Page:History of Knox Church Dunedin.djvu/37

Rh At the first meeting of the newly-appointed elders, Mr John Gillies was elected Session Clerk. He held the office continuously till his lamented death in July, 1871; when he was succeeded by Mr John Borrie, a member of the Session, who ably discharged the duties of the office till his removal to Invercargill in September, 1880. Mr Colin Kenzie Gordon was appointed his successor; and the duties of Session Clerk have ever since been fulfilled by him in a most efficient and satisfactory manner. The first meeting of the Deacons' Court was held on August 23, 1860, when Mr. Robert Short was appointed Clerk, and Mr C. H. Street, Treasurer to the Court. Since Mr Short's resignation in 1864, the office of Clerk to the Deacons' Court has been held successively by Messrs Edmund Smith, C. K. Gordon, W, T. Glasgow, George M. Thomson, and P. G. Pryde. Mr Street rendered valuable service to the Church as its Treasurer for upwards of fourteen years—up to the time of his leaving for England, in the beginning of 1875. He was succeeded in the Treasurership by Mr Walter Hislop, who still holds the office.

The elders and deacons, soon after their appointment, resolved to meet at least once a month; and the matters that have engaged their attention have been numerous and varied. While they have ever given careful consideration to strictly congregational affairs, they have also from the outset manifested much interest in the welfare of the general community. They have been hearty and liberal in their support of missionary and other schemes of Christian usefulness in which their own church has been engaged; while their relations with other denominations have been of a friendly and satisfactory nature. They have also taken an interest in those questions of ecclesiastical polity that have from time to time engaged the consideration of the Church Courts, and have always been in favour of reasonable progress.

The office-bearers submit to the congregation at each annual meeting a report for the preceding year of their own proceedings and of the work accomplished by the several agencies and schemes connected with the church. The annual report contains also the names of the elders, deacons, Sabbath School teachers, and office-bearers of the different committees and societies engaged in the church work. Abstracts of the congregational accounts are also furnished. For some years past a quarterly statement relating to the affairs of the congregation has also been placed in the hands of members and adherents.