Holy Trinity Church.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 481, 17 July 1890, Page 3

Holy Trinity Church.

PARISHIONERS’ MEETING, Tbi snnusl meeting of parishonerß of Holy Trinity Church was held at the schoolroom on Tuesday evening. The Bev. Canon Fox presided, therebeing a fair attendance. On the motion of Mr Greenwood, seconded by Mr Butt, the balance sheet was taken as read, and adopted, Mr Greenwood then read the report

“The financial position of the Church at thia time may be thus stated In spite of the increase cf expenditure, consequent on the appointment of a second clerpyman, all expenses have been met, and the debt upon the aehool has beep reduced by £6O, and the general liabilities by £39. The interest on the debt will of course he reduced proportionately, and a further sp.\ inn may be expected from the kindness of Archd. S. Williams, who has offered to reduce the interest on the total debt to 7 per cent., provided the payments be made regularly. This satisfactory result would not have been attained but for the zeal and energy of the Parish Churchwarden, Mr C. P. Davies, who has been very diligent and sueeaseful in collecting pew rents, and subscriptions. It will be the vish of all the parishioners that he may long continue to bold an office, the duties of which ha discharges so admirably. There has been a falling off in the pew rente, not quite balance! by an increase in the effertory. The country offertories show a slight decrease. A large reduction of the debt on the Sunday Schoolroom would have made, had not the sale of work by the Ladies’ Church Society been unavoidably postponed. In spite cf some serious difficulties which arose through the much lamented death of Mr McAra, the Hap ar a Fete of thia year was unusually successful. We owe special thanks to Mr and Mrs Gold Smith for the use of the ground., to the ladies who took a very active part in the organisation, and to Messrs Little and Taneley, who, as nsna), kindly provided vehielo* free of charge. In the last report of the Vestry it was stated that the aid then givqp by the Dioceran Fund towards the stipend of an assistant clergyman (£5O per arnom) might be withdravjW We have received £25 from this aonree, bW it is now fully understood that no furfhefpayment can be made for an indefinite time. The question how to meet this loss has much occupied the attention of the Vestry. It was proposed to form Committees in the country districts, to act in conjunction with ourselves, and partly with this object

deputations from the Vestry visited some of the country centres. Subsequently a circular was put forth inviting contributions from country residents to a special stipend fund, and also expressions of opinion on any point such as the desirability of country residence for the assistant clergyman. This circular was distributed by various ladies, who canvassed the district, and in reply to it subscriptiuns to the amount cf £4 ils, and promises of £3llos, have been received. There were but few expressions of opinion. Tho*e that were made strongly advised the country residence, one subscriber even making it one cf two conditions on which his subscription was offered. We commend this matter to the consideration of the parishioners, especially those living in the country whom it more particularly con. corns. We wish to renew our expressions of regard for and confidence in the Incumbent of the parish, and of gratitude for his earnest work amongst us. His marriage will, we trust, prove a blessing to him and to the parish, and we hope will ensure his continued residence amongst those who recognise in him an able and faithful Pastor and a valued friend. On full consideration of the financial position we have no hesitation in recommending that the engagement made with Mr Gardiner at the last annual meeting, which has now terminated, be renewed. His good work in town and country deserves our cordial recognition, and wo hope that wherever the residence of the assistant clergyman may be finally fixed, the town may not altogether be deprived cf his ministrations. A Pastoral Letter from the Bishop of the Diocese waa received last December, in which he urges the systematic support of Church work, wiih special reference to the Diocesan fund, which helps the poorer districts, and commends to us a series of resolutions passed by the Standing Committee of the Diocese to promote this object. One cf these resolutions recommends the formation of an Association in each district for the purpose of collecting funds, etc. We have not seen our way at present to take any action in this matter, owing to the heavy local calls upon our resources, but we trust it may be possible before long to give more active help to a fund whoso object is so excellent, from which we have ourselves derived much assistance in time past. A sum appears for the first time in the report under the heading • Makaraka Church Building Fund.’ This was collected many years ago, but has only lately come into the Churchwardens’ hands. It is hoped that thio will be the nucleus of a fund which will accomplish the object contemplated. A proposal to paint the parsonage has besn allowed to stand over for the present, but the attention of the incoming Vestry is called to this. The verger, Mr Shellard. has performed his duties so much to the satisfaction of the Vestry that it was unanimously agreed that a bonus of £5 should be granted to him in recognition

of his diligence and efficiency. Our thanks are due to Mr W. P. Finneran for much kind and gratuitous assistance in matters connected with the church buildings. We have lost, for a time, the valuable help of the Ineumbent’e Churchwarden, Mr DeLautour, who has always been a warm friend and act’ve helper in Vestry and Sunday School. We have also deeply to regret the permanent loss of other f iends who took a heart? interest in Church matters, Dr and Mrs Pollen. Mr Greenwood and his band of helpers continue their good work in the Sunday School, and we would express an earnest hope that their hands may be strengthened by volunteers to the place of teach»rs who, from mr.vMtable causes, are obliged to resign, and *cond!y by parents doing all they oan to promote the regular attendance and grot behavior of their children. As in former years, Co’onel Simeon deserves our thanks for his much-appreciated assistance given to the Clergy in reading the. lessons. To the members cf the Choir, and to the ladies of the congregation, who have been active bi ever in the many services they reader, oar thinks are also dae. May th® blessing of Almighty God rest upon all material means employed to further the interests of our Saviour's Kingdom.” Mr Baker moved and Mr Greenwood seconded the adoption of the report. Mr Gray, in alluding to the report, thought they should not be satisfied next year without striking a larger sum off the difference between liabilities and assets. The Bev. Canon Fox said, before reading his letter bo bad a pleasant duty to perform By their applause they had testified as to Mr Davies’ good work; the members of ihe Vestry had thought he waa deserving of something mon than words and the parishioners bad decided to award a purse of sovereigns to him.

