ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, CAMBRIDGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1120, 28 August 1879, Page 2

ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, CAMBRIDGE.

. ~ MBKTI »a of the congregation, to consider proposals of the Vestry, for the building of a new Church, was held on <-.■*, , , m , &nnd *y last - T1 "*e was a very large attendance, all the male portion of the congregation, and some ladies, remained to the meeting. The R_v. W. N. de L. -^r..,. .•,.•_ _ . WlUu 000u P iecl - ™c chair, and, m opening the meeting, said, he would first inform them of the very satisfactory state of the : «„„„„„„ nf ax, a nu -nu _ _ ■ y™ Cea ° f the ohurch ' The amount of debfc on ™c building, Minister's stipend, &c, was only the sum of £25, beiu°* an overdraft on the Bank of New Zealand, _■ ._ „ , „, . " c then caUcd on Col - L y° n > to read * the report, who commenoed as follows : — E'eport and scheme for the erection of a new church, submitted to a special meeting of the parishioners, held m the Church, August 24th, 1879. The meeting which is bein°- held this morning, ha? been called at the request of the Vestry, that they may report to the parishioners the result of the scheme entrusted to them at a meeting, held m April last, at which his Lordship the Bishop of the Diocess was presiding It will be within the recollection of' the parishioners that, at that meeting it was unanimously agreed that the sitting accommodation afforded by the building m which we now worship, was insufficient for the present wants of the district and that something should be done, as soon as possible, to meet the want of further room. The meeting seemed to be almost unanimously of opinion that an enlarge- ' ment should, if possible, be provided by building a new church, with which tha present building might be connected for a time, rather than expend a considerable sum m simply enlarging the present building, more especially as it is now m contemplation to borrow largely towards the cost of making the extra provision It was felt that posterity might be fairly taxed with paying off a debt on a new and better church, than with paying for simply the improvement of an old building. The matter was then referred to the Vestry, to consult an architect (Mr Mahoney's name beinsr mentioned) and make inquiries m relation to a loan of £500, from the Standing Committee, and report again to the parishioners. Since that time the Vestry has" had four different plans under their consideration, all prepared by Mr Mahoney, architcet of Auckland. The first of these plans was laid before the parishoners at a meetin«held m the month of May last, but owin* to the costliness of carrying out that plan 3 and the difficulty of building any section of it by itself, and the unpleasant impressien conveyed by endeavourm" to attach the present building to any portion of it, the matter was referred again to the Vestry for consultation with the architect. The second plan whioh was buuTrurnished was not more suitable on the whole than the first, and then the Vestry were asked by the arohiteot to consider a plan for simply enlarging andimproving the present building, at a cost of £500. This they did not approve of. At the same time they were furnished with sketch plans of the building which they propose recommending to the parishoners to-day. But before speaking of the building, and the scheme m connection with it' the Vestryproposefirstto state the pointswhich they have had a mind m trying to brin 0 " this matter to a praptiqa} -jssue :— (1) The desire to recqn*,inen_, '■* uew and better style qf Church. (2) They thought only a, section of that Church mis-bit be attempted at the present, and the old building might be connected with it. (3J They limited the members* tq a present expenditupe of say £G.OO. In trying to work m these various points they have not spared time or trouble, or personal expense; some of these positions they have found themselves, on weighing the matter compelled to abandon. They found they can effect no considerable savins by working on the present building with the new, and, beside* this, they candevise no means to n^e the jipction of* tho two look cv.en tolerably, w^ITY _>om _hebeo-i*_. ning, indeed, the architect assured them that the old .building was not worth taking kto consideration. They, therefore recommended the giving up of the second position, and the setting" apart of the present building for the purposes of a fc-jnud-iy School. Without a buU%g fo-

