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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte d des taux de rMuction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cllch6, il est film6 d partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prcnant le nombre d'images nicessaira. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. rata 3 lelure, id 3 32X f 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Die TH As Dioc place are a Dr. was c ^ colon: suffici wick I of Ne^ had t( over 1 the e; fact th at Fre( Bay. Whe gation mission library DIOCESE OF FREDERICTON. DIOCESAM CHURCH SOCIETY 0? NEW BRONSWICL Occasional Paper No, 5. THE ORIGIN AND WORK OF THE DIOCESAN CHURCH SOCIETY. As some rrisconceptions exist with respect to the working of the Diocesan Church Society and the^ manner in which the funds, placed at its disposal are administered, a few words will here be said on the objects of the society and the manner in which they are carried out. Dr. Charles Inglis, once rector of Trinity Church, in New York, was consecrated as Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787. Hitherto no colonial bishop had been appointed, and one bishop was thought sufficient for pper and Lower ("anada, Nova Scotia, New Bruns- wick and Newfoundland, ^t this time there were in the Province of New Brunswick six clergymen of the Church of England, who had to provide for the spiritual wants^ of their people scattered over the twenty-seven thousand square miles of the Province. The extent of country to be visited by each may be seen from the fact that Governor Carleton asked Mr. Cooke, who was stationed at Fredericton, to visit the settlers in the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay. , • Wherever a new mission was formed, the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel (S. P. G.), in addition to the salary of their missionary, granted ;^io sterling for the formation of a smalS iibraty in the mission, besides giving a supply of Bibles and Q 9. w WM 2 Prayer Books far distribution. But in 1817 the Society for Pro- moting Christian Knowledge undertook the task of providing books for the use of the church in New Brunswick, and formed local committees,, with depositories, in many parts of the Province, which was then an archdeaconry. Thus the two great societies worked side by side, the S. P. G. helping to maintain the living agency, while the S. P. C supplied the booi"*, which are, as it were, the tools of the c. jrgy. Fifteen years after this, in 1832, a meeting of the clergy was held to discuss how to promote a more active union " amongst the members of the church, both lay and clerical, for the promo- tion of such objects as the church, wherever it exists, must find essential to its welfare and utility." After several such meetings, the clergy assembled at Fredericton, at the invitation of Arch- deacon Coster, then Rector of Fredericton, on September 8th, 1836, to consider a plan proposed by the Bishop of Nova Scotia (Dr. John Inglis, son of the first bishop) for the formation of " a society in each archdeaconry to embrace all the objects of the societies in England for the Propagation of the Gospel and for Promoting Christian knowledge," the first effect of which would be to supersede the local committees of the latter society. Of the clergy then assembled, one only. Canon Walker, of Hampton, is still alive, working in the same parish, where he has been doing faithful work in his Lord's vineyard for fifty-two years. Consequent upon this recommendation of the bishop, a society I was formed under the name of "The Church Society of the Archdeaconry of New Brunswick," and a constitution was drawn up which was ratified and confirmed at the first meeting of the society, on February 9th, 1837. The objects were defined as| follows : 1. Missionary visits to neglected places [and aid to new and] poor missions — added in 1847]. 2. Establishment of divinity scholarships at Frtdericton [thel last two words were expunged in 1867, to admit King's College,[ Windsorjr 3. Aid to Sunday and other schools. 4. The supply of books and tracts. 5. Aid to building and enlarging churches. When the Archdeaconry of New Brunswick was formed into the! separate Diocese of Fredericton, and the name of the. society was changed to " The Diocesan Church Society of New Brunswick," the two following objects were added in 1846 : 6. Aid to the building of parsonage houses. 7. The creation of a fund for — i.^ The augmentation of small stipends. ii. The assistance of incapacitated clergy. iii. Helping the widows and orphans of the clergy. iv. Helping the education of the children of the clergy. [The last three are now separate funds.] One of the first things which the society had to consider was a cry for help from the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay, a repetition of the appeal made fifty years before to Mr. Cooke, the Rector of Fredericton, by Governor Carleton. From the first the laity have had their due share in the manage- ment of the funds, and each parish elects two members of the society to represent it at the general committee in July, which has full control of the affairs of the society and elects all officers (with the exception of the president, who is the Bishop of the Diocese, ex officio) and committees. The appointment of the first bishop (Dr. John Medley, still the incumbent of the see) gave fresh vigor to the society, and certain difficulties which had prevented the City of St. John from join- ing were overcome, the funds increased and a good work was done. When, in 1870, the venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel determined to grant a block sum to the diocese, to be ap- portioned on the spot, instead of sending the salary direct to each missionary, the Diocesan Church Society undertook the work of apportionment. A ScTiedule Committee was elected by the repre- sentatives of the various parishes and the clergy for the purpose of determining what proportion of each missionarj^'s salary should be raised by the congregation to meet the grant made by the society. V This committee consisted of eight members (three clergymen and five laymen), and was elected yearly. The assessment suggested by them is submitted to the vote of the General Committee, who have the power of altering it after discussion. In 1875 the name " Schedule Committee " was altered to " The Board of Home Mi.ssions," and five years later the number of elected members was increased to twelve, seven. of whom were to be laymen. The natural growth of work and the gradual withdrawal of the grants of the S. P. G. have .so increased the pressure on the funds that of late no grant has been made from the general funds of the society for any object except the maintenance of the stipends of the cle'-o'v. All subscriptions which are not restricted to any par- ticular object are paid into the general fund, which at present is not nearly so large as is required to keep up the necessary work of the diocese. Thus the society has carried out the object for which it was formed ; it embraces all the objects of the two great societies in England, and is practically the representative of them both in the diocese. By its means a depository of S. P. C. K books has been started, and is flourishing, in St. John, and thus Bibles, Prayer Books, books and tracts are disseminated. By its means the grant of the S. P. G. is distributed, of which great society the D. C. S. is, as it were, the handmaid in the Province. The following table will show the growth of the subscriptions to the society, and the gradual diminution of the grant from the S. P. G.: D. C. S. SUB- S. p. G. A. D. TOTAL. SCRIPTIONS. GRANT. 