MASTERTON WESLEYAN CHURCH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4982, 22 March 1895, Page 3

MASTERTON WESLEYAN CHURCH.

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING. _ In response to an invitation by circular, a large number of members the Masterton Wesloynn Church, jb[jissembled last evening to meet tlio wplev. J. Dukes, and receive Mr P. A, Rivo's report on the recent Conference held at Nelson, Tho Rov. J. Dukes opened the meeting in the usual manner, after which Mr C. E. Daniell, Circuit Steward, was voted to the Chair. Mr Daniell thanked those present for attending in spite of bad weather, and explained fully the objects of the meeting, referring in very complimentary terms to Mr Dukes' work in tho past, and hisve-nppoint-ment to the Masterton Circuit for a fifth year, Mr Dukes did a great deal for the members of his Church, and he (Mr Daniell) was afraid there was some danger of their forgetting that tlioir pastor needed sympathy and encouragement to cheer him on, Ho should like to see Church members look more into the Sunday School 'work, the magnitude of which many of them had no idea, and ako to rise to their duty by taking a more active and sympathetic interest in Church work. Mr P, A. Rive was then called Hkpon for his report of the Nelson at which he was present. Regarding Nelson itself, he would say nothing except that they had been very handsomely treated by the people of the city. The speaker then at length described the Conference, and work done by it, giving also his views on the matters dealt with. He regretted the Conference had not | given tho matter of the apparent i decrease of scholars and teachers in! their Sunday Schools, more serious j consideration,for the returns showed! that while the inceasc of members J during tho year was 383, and of! adherents 2,23o,there was a decrease j of 57 teachers, and 3-1 Sunday j School scholars. How was this P j Ho could not account for it, | but thought they might give out! a note of warning, and bestir! themselves iii this work. The' funds, he regretted, showed with I the demands for further assistance, i and the deficiency given, a shortage; of about £7OO, and he was sure if j the people only realized the need! f there was to do more to help on the! mo Mission Work, they would do' ungrudgingly, Regarding the, Maori Mission, it was found mure j difficult to mako self-supporting! now, because the Natives were! poorer, and in many cases were in- j dined to 6ay, "Are you white people not satisfied with taking our land and our other possessions,without asking us to pay for a Gospel you wish us tt> accept," Tlio question of a Methodist Union, has been thoroughly threshed out at the Con- j ference, but many difficulties, piiuci-1 pally financial, stood in the way, | and there was a feeling of dis- j appointment that the Union was [ only likely to be a partial one. The poor support accorded to their conne.xtional organ Tho Advocate, was a matter of regret, and it would he a | shame if such a body as the Wes- j leyans of New Zealand, with GO,000; adherents, should allow their paper! to be shut up. The question of! Bible in Schools and Temperance had been dealt with by the CoufcrAice, but he felt obliged to say that in a measure were the men of their Church in the van in dealing with these and like questions, and too mucli time and energy was expended in going over old ground. What the Minister had not time to do—and he could not do everything, the members of tho congregation must take up. If they were to succeed every man and woman in the connection must take up their share in some department of the Church i work. (Applause). Mr Daniell congratulated Mr Rive upon his able report, and excellent speech. It was the first Conference report he had heard from a layman, for fifteen years. He would like to say, that he was glad to be able to tell them that the Masterton Sunday School was not one of those to help the decrease, having gone forward instead of backward during the year. (Applause.) The Sev, J. Dukes, who was warmly received, said he could not possibly reply to all the queries iaised by Mr Rive. There was one jnatter, however, he thought he would throw a little light on, and that was with regard to the npparont decrease in Sunday scholars and teachers. Personally he attached very little importance to the return, and did not think they had lost a single teacher while they had actually gained about 200 scholars. Parsons were not business men, and ".returns " were not their strong point, He knew o£ one instance last year in which a Minister had made the mistake of Bending in his returns at 100 scholars more than ho had. This alone would quite cover tho supposed decrease this year because the one hundred had to be left out. (Applause). He had to thank everyone most heartily for the many kind things said to him and of him, but he did not wish the meeting to degenerate into a mutual admiration Society. In his opinion the Methodist Conference was one of the most important bodios in Christen-' dom, having.a great responsibility in making its 90 odd appointments. In the year 1881, the N.Z. Metbodis' Church had 3,891 members, and 36,623 adherents, and in 1895, this ,|fijinmhei' had grown to 9,000 Members and 59,600 adherents; an increase in 14 years of 125 per cent, in membership. If, as some other sects did, they calculated all the children baplised in their Church as members, it would have been veiy much larger, but with theWesleyan Church a member had to be able to take an intelligent part in Church matters,

The rev, gentleman then described Nelson in glowing terms, after which lie referred to the Methodist Union, stating that the United Free Church was anxious for union, and although some troubles would have to be overcome, he felt that they were all prepared to makesacrifices, if need be, to heal up divisions and gain unity. The Conference had accepted five young men for the Ministry, one son of their own Church. Another young brother from Mastertoni was shortly to take up Home Mission work at Cheviot in the South Island. 13oth had been great assistance to himself, aud '"wvas now a question of how to fill jßieir places. Referring to the coming year's work,which the Eev. speaker pointed out, begins on the third Sunday in April, ho said they mußt determino to keep steadily advancing, Two years ago the Masterton Wesleyaii Church hail a membership of 65 which had now grown to 201, At all hazards the good work must go pi), and he begged that Jfchey would rally round him in faith and prayer, l If more] zeal and energy were put

into the old mothods, tboy would not need to hunt much for new, although he was always open to advance and mako improvements, where the good conld be seen. All must take up their work under | a baptism of common sense. 110 would like to see the week-night services better attended, anil a Band of Hope worked up. He sincerely I hoped that this would indeed be the happiest and bestycarof his Ministry in Masterton, but if was to be, it required tlio earnestness and unity of all, The Rev. Mr Dukes then sat down amidst .ipplause, Mr Daniell making a few concluding remarks, find the meeting terminating with a vote of thanks to Mi' P. A. Rivo and the Chairman.