to such purposes, they feel that the Church J- cannot be kept clean or m good order. iy The giving up of this position, obliges ie them to consider the third position, viz.— ■t that of confining themselves to a present Xt expenditure of 1600. Tho sum would, of ia itself, be insufficient to build any portio» ie of a good Church, affording sufficient accommodation to meet present require--0 ments ; nor could the easo be materially to altered by increasing the sum by £100 or 7 £200. A portion of a Churoh with more accommodation for the present » time might be built for the sura, bnt n. within a year or two at furthest the work Jt of extension would have to be commenced 10 again. Much expenditure would thus be sunk m mere alterations— building up and 4 pulling down within a short period, ie Reviewing the whole question, the meeting 16 would now counsel the parishioners for 7 the sake of having a really good church, l - to bear with the shortcomings of tho 3r present building* for a' little longer, say another year, and to contemplate the '« expenditure of a much, larger sum on a I-- church which will afford -accommodation '- for such increase m the number attending 'c Divine Worship as they hope six or seven year will witness. The Church of which the plans will be submitted to-day is a ■- church to be seated for 280 persons, over ■* r and above the accommodation provided V for choir, chancel &c, that is to say a church one and a-half times larger than the present buildmg. It is a Churoh complete m itself— but, though complete, it is so planned that by a very simple mode U of extension accommodation may at any time be provided for 150 more persons by lG shifting the west wall and lengthening ie the nave to its full proportion. Besides lr this, it will be as proposed a handsome la Church and yet it will be handsomer still ,i when the nave has to be extended. The x . cost of carrying out this proposal will il probably be not less than £1680, but the n Vestry have a scheme for raisins; it which ia will bring the undertaking within the ;o means of the Churoh people of the j Cambridge District, and this scheme they ■■*.•> no^" place before you. They propose as a i,-; basis that an effort be made to raise a | 0 great bulk of the cost by weekly subscripjf tions spread over a period of four years 3 commencing from to-morrow. 100 sub)r scribers of ls 6d per week would, m ,t eighteen months contribute the large sum of £600. They propose postponing the |( . work of the building for one year m order |( to start with a good round sum m hand, o{ say £400 from the weekly contributions ie a . lone - They alio w six months beyond the t . time for the completion of the contract, 8 the churoh to be ready for opening next Je Easter 12 months. At the end of- that v time, (18 months from now), the weekly payments would amount as already stated J to £600. £600 more could probably be y borrowed from the Standing Committee, the remaining £450 will likely be collected re m . ( i onafc i ons oi larger or smaller sums from friends m the district or m the colony or y " m England. Already several have agreed ' to give £50 each provided others will each . contribute a like amount. But now as for paying of the £600 they propose to borrow. If the weekly payment scheme were kept up even at a much lower rate than proposed, this could be paid off with the interest within four years from the present time already spoken of or 2\ years from the date of opening the Church. But besides this the i- other half would be forthcoming towards ie clearing such a building as this of debt. The Society for Promoting Chistian 111 Knowledge would probably contribute >*c not less than £100. One more matter the ie Vestry would speak of, viz., the , appropriation of sittings. In regard tq ' this they would propose that on completion ■*■*■• of the building seats should be appro\g priated for a given time, say to the end of m the four years free of charge to all subscribers of 6d per week m the buildinsr scheme, and that such appropriation should if be determined m the ordinary way by lot l } on a fixed day for the purpose — due notice of which should be given. Much care has been .taken m the preparation of the building scheme. The ie Vestry think it practicable and recommend it to the consideration of the parishioners. ,f But their only desire is to help m the ,1 advancement of the Church m the district ie to the best of their power. They