OPENING OF S. ANDREW'S' CHURCH CAMBRIDGE. Social Gathering.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1431, 3 September 1881, Page 2

OPENING OF S. ANDREW'S' CHURCH CAMBRIDGE. Social Gathering.

A social demonstration to celebiate in a fitting manner the opening 1 of S. Andrew's new church Cambridge, took place in the Public Hall, on Thursday evening last, and a more enjoyable evening could not possibly be conceived. .Like all demonstrations of the kind, it was designed to supply two wants — thp augmentation of the Churteh Building Fund, and the furtherance of social harmony — and evidently no better way could have been devised to accomplish these ends. When the idea of having a social gathering was first" contemplated, a committee wad formed to car ry out the obj ect, and a number cf ladies readily volunteered to provide the tables, and a still larger number to wait and assist at the same, and Thursday night's proceedings were the creditable results of their efforts. We are certain that all those who were present— and these numbered some 300 people — thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and were not only amused but instructed. Tea was on the tables punctually at 6.30, and the various sittings down occupied the evening up to nearly 8 o'clock. The ladies who pro\ ided the tables were Mesdames W. N. de L Willis, T. Wells, J, Wibon, Robertson, J. Mackay, and Lodder, and it is unnecessary to say that there was a superabundance of everything, or that everything waB of a super-excellent quality. The tables being 1 remoTed, and the hall restored to its , normal aspect,, the second part of the programme was entered upon. Amongst those on the platform were His Lordship the Bishop of Auckland, the Revn. F Gould (Otahuhu), X.' J. Phillips (Te Awamutu), B T. Dudley (S. Sepulchre'", Auckland), W. N. de L. Willis (S. Andrew's, Cambridge), Messrs Wells, Campbell. Holdship (Auckland), and Col. Lyon. Hi* Lordship the Bishop, who occupied the chair, called upon the string band, under Mr Mackintosh, to contribute a musicil overture, which was accordingly rendered. The selection played exemplified the rapid progress made since their last performance before a Cambridge public, and was fittingly acknowledged by all nresent. Mr T. Wells was then introduced, and said, on behalf ©f the Building Committee, he came before them not to render an account of their stewardship, as their task was not yet complete, but to give them simply a progress report of what had been already dune. He would ask them to go back with him for the space of about two years dnd-a-half, as that time had expired since they finally decided that they should have increased Church accommodation. The old building just clo«ed had been two small for Ruch a growing congregation, and it was consequently decided that either the old Church should be enlarged consideiably, or that a new one should be erected in its stead. With some consideration, and after debating their capabilities, they decided that a new and suitable Church should be erected. Various plans and schemes were accordingly gone into, and the structure just opened was the one upon which they had chosen. At the meeting held in Major Wilson's house in the September of last year they had only the sum of £200 as a foundation upon which to commence operations. The tender of Mr Connollyfor the erectionof the building, £1570, was rpceived in January last and accepted. The building fund was augmented by a system of weekly subscriptions, donations, and loans ; but after a few week's trial, the former system — that of weekly subscriptions — proved to bea complete failure, and was accordingly abandoned. There were a few exceptions, however, as some people had continued to pay their weekly donations, though the system was abandoned. When the contract was commenced they had only £200 in hand, and £500 in promises. They had now collected £910, and of the remainder, £400 was promised. He had no doubt that the congregation of S. Andrew's were proud of what they had done in respect of the new work, considering what little help they had had outside their own parishioners. The aggregate subscriptions of 126 members of the congregation amounted to £660 14s lid. Other denominations in Cambridge had given £52 8s ; the other Waikato districts subscribed (collectively) £23 13s. Auckland had given them £55 15s 6d, and the money raised by concerts, soirees, and other effects amounted to £121 12s lid. There were fifty-five subscriptions of £5 and over, which spoke volumes for the liberality of the donors. The entire cost of the Church, with the various little additions, amounted fco £2050, winch was constituted thus :—: — contract amount, £1570; extras, £50; «eats, £60; lights, £2 5; land, £100; fencing grounds, £75 ; architect, £75, and sundries £ICO.