NEW CHURCH WANTED.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10060, 3 June 1910, Page 5

NEW CHURCH WANTED.

FOR ST. MATTHEW'S PARISH, MASTERTON.

PROPOSAL TO BUILD LARGER EDIFICE. A full meeting of St. Matthew's Vestry was held in Murray's Buildings on Wednesday evening, the Rev. H. Watson presiding. Messrs W. T. Mansfield and J. L. Murray, who at a previous meeting bad been appointed to draw up a report, sent in the following report, which was read and adopted:— ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH BUILDING FUND. For the information of all concerned the following is a statement jf the circumstances surrounding the proposal to build a new parish ±urch. The present edifice is in decay,* !ias become inconvenient, and with i total seating capacity of 305 is juite inadequate for the present needs of a congregation exceeding 100 families. It Is, therefore, imperative, if all are to take part in Divine Worship in the Parish Church that every effort be immediately made to increase the accommodation, and this can only be effected bv an effort of self-help; in other words, the funds for the purpose must come from members of the Church. ' The Vestry consider, when the necessary funds are forthcoming, that it is advisable to build upon the site adjoining the Vicaraae, in which case, by retaining the present site and converting, for the time being, the existing fabric into a schoolroom, the < much-needed accommodation for the growing needs of the Sunday School will be provided at a trifling cost. The Vestry consider that £7,000 will provide an edifice capable of permitting at least six hundred persons to attend divine service. The Diocesan Trustees, have, conditionally, agreed ;to permit the Vestry of at. Matthew's to pledge the annual rents of certain Church properties, not otherwise appropriated, a sum estimated at present to j amount aunually to £2lO, for the purpose of providing for the payment of J interest and sinking fund of the ! amount to be borrowed. The efforts of the Vestry are to be directed to raising the sum of £3,500, leaving an amount of £3,500 to be borrowed. The present position of the Fund is as follows Collected and in Bank at April Ist, 1910 £705 Amount promised, and not ' yet collected £295 Amount promised by a parishioner conditionally upon £2,500 being collected by subscription or otherwise £I,OOO Amount yet to be raised £1,500 £3,500 Amount to be borrowed £3,500 Total amount required £7,000 The amount at Bank is carrying interest, and every effort will be made to collect all promises at onfee, inasmuch as the collections when banked, are earning interest, and thus assist the fund. The Vestry consider that a renewed and vigorous efforts should now be made to collect the amount required. To accomplish that object it has appointed each member of the Vestry and the Churchwardens auth.rised collectors of the fund, each of whom has been furnished with a subscription list containing a selection of names, which, together, makes a complate list of members of the Church known to be residing within the boundaries of the parish, with Mr Murray acting as secretary. The collectors have undertaken to solicit assistance from the persons enumerated upon their several lists and report to the honorary secretary not less than once in each month, until their respective lists are closed. The collectors have further undertaken to hand their collections to the honorary secretary, Mr J. L. Murray, with each report, and the secretary will, at each subsequent Vestry meeting, furnish a statement showing the amounts paid in by the several collectors, and the then position of the fund. This procedure, it is hoped, will urge the collectors forward to the completion of their self-imposed task with unflagging zeal, and keep the parishioners accurately and closely informed as to the position of the fund, and inspire those who have nnt yet contributed with an earnest desire so to do. The books formerly Issued to collectors have all been- recalled, and the honorary secretary, jaddijfjnn? to his own list, has undertaken to collect ttie several sums therein enumerated as promised, but not atjthis date paid. The amounts so promised total £295.