ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 272, 27 April 1915, Page 6

ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

i ANNUAL MEETING. . c The annual meeting of St. Mary s parishioners was held l.cst evening, tiieie Icing u good attendance. The vicar (llev. A. i'l. Colvili') presided. _ : The vicar, in presenting his report, said that a vicar's review of the church j life of his parish during the 'space o: < one year could b? little more tnan an \ impression. 'He could not -.ee the real ] successes and failures: these were only , known to Clod. A clergyman judged , cautiously and reservedly by what lie ( could see and what he could feel. The ( average number of communicants during j the past year had been distinctly good, a most encouraging feature of church ( life The war Had been a great deal m , their thoughts and prayers during the . j last six months. All reports from Eng- ( land went to show that church attend- , ai;cc had largely increased since »ar t wa 3 declared, but out here he could not ( say that the result had been the same. We lived perhaps too far from the actual seat of war to realise all that , it means. A service of intercession jor ouV soldiers and sai.ors ::md been held overv Friday, and tUia had been tain., well" attended. The attendance at the Sunday evening services had barn on the whole very good, particularlyl at times when visitors were in the to«n. freeing of the pews had not resulted m a l'u'"ely increased congregation, as was . hope!, but the principle remained abso- ; lutel v the right one, and the speaKei hoped vet to see the large number of nominal church people in New ! wake up to a lively appreciation of thur , very great privileges. Visitors thoroug - . lv appreciated the services at fat. Mary =. To not a few of them the chureli was an inducement to spend their holidav , in the town. -Why should not the local , lieople show a like appreciation? her- j vices on Sunday morning were as a rule very poorly attended In'new of . the projected departure of the I.cv. Crawshaw, and the likelihood of In* place not being filled for some tame, the Wednesday evening services would be discontinued till further notice The monthly services for men would be re '•Tilled this winter. The vicar paid a tribute to ih 6 work of the two retiring churchwardens and to the ra«to» [ j the vestry; also to the lay without -whose self-denying efforts a parish sueli as St. Mary's could not be efficiently worked.

VESTRY'S REPORT. The following report was submitted:—• Iu presenting the accounts for the yiar ending March 31, K'ls, the Vestry have much pleasure in showing a credit balance of £34 2s 10(1, and have the satisfaction of knowing that the church is entirely free of delit. The church property is in fairly good order; but some faulty slates on the roof will soon have to be replaced by better ones, and the whole fixed with copper nails, as many of the zinc nails have corroded and perished. In June Mr. W. H. Butler was compelled to resign his position as people's warden, owing to his leaving the district. Mr. P. E. Button was elected to fill his place. Mr. Butler's resignation was accepted with great regret. During the absence of the vicar in September last, owing to ill-health, the parish was placed in the temporary charge of the llev. J. L. Kayll, to whom the sincere thanks 1

of the congregation are due for his eSfi- , cient and valuable services. We regret to have to record that Mr. G. F. Robinson has resigned his seat on the vestry, owing to his temporary absence. The Vestry, on behalf of the congregation, desire to express their sympathy with Mrs. Govett and family, the Veil. Archdeacon and Mrs. Evans, on the death of Mr C. W. Govett in June last. Mr. Govett was a loyal supporter of the church, and for many yiars acted as lay reader, while his services and advice were always freely given, and his gifts, both monetary and otherwise, were many and various. The Vestry regrets, also, to record tile death of the Ven. Archdeacon Walsh, to whom the church is indebted for the hatchments of the various English regiments now on the walls, which in themselves will always b;> a monument to his memory. On October 20 a meeting of -subscribers to the late Archdeacon Govctt's -Memorial Fund was held in St. Mary's schoolroom, when it was decided the memorial should be procee-'cd v. .ill at once, and Mr. Messenger was instructed to prepare plans and specifications for a lady chapel and transept on the north side ot the church. The plans were approved by the subscribers, and the Vestry was authorised to have the work proceeded with. The tender of Messrs Walpole, Darlington and Patterson, of Wanganui, for £lOlO, was accepted. A building committee consisting of the vicar,

church wardens and Messrs Baker and r.ush was appointed. The Vestry have pleasure in noting the valued addition to the district of the new Sunday School at Vogeltown. The people of that portion of the parish are to be heartily congratulated on the determination and zeal which they have shown in providing a building for this important part of church work. The special thanks of the congregation are also due to Mr. and Mrs. G. Neal for the long-continued use of their house as a Sunday School prior to the erection of the present building; The committee of that portion of the parish situated at Te llenui and Bell Block have through the llev. 11. A. Favell, the pricst-in-charge, approached the Vestry with respect to separating themselves from -St. Mary's parish and foiining a separate parochial district. Certain financial proposals have hern made and are now under consideration, and the Vestry confidently hope that arrangements beneficial to both parties will he made, and that under their own management these districts will make further progress, both spiritually and financially. During the year there have been twelve general and two special j.-M-etings of the Vestry. The balance-sheet showed the total receipts as CUM 5s Sd, and the expenditure CI MSI) 2s 10(1. 'l'll' l report was taken as read and adoiited. Mr. C. E, Baker, in referring to the balance-sheet, said that ten years ago

