PARISH MEETING AT GERALDINE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1572, 23 April 1887, Page 2

PARISH MEETING AT GERALDINE.

A meeting of the Vestry of St. Maty’s Church, Geraldine, was held on Thursday evening at 6.30. Present—The Rev. J. Preston, Incumbent (in the chair),' Dr Fish, and Messrs H. W. Moore, A, H. Brisco, W. Ooltman, W. Barker, J. Pizzey, W. Hawke, P. Bartrum, and W. Willoughby. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The report of the Churchwardens to be laid before the general meeting.was read and approved of. MEETING OP PARISHIONERS.

The annual general meeting of the parishioners was held at 7 o’clock. There was a fair attendance. The Incumbent, who occupied the chair, read his aim ml report, . which was co the following effect;— As the Churchwardens’ and Stipend Treasurer’s reports would give full particulars concerning the financial position and general condition bf the parish, he would confine himself to his own immediate duties, and those matters that touched upon them. As they all knew, he was rendered incapable'of discharging the duties connected with bis office for some months by a < painful illness. He thanked God that his health was now greatly restored, and he was able to reiu.wH bis work again among them. He thank! his friends and parishioners generally for thei;* considerate kindness towards him in enabling him to visit the hot springs of this and North Island, whereby he derived great benefit. During his absence Sunday services were regularly kept up in "the 'iphufch by tbs licensed lay-readers, and the clergymen from Temuka and Pleasant Point and others from C'i. -i-tohurch,v whd kindly visited the parish and paroohiiil district of Fsirlie Creek and Barkers Pas's for ' the purpose of administering the Holy Communion. All these gentlemen' her desired to especially thank for their assistance. On his return to commence his duties it was at first deemed necessary to discontinue bis visits' to Fairlie Creek and Burke’s Pass, and steps wars taken to that effect, but .the people residing in the parochial district, were averse to any change at present, and it was decided not to ask the Bishop to move in the matter. He should continue to .visit Fairlie Creek and Burke’s Pass once a quarter until other tr-

rangements were made. Circumstances had compelled him to -draw out a new table of services, which he hoped would rrieet with general approval. From; it they would understand that the Sacrament ofßaptiim would be administered by him, as tisusi, oik the sth Sunday of every month in the parish church at 3 p.m., and also at all ther' services held in the several churches srad school* houses. His returns for the year-showed; Children baptised 47, burials 6, marriages 4. The Sunday School established at Oeraldins, over which Mrs Preston was Superintendent, had 11 teachers, and 150 children on tha roll, and an average attendance of 120. Tha Sunday Schools at Woodbury, Peel Forest, and other places were flourishing, jsnd also the Union Sunday Schools .at Fail-lie Creek and Burke’s Pass. He had not befo strong • enough to" conduct the Bible Glass in the public school since his illness, but hoped to

commence it again after the Confirmation. Twenty-five prizes were awarded tothe boya and girls attending the Bible Clan, which were the gift of B. Cooper, Esq., and himself. The prizes due to the Sunday School scholar! had not yet been given, but would- be distributed in a few days. In reference to the fund for which he was responsibly- by St,* Mary’s Sunday School, the Benevolent Ai(|j| and Sunday School Library fund, he sUtecl that St. Mary’s general Sunday School account etood thus —Receipts, £22 ,9s fid • expenditure for prizes, treat, etc., £2lßs lOd; balance to credit, £1 Os Bd, The money in hand for benevolent purposes amounted to £ll 9s Id, and the Sunday School. Library account stood as it did last year. The library was still under the management of Mrs Andrews, and they were gWatly in* debted to her and her family for transacting all the business connected with the librarian’s duties, and also providing bookshelves, etc, for the books free of-cost. All persons connected with St. Mary’s, Geraldine, owed a deep debt of gratitude to ftliss Fish and to Miss Alice Fish for their services.,as organises, they having conjointly fpn many years with unwearied zeal given their valuable services free of any charge to the parish, and their gratitude was also due to Mr H. Moore for his valuable services as choirmaster. He begged especially, as clergyman of the parish and parochial district, r to thank all the lay-readers, Sunday School teachers, church-workers for their labors ! during the past year. ; " Mr H. W. Moore then'raid the Churchwarden's report to the following effect:— The Churchwardens (Mr H, W. Modra indDrFish) in their report congratulated ,he parishioners on the recovered health' of ,he Rev. Mr Preston. With regard to the ioanoial position,of the Church.-two loans md bsen advanced by the Church • property irustees —one on the p ; the other on he hew church. In 1681 four shares had >een taken in the Permanent. Investment nd Loan Association to payoff the larsonage debt, and thefe were, now rorth £99 11s 4di. „ Five , shares had ieen taken up in the same ii 884 to pay off the new Church debt, and rare now worth £57 7s Id. These sbarea

would be; worth £SO ‘each in' IOJ years from date of issue, and then their debts would be paid off. They commenced’ the yeafr with a deficit of £7 12b 8d in the general account,;Kut though they had: large expense* in repairing V the leakage in the roof of the Church, making new gates, and asphalting, footbpatbf. with the help of a successful entertainment .(which netted £l9) and private subscriptions they were now able to show a credit balance of £1 8s lid. There was much work ,to be . dona yet, but, owing to want of money they could not do it. The. offertories were exceedingly small, only averaging f 19s per service for an average, at- * tendance of 80 persons. They hoped the r meeting would go fully into the; matter. With regard to the suggested separation of Burke’a Pass and Fairlie Greek from the parish, the residents in that district had proposed that Mr Preston should visit them