> Tuere were various other donors who had subscribed materially to the erection of the church, but whose subscriptions were formed of labour and time and could not therefore be reduced to pounds shillings and pence. He would give theniv an instance, . Mr Richardson had shifted the old building back, which was equivalent to a good few pounds. They had also the labour and time" contributions of other people, who had assisted in the gravelling of the walks, and the fencing and laying out the grounds. They had "the services of Mr Beale and the members of the choir who had contributed materially to the same object. They would gather from, his remarks that as the hoheme would cost' £2050 end as £910 of this amount,was collected £1140 >had to ;be got in. Of this latter sum however £400 was promised, and £400 had been obtained onl oan for a period of 7 years leaving only £340 to collect. He would next draw their attention to"sie u qiatter of providing the peal of bella for the church. The jtower> had/ been especially ; .constructed with the view of accomodating and in{ the strain of a peal of bell?,, not an individual one, ,and in, all , probability in February next they \ppul&,hear| them ringing ra the towef, iW^en.t^e church building scheme vtras ; £rsij sppkejQ 1< of, in a discussion at whic,ht their Worthy, >ne'ghbour Mr Hewitt was prespnt,' that gentleman laughingly remarked that \\t for as good a,cljii,rclj ast.you all, »buil«Ul J will find as good a.,hell(o!put|n ife.",Spme two months ago, wh^n, %3£ church, ,wias approaching completion, Mr Hewitt had invited him to teofcoTer aifewmarticulara regarding the purchase, the price, and tKtf Myle W al>&'M& Waited to theit

wants.'JjiFThe orie^jpsen by them was to .cqst £$v or^jE&O.^^as this amount was a veTy" large TfrtTportion of the money required for a whole peal of bell*, it was suggested to Mr Hewitt that it was in his ■ t P°mJ(9,«ipak§, T C^in brid e^the * proud, ipoBsesQjuoif|a whole peal if ho wquld cpu--Sent tO--,pu»b.is amount to a rund^'for tnafc" purpose. This proposal was kindly acquiesced in Mr Hewitt, remarking that he would not mind "iving .another, £20 jiowni^ithejpr^iJO^Gfl bbjeofc*| jujid''accordingly gave permission to have his name put down 'ior-^IOO, 1 payable^ -\rheiri?e<jiiiredr (.Applause.) Thg bells were ordered from poijjie^ jlndy \w§^ expected to arrive in February ~nex£, and weie estimated to -cojt^when laudediin.the-.colony^-£2OO or so. He^yaanot^nxious to kuow where the res£ of the money was to come from, but waa anxious about what.they ,wqre to do with the surplus. They (the Building Committee) had not done yet ; there was more hunting after money to be done, and a successful completion of their Scheme depended on a long and strong pull and a pull together. 'Mr Wells resumed his seat amidst much* applause. His Lordship; Bishop, Cowie then addressed the r assembl^. He said they had had put before them 1 that evening in a very satisfactory and lucid- manner, by Mr Wells, the condition of the Church Building Fund. He had > known the neighborhood i for' very many years, and had watched its steady progress. Therefore, he was prepared to expect a great deal from the place and the' enterprise of the people. He did not, however, expect they would have done so much as they had done. He was simply surprised when he was asked to invite the Governor to lay the Jfoundation-stone of the present building. It was first proposed to add to the old ouiiding, but this, as they themselves knew, was a mistake. He did not, however, give expression to his thoughts in this respects but left the peoplo to do as they pleased —build a new church or improve upon the old one. They had proceeded on the old principle tliat what was worth doing waa worth doing well.; People 'who "had subscribed money subscribed it towards the erection of a good building, and it was therefore the duty of the committee to build a good one, and thase who had promised £.30 for a good Church were not, ho was certain, going to giva that amount towards a bad one, and he hoped that all future work of the same kind would be done in the Bame <>tyle as the one just, finished. The contr.ictor had told him that the resident clergyman was better than most overseers. H& ' had one thing which he wished to say to the young people, present, and that was regarding the ornament at the top of the spire. The spire waa intended to direct the attention of all from the affairs of the world to matters eternal and wan of paramount impoitance to our souls, The ornament, resembling a fi-h at the top of the spire, had a arreat deal of meaning, and was one of the oldest symbols of the Church. It was a custom to name pUces of worship after distinguished servants of God, and most of the old servants especially Andrew md bis brother Peter — were fishermen. The equivalent in Greek for the word " fish" iLf/nis havingfiveletters being the initial letters of the words Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savioni*. Looking ' at this symbol should call to their minds two things : As Andrew and his brother Peter were fishers of men, so it mu>-t be made their duty to bring to the Saviour those of their brethren who have not yet come to him and to encourage them to remain there. He would not however recommend boys to advise their seniors. If not how were they all to be missioners ? simply by setting a good example and by being good citizens. 