Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/254

222 meanwhile I must do my best, giving them occasional Services. I am tempted at times to compare the work here with that at home; there, certainly, the disadvantages of crowded population, slums in places, much poverty and ill-health, but more clergy than we have to cope with the work. The comparison, I think, is in our favour, though I have to do the whole work of a large church like St. Mary's, much travelling, with some five sermons per week. But then, in every occupation here we work harder than is the custom at home, and no one is a penny the worse.

St. Mary's Needlework Guild, which I have already mentioned, is successfully raising funds for the debt on the Church; paying for certain portions of the fabric, such as the Chancel arch, and the stone-work of the western rose window. They have already established a wide reputation for plain and fancy work, executing orders, and holding occasional sales. The large building, lately used as a temporary Church, is now a Parish Hall, much in use for Sunday School and other work. In it we have weekly meetings of a Dorcas Society, which is thriving. It is a self-supporting rather than a charitable society. Its members pay a small weekly sum, which is doubled by the contributions of honorary members; they meet to do needlework for themselves, under the superintendence of the committee who aid them; material at wholesale prices is found for them, and they are taught to do good work. The weekly payment is strictly enforced, and no time is allowed to be wasted in talk. Each meeting is opened with hymn, prayer, and short Bible reading, by the Vicar. Once a year there is a social gathering of all members and friends, with tea, etc., and an annual bonus in kind