1836 $1,660 32 1846 2.654 75 • 1849 4*884 17 1859 4,850 97 1869 4.555 84 $13,976 73 ■^18.532 57 1879 1880 6,694 15 10,122 80 16,816 95 5.695 45 10,006 77 15,702 22 1881 7»i59 83 9,488 89 16,648 72 1882 6,214 13 8,622 88 14,837 01 i It will' be seen from this that in fourteen years the grant from the S. P. G. in England has decreased $5,354, while the subscrip* tions to the D. C. S. have only increased in the same period $1,659. The deficiency has been partly made up by an increase' in the assessment of the various parishes, partly by the revenue arising from some bequests which have fallen in, anu partly, sad to say, by withdrawing grants from at least five missions, which have been closed, while other work, which would be entered upon if there were means, is left untouched. At the present riHoment there are sixty-five clergy engaged in parochial and missionary work in the diocese. Of these nineteen receive no help from the society, one draws his stipend from the S. P. G. grant (his congregation support an assistant), forty-three receive a graduated grant from the society, while the remaining two are partly supported from another source. 1 \ OUR PRESENT NEEDS. From the foregoing sketch it will be seen that all the monej subscribed to the general fund of the D. C. S. is apportioned ac- cording to the needs of each parish by the Board of Home Mis- sions, consisting of five clergymen and seven laymen (elected every year by the General Committee), with the bishop as chair- man. The board cannot apportion more money than is at their disposal, and this year thus far the subscriptions, instead of increas- ing, as was necessary, have fallen off. A very earnest appeal is therefore made to the laity to enlarge their subscriptions, and to the clergy to hold meetings to explain the working and the needs of the society, and to take up collections in their churches. At the request of the Executive Committee, a deputation, consisting of the bishop-coadjutor and a layman, will be ready during the summer to visit any parish where arrangements for a meeting hav» been made. It is painfully sad to think of our fellow churchmen uncared for by any clergyman, and to hear of churches closed all the year round for want of a minister ; still more sad is it to feel that many have left our communion for other religious bodies for lack of pastoral ministration. We have seen that in 1787 and 1836 a cry for help went out from Deer Island, which does not seem to have been hearkened to, and there is now but a little ilock of seventy- four members, still without spiritual ministration. i Almost within sound of the beautiful Cathedral bells, the once promising mission of Canterbury has in the last decade decreased t>y one-quarter of its members (there is no missionary there); while the little flock in Manners-Sutton is but one-third of what it was ten years ago. We cannot wonder that in the district of Chipman the church has decreased a half, for there has been no clergyman there; and we can only be thankful that the decrease has not been greater in Albert County, which, in its six hundred and sixty square miles, has indeed churches, but has no one to minister in them. A glance at the record of the last census will show what we should expect, that the greatest decrease in the church is in districts where there is no pastoral supervision. As has been said above, there are at present five missions which cannot be filled because there is no money to help the church members to make up the stipend of a clergyman. 1. Aberdeen, — This mission includes the settlement of Beau- fort. To the west of Beauibrt, between it and the river St. John, there is the flourishing Roman Catholic settlement of Johnsville, fostered and cared for by their bishop, and not left without the ministration of their church. Nearly south of them is the Presby- terian settlement of Glassville, with its church and minister. But Beaufort, known and spoken of in the neighborhood as a Church of England settlement, has no regular minister and no regular services. 2. Albert, — The whole county is without any minister of the Chtirch of England, though there are at least three churches to be cared for, with a faithful few about each. 3. Canterbury. — The church members in this district are grad- ually dwindling in numbers, because there is no minister among them to serve their churches. 4. Madawaska. — This mission is sadly in need of a resident minister to serve Little Falls and St. Francis. There is at Edraondston a well-built church nearly aompleted, only waiting for the living voice to sound in it and to lead God's praise. 5, Weldfcrd. — That this important mission should be vacant is very sad indeed. At the railway station a very important neigh- borhood is springing up. There are already four hotels there, and the traffic is nearly equal to that of Sussex. There is a good sura of money in the bank towards rebuilding the old church, which is in a very picturesque situation, and it is earnestly hoped that liberal subscriptions to the society will soon enable the Board of Home Missions to make a grant towards the stipend of a minister. Until these five old missions are filled, no new work can be undertaken, though there is plenty of room for it. An earnest hope is therefore expressed that increased subscriptions and new donations of small sums will enable the society to rid the church of the scandal of closed churches and uncommunicated members. That there are very many who do not subscribe is .seen from the fact that in the last census 46,768 registered themselves as mem- bers of the church, and yet there are only 3,170 (or there- abouts) subscribers to the Church Society. The remaining 43,600 are now specially appealed to ; and if each gave a quarter OF A DOLLAR A YEAR, THE OLD MISSIONS COULD BE FILLED UP AND NEW WORK COULD BE AT ONCE UNDERTAKEN. /tjha/ by order of the Executive Committee, March, rSSj. B. A» Ckotley, Steak Pkirtix, j^vjjji^ rBEl»««'lCTON, N. B. i -■^