'Mr FT. W. Moove was then called upon and sang "My Queen," Mr Johnson playing the accompaniment. The song was well adapted to Mr Moore's rich tenor voice and waa received with much applause. The Rev. B. T. Dudley next addressed tho meeting. He thought the present was an occasion for laymen to speak , not clergymen. H<j congratulated the people of Cambridge upon what they had accoirplishod in the past, and the good prospects they had in the future betore them Not only should they be congratulated on their beautiful church, their working committee and their choir, but on the happy fellowship which seemed to exist between them and the members of other religious denominations in Cambridge, He was struck at the,, readiness displayed by the business people iv closing their places of business that the day of consecration might be observed as a common holiday. He congratulated them on the prospect of then* having a peal of bells shortly, and also on the charming; array of belles present, (laughter). On looking over the subscription list he was surprised at thenumberof contributions, not only from the wealthy, but from the comparatively poor and struggling. The speaker, in conclusion, related some remarkable instances of the liberality towards the church existant in his own parish, especially among the poorer classes. Mr Moreton was called upon and rendered " True till Death," an item in the programme which met with the reception it so well deserved. Mr J. P. Campbell then addressed the audience at some length. He hoped to see the day when another Church would take the place of the one which had just been opened, and in which all denominations would meet. He had been associated with tho public affairs of the district for a number of years, and did not expect to see such a handsome and imposing church erected in Cambridge so soon. It was certainly gratifying to all persons of a religious turn of mind to know that attention had been devoted to church matters as well as the secular affairs of tho place. Mr Campbell was loudly applauded on resuming his seat. The song ''Charity" was feelingly pang by Mr Mackintosh, accompanied by Mrs Mackintosh and was received with merited applause. The Rev. P, Gould was the next to address the meeting. He related his experiences of the progress of the Waikato from the days of trouble up to the present. On his first visit to this part of the country he never expected to see civilisation make such marked developments as exemplified by the ' erection of such an edifice as S. Andrew'?, as well as other important institutions of a more secnlar nature \n the district. He also spoke of the respect which the natives entertained for the Bible, which had always been a favorite book amongst them, and every passage of which they sought to have explained. Colonel Lyon related a few humorous incidents of the early days of the Waikato. Had any person told ,him some 16 years ago that Cambridge would have been the place it is at present he would have called such a person an unmitigated lunatic. There ;vyer.e~no „women in the Waikato in these times," 'with the exception of a few old soldiers' wives, whd use| to do the washing, and when he made up*his mind to settle down hewent to Auckland I with the intention of getting married; which'he SEehtuallj? idfdi ' Onilrriving at Cambridge,, when, the, ; soldiers came to hear he ha'd'eome wi&i his "bride, they all flocked Eowjtuta' the* river to see them land — ladies were , \ such,, , a novelty. After relating . his^ exp ( erieaice r s . ojf i( th?) place, which%ere highly instructive '&a provo^

cati^fef sinu^||lat^Wer f Cold^ resumed his seat umidst muen^tSSSnusiasm. \ The String Ba'ndyin their usual creditable style, and in a lively and soul-in-XSpiiinik manner, played another of their ichoi^Ffelection-'. *"-*TRr Kiev. E. J. Phillips then came for. ward and gave speech to hia sentiments. Ke never knew a people possessed of so much "go" as the Cambridge people. The Indies were de-ervinc of many thanks for the manner in which they had carried out their part of the programme. As for himself he had^taijen tea with *a f rood many of thorn,, andlwquldlsay .he Baa .the pleasure of seeing some of the prettiest the place. "The^speaker" 'WaT loudly, applauded. < > -._ ) x > , /, •'„ j Mr Holdship, of Auckland, 'then ad-* dressed the meetjng. ,The building which they had erected waa destined to inspire visitors with a sense of natural *o the place and the f on,^;ard disposition of the people, V 1, r , ' y , A duet,' "Albion on thy T Fertile PlainS,',' 1 was sUncr by TSlessrs ' Mpore Moreton. The piece was ably rendered, and was the musicalgenl of the 1 evening, and was received with niuoh' applause. „ A most j^njoyable evenmy ;w as brought to a close by the company singing the DoxologV. , , iif >t f , / ;,_,;, The proceeds of the evening, amounted to over £20.