THE OPENING OF ST. MARK'S CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 375, 13 October 1868, Page 3

THE OPENING OF ST. MARK'S CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

The new Church of England was formally opened on Sunday last, by the Rev. B. W. Harvey. The Rev. gentleman commenced the service of the morning by reading the following letters from his Lordship the Bishop of Nelson: -" To the Christian people here present, and to all concerned therein, "Whereas for some time past, the want of a building specially devoted to Divine Service, according to the rites and ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland, hath been felt in this place, and that this present building hath been erected to supply such want, and application hath been made to us to authorize and accept such building for the above purpose, we, taking this into consideration, and the efforts which have been made to supply the said want, do hereby approve of the use of this building for the purpose of Divine worship, according to the rites and ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland, and do hereby commission our well-beloved in Christ, B. W. Harvpy, Master of Arts, in our name, to dedicate this building to the glory of God, to be known bv the name of the Church of St. Mark the Evangelist, Charleston. Witness our hand this 22nd day of September, 1868. Andrew "W. Sutoe, Nelson.

In the next letter, addressed by his Lordship to the " Congregation of the Church of England, assembled in the Church, of St. Mark, Charleston," His Lordship, after expressing his regret, that circumstances prevented him from attending at the dedication services, continues : " T have witnessed with much satisfaction the zeal and perseverance with which you have collected the funds sufficient for the ■erection of a Church, and I am thankful that you will be able to make a temporary arrangement whereby you may have the services of the llev. Mr Harvey, ,who will be able to devote part of his time to this place and part of it to Westport, and I am bure you will appreciate the effort that he will thus have to make to maintain such servic.33. I have written home to England to expedite the advent of the Clergyman whom I told you I had specially reserved for your need. I hope that he will be out earlier than otherwise he would have been. Still, it will not be till Easter that he will be able to be amongst you. I would recommend that you should endeavor amongst yourselves to keep up the services by lay readers, alternating with the visits of the Rev. Mr. Harvey, for the present. And I also will try to send you, between tbis and Christmas, a visit from one of the clergy here. Commending you to the grace of G-od, believe me to be, dear Christian brethren, " Yours ever gratefully, "A. W. S. Nelson."

The usual form of prayer was then gone through, with the addition of five prayers sent for the occasion. The Eev. Mr. Harvey then ascended the pulpit, and look for his text the parable of the Pharisee and Publican (Luke xviii., 10), and preached a very appropriate and impressive sermon. The reverend gentleman preached also at the evening service. The services on both occasions were well attended, and a collection amounting to £ll 15s. 6d. was obtained. A small sum it is true, considering that there is a debt of £IOO on the church. Now, however, that it is open, there is little doubt but that this sum will be soon liquidated. In the evening the church was well lighted, and Mr. Bear presided at the harmonium, as well as at the morning service.