Anniversary Soiree.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4590, 20 September 1883, Page 2

Anniversary Soiree.

The fourteenth anniversary of the erection of the Primitive Methodist Chnreh was celebrated by a soiree and public meeting last night. .About 150 sat down to tea, and the meeting afterwards was well attended. The fiev. C. E. Barley occupied the chair, and after the, meeting had been opened by singing and prayer, apologised - for the absence of the usual annual report, which was owing to the secretary having been so much away that he had not had time to prepare it. The church was in a similar position to last year, the working expenses during the past 12 months had been fairly met, but the debt, £125, had not been reduced. The number of members (42) and Sunday scholars (150) was allo similar. They had a good staff of teachers, and both school and church were in a fairly prosperous condition. Though they had not met with the success hoped for, they had abundant cause to be thankful. Mr Eenshaw congratulated the church upon the good attendance at the Sunday School, which was the mainstay of churches, and urged them not to let the interest in it flag. He was pleased to hear that they had not gone back during the year, wished them prosperity, and hoped to see as many present at next anniversary as were there that evening. The Rev. Jti. Bull spoke on " Churches." pointing out that though it was said infidelity and scepticism were growing rapidly, they did very little in the way of benefiting the world by building for the good of the people, while new Christian churches were being opened every day, and no less than £1,009,000 was annually spent in England on foreign missions. He referred to the wide-spread influence of the Bible, and the large amount of good done wherever Christianity spread, by raising the moral tone of the people and promoting benevolence and other good works. The vastness of, Christianity, like that of the Pyramids, could only be seen when viewed from every side, and it could be said of it, as of no other religion, that it was suited to all men under all conditions.

The Eev. T. Adams, in an earnest speech, pointed out some of the necessary conditions of prosperity in Church work —the most important being regular and punctual attendance at the services, earnest and constant prayer, and the following in every-day life of the Gospel, precept 3, which would have far more influence on the world than all the preaching. In conclusion he urged Christians to push on with the great work of spreading the good tidings of the GospeL The Chairman thanked all who had helped to make the anniversary a success, and the meeting closed with singing and prayer. During the evening the choir sang several anthems and hymns.