Thames Baptist Church Anniversary Soiree.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3864, 18 May 1881, Page 2

Thames Baptist Church Anniversary Soiree.

The twelfth anniversary of the Willougbby street Baptist Church wag celebrated last right by a soiree and public meeting. An excellent tea was provided, and. there * was a Tery good attendance. After tea the tables were cleared and a public meeting held, the Eev. T. L. Davies in the Chair. meeting opened by the Staging «f a hymn, after which the Rev. A. Webb, of Auckland, engaged in prayer. After another hymn, ..,., . . . The Chairman said he did'not feel in the homor for making a speech, and yet he wanted to say something He congratulated them on the success which had attended their efforts during the past veanboth financially and spiritually. He wttiild not further detain them, but called upon*the Secretary (Mr M. Whitehead) to read the report, which showed that durinji the year 63 persons had been admitted into the Church, 57 by baptism, 4 br dismission from other Churches, and 2as baptised believers. Eight had been transferred to the Church at Auckland, and three had been removed by death. The present number on the Church register was 155, but out of those 25 were non-resident. The attendance at public worship had largely increased which was a source of joy and gratitude In November last the Rev. J. Upton Davies, of Dunedin, visited the Thames, and delivered three interesting lectures for the benefit of the harmonium fnnd; to him the best thanks were due. The harmonium was purchased early in the year at a cost of £60; thanks, were also returned to Miss Lamb, Mr S. Whitehouse, end the choir, who gave the proceeds of two " Services of Song" towards the purchase, of the instrument. The pastor had held some services at Te Aroha and Paeroa,.but that district is now wjs\l supplied by, other denominations.? ?A cottage meeting had been held at Block 27 with encouraging prospects of success. The Sunday School continued to be well attended, and recent converts were urged to devote tbemselyes to this jrork, either at Willougjiby street or in some.other parts of the town. It concluded by.prayer for greater earnestness and consecration. The Treasurer then read his report which showed the receipts for ,tbe past year to be £271, which amount was nearly balanced by the expenditure. The, expenditure, on the .poor nas',JSl9 .3s, and there was a balance in hand of JE2 18s. The total liabilities of the Church amounted to £66 9s sd, which amount was expended on improve* ments to' the pastor* residence. The balance in the bank whsr9d. He then urged upos those attending the Church to give at the collections on Sunday according as God blessed them, as that was the only regular source of the revenue of the Church. V '

After a hymn, "Come ye that lore the Lord," <he Chairman 1 congratulated the Church on the excellence of the reports just read, and. sajcl that in all his experience he had not met with a more systematically liberal congregation than that attending the Baptist Church on the Thames, lie was truly grateful to God for the great success which had attended the efforts of Mrs Hampson while on the Thames, and said he looked upon it as a wonderful instance of Clod's spirit working on the hearts of men. The success which had. attended the efforts ot the various ministers in this district was, he thought, largely due to the work carried on by Sabbath School teachers, and it was seldom a more earnest body of workers were met with than that engaged in this school. He encouraged teachers to go on teaching the simple story of the crucified Saviour, which was the only saving Gospel, and God would bless them in their labours. After a few more remarks he called upon Mr Shalders, of Auckland, to address them.

Mr Shalders said he liked to be present at a Church anniversary, when Christians met to sympathise one with another in their sorrow,; and to rejoice in their success. They had great, reason to be thankful to God for the great success He had vouchsafed to them daring the past year. There were two main features which constitued a Cburch—purity of doctrine, and consistency of walk. The first was of vital importauce, especially in these latter days when so many efforts were put forth to.explain away the Gospel. The second part was also of vast importance, second only to purity of doctrine. Love was. ■ the great mainspring of Christian consistency, and without it, Christians were unproductive and uselessIt was love that bound men together, not only in this Church, but throughout the world.

The Rev. A. W. Webb (of Auckland) wan the next speaker. He said he was truly grateful to God for the success which they had had in the past year. lie took for his subject, " The Relation of the Church to the World." Their relations were the 1 same now as they were a thousand years ago; they were still at enmity, and would be until the end of the world. In the first ages of the Church she, for three centuries, literally waded through blood, so fierce was the persecution against her ; and so she had come down to the present age, sometimes persecuted, sometimes fawned,' aod yet she had survived all, and now stood as firm and as faithful as ever. They had lately had a forcible example of this in the visit of Mrs Hampson. There was one thing, however, which was being evinced in all the trials of the Christian Church, and that was that Satan ever outwitted himself, and God was erer able to checkmate him. They need not fear but that God would ever raise defenders of the truth. He advised them to keep within the precincts of God's word, and adhere to the oldfashioned doctrine. Then they needed holy lives —that was the thing "that men could not gainsay, though they might be able to gainsay the Bible. Let them live, holy lives and God would bless and prosper them. After another hymn the Chairman, called upon the Rev. Mr Watkin, who said that after two such good speeches as they had just heard they ought to let Mr Adamson and himself off. He gave a rery amusing speech, and gave a deal of good advice in his happy way, encouraging them to go on in faith and they would succeed.

The Her. S. J. Neili said he had noticed in the Treasurer's remarks something worthy of attention, and that was the system of supporting the Church by roluntary contributions. He quite agreed with that method, though his Chuch did not adopt it exclusively. He, however, went beyond Mr lienshaw, and thought those who stayed away from church should

contribute the same as if they had bee v i present. He deprecated the tact that ' Cbrislians in these days were too mHca inclined to take from the Bible W what favoured their ideas. He qu ite a d with Mt-.Shalders remarks oa thebindine I influence of lore, and hoped that a time I would soon come when all the churches would join iv one common belief. He was glad to be pveaeut at a meeting as this, as they tended to draw people together. After another hymn, the Chairman called upon theßßy.ey. Mr Adamson, who s iid there were so many aoirees now that c had some difficulty in fixing upon a subject, but at last he had chosen " Wandering Thoughts," ■ and would first call their attention to how to work■"for God. Work was essential to a Christian, but what to do and bow to do it oiten troubled them. They should pull together; work in concert. People's thoughts were often apt to wander while in church, but this was a bad habit, for when they did not listen to what was said they did not know what they lost. A rote of thanks to those who had con tributed to the evening's entertainment, the siugin« of the Doxalogy, and the pronunciation of the Benediction brought the meeting to a close.