there is an absolute prohibition of it, 1 but it is not customary. I have never ■ seen a lady member addressing the Pres- ; bytery. ; _ | I i The appointment of Messrs. McDiarmid i and Ewing was confirmed, and after the s Moderator had congratulated the congre*- '■ gation upon the way the meeting was I conducted, the pronouncement of the i. Benediction brought the meeting to a ; i elose, i L I 1 t' 5 r t i e B a