oncesyery i three month*, instead of once enry two month*; that he should travel by rail, and they find a conveyance. The natter was thus settled. The thanks of the congregation were due to Mr Young for two days’ work given to the church ; to Mr Fissey for assistance during the making of the asphalt pathway • to Mr \yhite and others for assistance at the enter* taument, and also to Messrs Hawkins and Finch for auditing (he accounts. On the proposition of Mr Coltman, seconded by Mr Hawke, the report hb , read- was adopted. •Mr Moore also reiad the balance-sheet, which showed the total receipts from all - ! sources to have been £16417» 7d, and he expenditure, including a debit balance from last year of £7 12s Bd, to have been £153 8e Bd, leaving a balance la hand of £1 8s lid. Major Moore moved that the balancesheet as read be adopted,, and in doing so cohgratulated the Churchwardens on its satisfactory nature. Mr Pizzey seconded the proposition, which was carried. Mr W. E. Barker, Treasurer for the stipend fn n d, then read his report, which was most ncoeraging. The amount collected «£.309 3e fid, and about £7 or £8 was atill expected to be got in, which left a balance in excess of guarantee of £43 14s fid. The number • of subsoribere hac alao greatly increased. , . There were at present 282, compared with 210 last year. Mr Barker said hu ( hoped that in passing this report the meeting would accord a hearty vote of 1 thanks to all the collectors. Had it not 1

' been for their efforts the report would | ' have been a very different one. A discussion followed, in which it was stated that the additional subscribers had * been got in the district as a whole, and the wish was expressed that the collectors would commence .their duties earlier in tbeyear. At the request of Mr Hawke, the •mounts derived from the various districts were read over. Mr Willoughby proposed that a hearty vote of thanks be passed to the collectors . nod to Mr Barker for their efforts during the year. Mr Coltman seconded the proposition, sod again spoke of the necessity of part fkt least of the money being got in in the early part of tbe year. He thought they bad great cause for thankfulness in the fsot that during these times of depression r Ibfc churofi was progressing, instead of j goiog back. 1 The Vote of thanks was passed most heartily.. r "'\ ELECTION OI 1 OmCEBS. The election of officers for the present year was then proceeded with. . Mr Preston thanked Dr Fish for acting ,1. in the past as Lis churchwarden and asked >. him to take, the position again, which was agreed to. Mr H. W. Moore was re-elected people’s * churchwarden. i:\ The following vestrymea were elected : i—Major Moore, Messrs W, U. Slack, A. - * White, A. H. Brisco, A. E. Hawking • W. Coltman, P. Bartruxh, W. Willougby, W. Hawke, and J. Piazsy. On the propos'tios of Mr H. W. Moore Mr W, Barker was te»elected as treasurer for the stipend fund. On tbe proposition of Dr Fish, seconded by Mr Barker, all the former collectors were reflected. ■ Mr Barker suggested that a collector ■ would be needed for Woodbury, and on his proposition, seconded by Mr Willoughby, Mrs Turlon was elected for that ■'' district. • . v’ Mr H. B. Webster was elected auditor for the year. , t ‘ Mr H. W. Moore moved a special vote of thanks to Miss Fish and Miss Alice Fish for their assistance to tbe choir, to they had been invaluable, and had always been most willing to give their assistance when asked to do. He also wished to thank Mies Andrews for the assistance ahe bad lent the choir on various occasions. Mr Brisco seconded the proposition,

*t»d the vote was carried unanimously. Votes of thanks were also .passed to Mr H. W. Moore for his services as choirmaster, and to the choir for their services ; to Dr Fish for his services, and • to the retiring vestrymen. Mr Preston said he wished to give his hearty thanks to the lay readers for the aide manner in which they hid carried out the work of the district. Had it not boon for their efforts the church would have been at a standstill. He thanked them most heartily for their aesist me?, also all the church workers in the district, who had been working for the good of • the church during the past year. A Vote of thanks was also pawed to the ladies who had assisted in making the ' promenade concert, held at the beginning " of the year, such a success. Mr Moore said he wished to make a "few, remarks, They would have noticed By the reading,of the chnrchwarden's report bow very low the offertories were. There was an average attendance of 80 persons at each service, and only an average offertory of 19s. That meant an , attendance of 16Q on a Sunday, and out •f that 160 people 80 were in a position to give a minimum donation of 6d. He atrongly nrged upon the congregation the necessity of giving mere systematically, . and ehould they by any cause be prevented from attending service one Sunday they should make it up the next. The „ money should be set aside regularly. He " v -felt sure if it were a matter of attending A r My. pleasure fpeople would be only too glad to give their sixpences, and he thought they should certainly show a corresponding willingness to give to the church. By doing so they would be giving to -God, and would reap their dub reward. The report bad also mentioned ' aoine few persons who had helped the church by working for it free of charge, v Ha woujd like to ace the young men, especially, come forward and give in this way towards the church. People seemed to have a kind of feeling that the Churchwardens could do all the. work that was cequfred. He thought that everybody . • in the church should take an interest in it, and should show their interest by - ' doing work, giving money, or helping in any way they could. He felt convinced that the more a min werked for the chnrch the more he worked for God, the more he would think of Him and get nearer tp Him, which should be the end end aim of all, IJe felt that if they would all take more interest in chord work it would prosper m#re, and would be better men and women for it. Mr Preston fully endorsed all that Mi Moore had said. Ho himself was ver glad indeeed to be able to come baol again and take up bis duties.

A suggestion was made to the incoming Vestry that a lamp should be erected at the front gate, and a vote of thanks to the Chairm n terminated the meeting.