St. George's Church.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3762, 18 January 1881, Page 2

St. George's Church.

1 The annual meeting of the congregation took place last evening in the above place of worship. There wa3 not a large attendance, only about 20 persons being present. The minutes of the .previous annual meeting were read and confirmed, as well as the minutes of the meeting held in the St. George's Schoolroom in May last. The financial statement as follows was taken and read :— -

Annual Eepoet. • > To the Congregation of St. George's Church,

The annexed statements show the Receipts and. Expenditure for the year ended 31st December, 1880; also the available assets and liabilities on that date.

It will be noticed that, although the offertory has been in excess of the previous year, .and apparently so the pew rentes, the gross receipts have only amounted to £473 Is lid, as against £492 2s 3d for tHe previous year, the difference being for by the sum of £70 19s 6d haySlig/been specially collected for the Church-Jdjebt in 1879. The increase in the.Offertoiy^uring the past year has been* the result of some special and liberal contributions. :'~:" '

The Expenditure has been much the same as during, the previous year, but it Trill/be observed that no Interest has been paid on the mortgage debt. - The liabilities shown in the Statement relate to the debt on the Church. The asset, sale of old organ, results from _thedisposal of the instrument to the Her. *4''"~ri.; HitclieQGkrOii behalf-of Ct. r M*oiimr* JT^Xa2aJ£.-. i land, for four quarterly paymeu 1 ' »•;--;o<^ each. In regard to Pew Bents, -there re' about the same number of sittings t pied as at the commencement of the ye?»', Most of the arrears have been either w 'vteu* off or discharged. Thus it will be seen that the Financial condition of the Church is far from satisfactory, and that it is absolutely necessary that to maintain its credit the congregation must, ■by some means, raise not only sufficient to pay interest on the mortgages and overdraft, and provide a sinking fund for their extinguishment, as well as to meet the ' current expenses, but also enough to make provision "for the wear and tear o*f the building, which already requires repairs to the shingling, besides re-painting.

The services of the organist and the choir have been as efficient as heretofore, and have ssisted to increase the Church funds.

• The Sunday School is now under the superintendence of Mr Gerring, assisted by 25 teachers, and the large attendance, now averaging 350, shows that its usefulness is appreciated. In addition to the amount stated in the account, special offertory collections have also been made in the Church on its behalf on the occasion of the four quarterly afternoon children's services.

It was originally intended by the Vestry that the annual meeting should take the form of asoiree, but difficulties intervening it was arranged that the unaual meeting should be held as usual in the Church, and the soiree take place at such date as may be appointed.

E. ¥. TiziKD, M. H. Aieey, Wardens St. George's Church. Thames, 13th January, 1881.

Statement of Receipts and ExPENommB of St. George's Church', Thames, roa i Yeak ending 31st December, 1880:— Receipts: General offertory, £319 9s sd; pew rents, £128 12s 6d; scfcool rent, £25; special offertory—Sunday School, £6 19s; to overdrawn balance, £233 7s 7d. Total, £713 8s 6d.—To mortgage, £300; do. interest, £42; mortgage, £175; do. interest,, £21; overdrawn balance, £233 7s 7d; bank interest, £5. Total, £776 7s 7d. Expenditure: By balance to debit, 31st December, 1879, £228 18s 4d; stipend, £300; organ, £62; verger and collector, £38 la 6d ;■ lighting, £33 10s 6d; insurance, £10 15s; interost, Bank of New, Zealand, £19 5s 4d; law expenses, £2 15s; sundries, £11 3s lOd; special offertory—Sunday School, £6 19. Total, £713 8s 6d.—By pew; rents arrears, £43; sale of old organ, £40; estimated proceeds of oratorio, £10; by balanco,- £683 7s 7d. Total, £776 7s 9d. ."* j[u t the discussion which .followed, a question was asked as to whether the schoolroom and land adjoining could be considered as an available asset P . Mr Tizard explained that in case any difficulty arose with the mortgagees;of the Church, .that the land might be fmade available' to meet* the Back overdraft. But, in case of the disposal of-it, it would probably shut up;the Sunday School. ! The ehurcfrWardens of the previous year were re-elected, and the vestry for th» ensuing year are Messrs Gr. If. Philfips, Coney; Rowe, Wildman, H. Phillips, Gerring, Speight, Teasdale, and McCullough. Votes of thanks were pa#ed to Mr Gerring and the teachers engaged in the j Sunday school work, and also to the choir , for the. efficient manner in which they/ ; had rendered the music of the church i during the past year. And also to the i chairman—the Bey. Tioessimus Luih.