Shortland Wosleyan Sunday School.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2168, 15 December 1875, Page 2

Shortland Wosleyan Sunday School.

/ The anniversary tea meeting in connection with the above took place last evening in the. Church in Willoughby street, Shortland. Like all reunions of -the-sort on the Thames, a goodly number, even more than wero expected by the friends, attended at the tea, the tables havingjfco be> repjenish.ed.twjee to.accommodate the numerous crowd who were there. Many hands make light work, and at the conclusion of the tea the church was soon cleared by a number oif active young men and arranged for the public meeting. At one end of the church a gallery had been erected, on which the children connected with' the Sunday School were arranged in tiers,and fully one hundred smiling faces looked down upon the congregation, and it must have been a rery gratifying sight to parents, teachers, and friends. Proceedings commenced with an Anthem "Let Hymns of Thanks* given," sung by the children, assisted by the Choir of the Church, after which the Key Mr Crump, the .minister of the circuit, who was in the chair, engaged in prayer. ff „ The Choir then sang, "Jesus, the Water of Life will give," followed by the Chairman's opening address. He stated that he hoped the children would maintain the good character they had acquired on Sunday last, and- then went on to make a most interesting speech, for which we regret we have not space, t, : The choir having again sung, the Secretary was called upon for his report which was read. It showed the success attending the school for the past year, and stated that the number of scholars on the books was 160. girls, 145 boys, and the average attendance was 80 morning and 180 afternoon. The receipts were £43 16s lOd, and the expenditure £42 3s. Proceeds of the present anniversary £25. Mr Eenshaw then moved the adoption of the report. He congratulated the children on their very nice singing and said the sight of them arranged there must be a pleasure, to their parents. There were a goodly number of Sunday Schools on the Thames, but he thought, the one whose anniversary they were' then celebrating was the best. He was very glad to see such a large gathering, and hoped that its success would stimulate other schools and make them better. He went on further to say that he often heard people complain of the sin and wickedness here ; he wondered where they were brought up, for a better community than that existing on the Thames it had never been his privilege to see. He thought the Sunday schools here a credit, and if every other community did as well, a great and glorious future might be looked forward to. He thoroughly approved of the present system of education, it lightened very much the work of the Sunday school teacher, for-instead of having the A B C to inculcate they could devote their whole time to teaching religion. He concluded by saying how gratified he felt to hear of so many young people from the Sunday school joining the church. Mr B. Tredannick seconded Mr Kenshaw's motion.

The choir then favored the congregation with "Scatter seeds-of kindness," after which Mr Hinton addressed the meeting.

The reVi gentleman, who was received with marked enthusiasm, said that while feeling deeply interested in the report read, some figures had caught his ear which he would refer to. The number of children on the roll of the school was stated to be 305, but that was considerably damped by only showing an average of 80 in attendance in the morning* and he would ask the superintendent for an explanation. He thought the fault rested with the parents, who ; must lie in bed too long on Sundays, and he,hoped at the next anniversary to hear of a great improvement iv = that respect. It gave him profound gratification to hear that so many had found their way from the school to the church. Since he had been on the Thames he had heard it stated that a girl of sixteen was too young to think of religion. He thought that when children were able to tell right from wrong they were available to; give, their, hearts to Christ. He further remarked that Sunday School teachers could •be compared to sowers, who should sow seed and not chaff, and he would recommend all to sow good seed, and knowing that all their work is for their great Master, they should be in earnest. He concluded by hoping that the young people; of the Sunday School would rise up to fill the places of their elders in the church, and such was his earnest wish for every school on the Thames.

The Superintendent, Mr W. Ashby, then addressed the meeting. He said he was an advocate for children's rights, and explained to Mr Hinton that the disparity between the number on the roll and the average attendance was caused by the measles having been so prevalent some time since, and by the many wet Sundays they had had. Their Sunday school had much improved since he had seen it first; he remembered the time when all denominations had met in that very church, and now it was too small for one. He hoped next anniversary would see them in a larger building, for the present one was vry inconvenient. He concluded by thanking those present for their attendance, for considering the bad times he had not expected so many, and to his astonishment he found the collection, to be £2 more than last year. He would invite parents and friends to. visit the school and see it for themselves.

" I know there's a crown for the young "—Choir. Mr Laishley then gave an address which was very interesting, but want of space forbids us giving it in full. He was, he said, an old friend of the Chairman and it was with pain that he met him then as his last year on the Thames was drawing so near a close. During his residence here many had been added to the church, and he believed it would be an era in Wesleyanism. He urged the young people present to find their proper place and then set to work. Mr Moody, he said, was a hindrance to the church,until he found his place. . They knew what great good he was doing now, In some American statistics of Sunday schools he had read that 6? per cent, of the scholars had joined the church, the foundation being laid in the school. He would advise teachers to endeavor to keep pace with the growing intelligence of the age, and he then described the scheme proposed recently by French engineers for the internal navigation of Africa, and re-

ferred to the researches of f Livingstone, and to the practical illustrations of the Holy Land, as carried out by the Sunday School Unions in the State of Neir York, '■ America. ; M j Another Anthem, " There is Life fdr >k Look," by the Choir, and the customary^ votes of thanks concluded this successful ■'• meeting.- ' .* ' ';/ "_\ 7; ■ The Church Choir and the- childi'en ' certainly deserve a passing tribute "of acknowledgment for the very:; efllcieht manner-in which they contributed F to'the evening's enjoyment."" -'■-^-^^«w?*