only wish to see their proposals carried out if is v e y seem best calculated to attain this jf end. Ie me names of a number of Church ie members were then read, who without n solicitation' have registered themselves as ie weekly subscribers. [t If the plans submitted are approved of, ie and this scheme adopted for raisin"* the it funds the Vestry propose to immediately g canvass the district for subscribers, and to n ask the assistance of the lady members of it the Church m collecting the weekly payd ments under the guidance of a special is secretary. t Mr Thomas Wells was then called upon •t to read the financial statement, i- Statement of estimated position of y building account, on March I, 1881, .a when the Church should be completed :— ir Receipts : August 25, 1879, to March 1, c 1881 (78£ weeks), 100 subicribers, t averaging Is 6d per week, £588 15s; n interest, say, £11 ss; donations, includs ing six fifties, say, £450; loan from i. Standing Committee, £600 ; total, £1,650. ■7 Expenditure: Architect's estimate of 7 Church, if built m Auckland, £1,050; r difference m cost m Cambridge, £150 '; - extra, for concrete foundation, £50 ; 3 extra, for * varnishing, £25; extra, for r seats. &c, £100; Architect's commission, 1 t'7s ; quarter-acre of land, £70 ; fenoin"*, f £50; contingencies, £80; total, £1,650.° 1 Payment of Loan Account : — Estimated receipts from March 1, 1881, to Sepfcemr ber ), 1883: Ist March, 1881, to Ist , March, J882„('32 weeks), 100 subscribers, E at ls 3d, £325 ; Ist March, 1882, to Ist * March, 1883 (52 weeks), 100 subscribers, ■: at ls 3d, £325 ; Ist March, 1883, to Ist ; September, 1883 (26 weeks). 100 subscribers, at ls, £130; S.P.C.K. donation, t £100 ; total, £880. Estimated Expenditure :— Ist March, i 1881, to Ist March, 1882, Sinking Fund, ' , £ ?i?' infcerest £4S, £260-; Ist March, ' 1882, to lot March, 1883, Sinking Fund, i £200, interest £32, £234; Ist March, i 1883, to Ist April, 1883, Sinking Fund, £188, interest £188, £196 ; contingencies. £192 ; total, £880. Mr Wells said, he did not think they would have to borrow nearly £600, and ■ even if the subscribers of weekly sums fell off one half, it would not materially ■. affect the scheme. He, here, drew atten- ( tion to the plans, which are of a handsome 1 budding, which could, at any time,' be ] lengthened, to accommodate fifty more ■ persons Thq Qhurch they proposed to ] tmild at once, was to accommodate 280. The length of the nave would be 64 feet, ] breadth 27 feet; transept, 54 feet hy 1 27 feet ; vestry, 2 feet 3 inches by 12 feet , 3 inches ; steeple, 96 feet high., Mr c t W"* &9$ *» h^ily concurred 1 m the scheme, and he put down his name s for a donation of £50, and a weekly sub- r scnption of 2s 6d, aud that he would, b very likely, give more, and he had no t doubt but that Sir James Fer-russon t: would give a handsome donation. He * thr fi ?SEn MaJ ° r ™«teW^IJ Major Wilson moyfifl, V,l"hat a new ti U i up ft §* $*¥***» witli the plans now w subndt-fcod, the lotting of the contract for m tho same to stand over for one year, from hi tins date. ' al Mr Chapman Ewen seconded. he Mr Every Maclean said he would sup- u,e port the resolution. He thought it very iri desirable to h ye suih ■***, Church as that • hi indicated by the plu-pa, b.ut he would like to to, see a stone Chiy-oh. ' There, wis plenty of \-f SWlft-^ afcctUG m, foe nc^l#wt\QQ^ i $••

-- •— — •■< -1 - m — =J- U. J_«_"! —? T!C^ be would like to see some of it used for a ctono tower at least. Ho would give a donation to the Church as proposed, bnt would give much more if the tower was built of stone for a peal of bells. (Subsequently several gentlemen. promised handsome extra subscriptions t*» a stone tower, and several promised t* give bells). The resolution was put to the meeting, and carried unanimously. Mr Lambert next mored, " That the scheme of weekly subscriptions, &0., as proposed by the meeting for raising the necessary f uudsbe adopted, and be brought into working forthwith. Mr James Stuart seconded. Carried unanimously. Mr Alex. Heany proposed, "That tho proposals of the Vestry m regard to the allotment of sittings m the new Church be approved, and endorsedby the meeting." Mr Williams seconded Carried unanimously.

Mr Hicks proposed, " That the meeting be requested to give effect to to the following resolutions, and the meeting pledges its hearty co-operation and support."

Mr Laurence seconded. Carried unanimously.