(Applause.) Genius had been drfioed as the capacity for taking pains, and Mr Davies had that capacity in a great degree. He(Canon Fox) •ould hardly believe it, when he had beeu told that co much had been accomplished in regard to improving the fineness of the church, and he was naturally very much pleased. He had pleast w in presenting Mr Davies with the testimonial. (Applause,) Mr Davies briefly replied mentioning that he had been taken by surprise, but while expressing his thanks he said ha had done no mote than ho considered his duty. (Applause). The rev. Incumbent then read his Pastoral letter. •■My dear friends,—Four years ago I wrote to you, ’ If all our debt were paid, and we began the year with a balance of £lOO to our credit j if there were a second clergyman working here, and a Sunday School built; etc.’ Two cf these three aspirations have been realised, and the third is steadily approaching realisation. ‘A tone of cheerful thankfulness towards God and man ’ is then not out of place when we consider our financial position, and even when we turn to the spiritual position (though we may well hope that this underlies the other) that tone may still be maintained. The attendance at special Services, for instance, was far better than it has ever been before; and better still, the number of communicants at the weekly markedly increased. We Ms still, indeed, ui Ute tumparsuva degras,

end are only looking forward to the superlative, but progress implies life. “ One feature of the early Communion is the hearty responding on the part of the worshippers. No service can be dull or lifeless where this is the case, and I urge upon all the duty of uttering the responses audibly at all Services, with the lips aa well as with the heart. “ The success of our Literary Society this session calls for a word of congratulation. My hands are weakened by the logs of two personal friends who were on the Committee —Mr Kenny and Dr Pollen—a loss I feel keenly. Obligations of a private character cannot be publicly displayed, but in my quasi public position I have had opportunities of observation which enable me to add one more testimony to many others with regard to the value of Dr Pollen’s kindness, generopity and skill to the people of Poverty Bay. I have also to regret the temporary absence of another kind and warm friend to whom my personal obligations are very great —my churchwarden, Mr DeLautour.

“ There are several points in the report of the Vestry on which I should like to say a few words. With the well-deserved commendation of the work of the paiishioners’ churchwarden, Mr O. P. Davies, of course I h°artily concur, and I am very glad that it has been succeeded by a more substantial recognition of his good service. I think the testimonial he would appreciate most would be the power of collecting the pew rents from the offertory plate?, instead of by personal canvass, however successful.

“ To Mr Gardiner’s work during the year I must give high praise. He has been most diligent in visiting, and has been ready for every good work. One fact will be sufficient to illustrate this. The average of baptisms during the five years before be was associated with me was 63. the maximum 79. This year the number has been 117, and the increase has been all but entirely due to his efficiency. “ The Vestry report deals largely with the country work. It will be seen that country subscriptions have increased and many uew subscriptions have been promised, some of these (about £9) on condition that the clergyman resides in the country. There would be advantages no doubt in this plan, but it must be remembered that he could only reside in one centre out of many, that it might be difficult to find a residence, that it would increase his expenses, and that whatever the country would gain, the town would lose. It does not now seem impracticable to think of a complete separation between town and country, and that is a possible solution. My own wishes will ba : modified by those of the country settlers, and by Mr Gardiner’s. " It is not generally known, I think, that we usually hold four country Services on Sunday. A list of the centres at which they are held will be found in the report We have lately added Waimata and Wae renga-a-kuri.

The Gisborne School Committee, of late, publicly offered the use of their schoolrooms for religious instruction out of school hours. We are anxious, for our part, to respond to this overture, but you will understand the difficulty of teaching effectively whan the children must be assembled as early as half.past eight a.m., or as late as half-past four p.m., when they are wearied with the day’s work. Perhaps this difficulty may be partly overcome, but at any rate we propose to commence a Saturday class very soon. I hope all parents who are concerned, will co operate with us to the utmost of their power. “ Unwilling as I am to refer here, however slightly, to a personal matter, I must take this opportunity, since it is my only one, of cordially thanking many kind friends whose names I find in a list lately handed to me. A very few of these names are even unknown to me, and a good many are of persons not connected with my own Church, and to ail these especially I make this acknowledgment.

“ Farewell. May the name of the Lord Jesus be increasingly magnified among us in the coming year. May we all know more of the Life Eternal, which is the knowledge of the only true God, and of Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. May we experience more and more the power of the Lord Jesus to save from sin. Let us pray more than ever for the blessing of His Holy Spirit, which we gieatly need, and expect accordingly that the blessing will bo given.—Your faithful friend and pastor, J. E. Fox.” The various points in the report and (he pastoral letter were applauded, especially the reference to the efforts of Mr Davies. The Rev. Incumbent renominated Mr DeLautour as his Churchwarden. Mr Butt nominated Mr C. P. Davies as Parishioners’ Churchwarden. That gentleman’s qualities, he said, were so well known that he need say nothing further in recommendation ot him. The nominations were cordially approved of. The following gentlemen were elected Vestrymen Messrs A. Gray, A Kempthorne, Akroyd, Dunlop, Morgan, Humphries, Pettie, Baker, Greenwood, and Butt. On the motion of Mr Baker, seconded by Mr Bull, a vote of thanks was accorded to the officers for their work in the past year, and on the motion of Mr Akroyd a vote of thanks to the Chairman.