Page:History of Knox Church Dunedin.djvu/111

Rh £2573 7s 11d in two years, although during the same period a further amount of £2389 8s 8d had been paid for interest, stone wall, iron railing, lamps, architects' commission, laying off grounds, &c. At the close of the financial year ending 30th Sept., 1890, the liabilities of the congregation were reduced to £2704 6s 6d. This gratifying reduction was greatly helped by the handsome legacy of £500 bequeathed to the church fund by the late Mrs John Gillies. It may be interesting to know that from the date of the opening of the new church till September 30, 1890, the sum of £5831 6s 9d was paid by the Deacons' Court for interest on the debt for the new church.

The appointment of the Rev. Mr Davidson as colleague to Dr Stuart greatly quickened the desire of the office-bearers to relieve the church fund of the whole of the remaining debt, and early in 1890 Mr Andrew Cameron, a member of the Session, undertook to initiate and carry through a scheme for the total extinction of the debt by the end of the year 1891. In this arduous undertaking Mr Cameron laboured most zealously and unweariedly; and through the gratifying liberality of the members and friends of Knox Church he was able to report that at the beginning of the present year (1892) £2800—fully the amount of the congregation's indebtedness on September 30, 1890—had been subscribed and paid. The Deacons' Court, at a meeting held on January 5, 1892, cordially adopted the following resolution regarding Mr Cameron's work:—"The Deacons' Court record their deep sense of gratitude to Mr Andrew Cameron, one of their number, for his indefatigable labours in successfully raising by subscriptions the sum of £2800 during the past two years for the purpose of paying off the debt on Knox Church. The Court also record their thanks to those members of the congregation and others who subscribed the amount raised, and their recognition of the goodness of the Great Head of the Church in the success that has attended Mr Cameron's efforts." Knox Church may therefore be regarded as now virtually free of debt.