the parish was £ll2O to the bad, but at the present time that had been converted into a credit balance of £34 2-. 10(1 besides a resorTe fund he'd fo:' eiiii rgency repairs. THE SUNDAV SCUOOu The supervisor (Rev. F. A. Crawshaw) reported as follows: —. The work of the Sunday School has progressed steadily during the past year, and I am thankful to be aide to record that instead of having 110 adult maie « helpers on the Sunday School stall, as I was the case at the beginning of last year, I have now the aid of eight earnest men. Undoubtedly the assistance of such men has been the cause of the increase in the average attendance of the boys in the Sunday School. Bible classes fop boys and girls of fourteen years and upwards were commenced during 'the year and have been well attended. The Sunday School is divided into three, departments—morning, senior afternoon, an-.l primary afternoon. Each department has its own superintendent, who takes charge of the school wher. the supervisor is not present. Wo have -276 scholars on the roll and 40 members on the staff, of whom 43 are teachers. The attendance of teachers and scholar* has been good o:i the whole. We always notice there is a falling-off in the attendance of the scholars during the slimmer months, when there are such pernicious things as Sunday concerts to .attract children from the pursuit of the knowledge of the things which ma£ter and which should come 1 first always. School material: The. Vestry has kindly given us Bibles and prayer and hymn books. We trust that, -with the aid of these books we shall lie able to give Christian teaching on more definite Church lines. -Sunday School treat: A j very successful picnic was held at Bell ; Block last January. Mrs. Cholmonley | kindly allowed us the use of her paddocks, and a very enjoyable day was , spent there by a large number of teach- '' ers, scholars and parents. The library: As the result of the gifts of books from friends of the Sunday School and t'lie hearty support given by the parishioner? to the scholars' concert held at the end I of last year, we were able to re-open the library during the year. The scholars seem to appreciate very much this j department of Sunday School work. [ Melanesian scholar: The scholars of the Sunday School have undertaken to support a Melanesian scholar—Wilson Bauniarau, at the Pamua Central School, Solomon Islands —and they bring con-

! tributions towards his support on the J first Sunday in each month, which is | kir-vn to the scholars a-s "Missionary Sunday." At the annual meeting of the teachers held on Tuesday, April 13, the following resolution was passed unanimously—"That the members of the Sunday School staff undertake to raise the contributions of this parish to the Melanesian Mission to £IOO per annum, in order that the parishioners may claim a European priest in the Melanesian Mission as their curate on foreign service." Teachers' classes: Classes for teachers have been held regularly throughout the y<ar. We urgently need two more teachers in the afternoon schpol, and a secretary for the morning Sunday School, and I. hope workers will offer themselves for the work. I should like to call the attention of the parishioners once again to the urgent necessity there is for the building of a new schoolroom 1 | in which the scholars of the primary dei partment may be taught. A sale of | work will be held in October for the purpose of raising money for the build- j ing fund. In conclusion, I wish to record that it has been a groat pleasure to mo to have worked with such an earnest and loyal band of workers as we have in the Sunday School. I trust parents will show their appreciation of the staff's work by sending the scholars more regularly and punctually to Sunday School. The statement of accounts showed that there was a deficit of £2 10s lOd. Reference was made to the necessity of a new building for the primary department. At present the Brougiianv Street I-fall was used for the infants, but the building was inconvenient and unsuitable.

The choir report, which was read and adopted, showed that more male members were required. The lay readers' report appealed for further assistance from suitable men. The Resistance of some of the lady niemIk rn would be welcome in helping in the singing at the services held at the Old People's Home. OFFICERS. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—Vicar's warden, Mr. i S. W. Shaw; people's warden, Mr. D. F. Mutton; vestrv, Messrs. Hirst, H. l-'pokos, 15. Lash, Hill-Johnston, A. Crcoke, 11 G. Sergei, J. Paton, S. lyiish, 0. E. Baker, and E. B. Kingdon; audita, .Mr. P. C. Morton. The vestry was empowered to fill any 'vacancy caused during the year. TE 11 KM'I AND BELL BLOCK. In referring to the paragraph in the ' churchwarden's report in connection with the severance of the Te Henui-Bell Block portion of the parish from St. Mary's, Mr. E. Baker said that fresh j 1 life had been infused in the district. < iinu there Wiis now a strong desire for •° "home rule." lie moved the fallowing ■ 1 resolution:—"That this meeting of parishioners having heard the financial arrangement proposed between the vestry I < f St. Mary's and the committee repre- : suiting the Te llenui and Bed Block portion of the parish in the event of i t at portion being formed into a separate parochial district approves of and confirms the same, and, subjeft to it being also confirmed and approved by a meeting of parishioners in that district, requests the synodsmen representin;; this parish to bring the matter before the next Synod, and take all necessary steps to bring the matter to completion."

The proposed arrangements were that immediately the proposed arrangements for separation shall have been passed' by Synod and confirmed by the bishop, St. Mary's Vestry shall hand over to the new;district one-third of flic present endowment permanently, and shall further supplement it by a sum of money sufficient to bring the whole amount up to lUO for the first year. This supplementary amount to be granted annually but subject to a reduction of £11) i'very year. The vicar said he favored the proposal. The idea of working a large parish with one head and three curates was, ho considered, an unworkable one, and the proposd arrangement was more satisfactory. MARKS OF APPRECIATION'. Reference was made to the loss to the parish of the late 'Mr. C. W. Govett, and

Mr. S. Shaw moved: "That this mcetiag of parishioners place on record its appreciation of the services of the late jlr. C. W. (iovctt." Mr. Shaw also moved: "That the parishioners of St. Mary's .desire to p.mv on record tee loss the diocese and tl: parish ha\e sustained in the death of t:■ - ate Archdeacon AVtilsh, and that a sa... able memorial be erected." A suggestion ■ras made that memorial windows could .jo placed in the portion now being added to the church, j The resolutions were carried. GENERAL, A vote of Chanks was passed to Mr. S. Lush and others who had assisted in the erection of the Vogeltown Sunday School.