Denaby Church Meeting – Healthy Position Despite Hard Times

March 1936

Mexborough and Swinton Times March 6, 1936

Denaby Church Meeting
Healthy Position Despite Hard Times
Balance on All Accounts

The annual meeting of the Denaby Parish Church was held in the Church Hall on Tuesday. The vicar, the Rev. S. Powley, presided.

Mr T. Peters (people’s warden), presented the general accounts for the 12 months ending December 31, 1935, showing total receipts of £579.16s 7d., including £52 2s 6d. balance from 1934, and receipts during 1935 amounting to £527 14s 1d.

The chief items on the receipt side were:

Offertories £132 4s 4d, bazar effort £94 1s 0d., Sale of magazines £58 7s 10d., Grant from Denaby and Cadeby Colleries for electric light and coal £80, Lenten efforts for waifs and strays society £14 1s. 5d., Missionary boxes £10 18s 10d. Organ fund (towards electric blower) £50 2s. 4d., and the transfer from central parochial fund £55.

Outstanding items on the expenditure side were:

Wages £90 17s., Cost of magazines £44 4s., Dioscesan quota £47, Missionary societies and appeal funds £31, rates and insurances £23. 8s 1d., rent of Sunday school £15 9s., Conisborough U. D. C. Street works £12 4s 4d., Installation of electrical organ blower £74 14s 10d.

The total expenditure was £515 1s 11d leaving a balance at the end of the year of £64 14s. 8d.

  1. P. Engledow (Vicars warden), read the central parochial fund account, which had an income of £264 10s 5d from grants, freewill offerings and collections from communion services.

The expenditure was £213 4s. (Including a transfer of £55 to the general account), and this fund had a balance of £51 6s 5d

The auditors were Messrs. E. Dabbs and F.Kelsall.

The Sunday school financial statement, which had been audited by Messrs. S. G Padgham and W. H. Mills, was presented by Mr T. Holcroft (secretary and treasurer). The receipts for this account were from weekly collections at the Sunday school amounting to £8 9s 2d Whitsuntide collections by teachers £30 13s 9d, Subscriptions 5 pounds 11s 9d, and balance from 1934, £7 11s 8d. The expenditure for the year was £49 16s 1d, and there was again a credit balance of 6 pounds 1s 11d.

All the accounts were accepted as satisfactory.

Vicars Review.

The vicar, reviewing the year’s work, said that taking industrial conditions into consideration they could be very pleased with the results. Each account had been closed with a credit balance, which was very gratifying, especially under the difficulties of short time working on employment. The offertories for the year were down £10, but on the other hand by various efforts they had increased their subcriptions to missionary societies by £10. The free will fund was down again and the vicar appealed for an increase of subscribers under this scheme of direct giving. If it could be supported by the whole congregation, so that they were supporting their church, whether they were able to attend or not, it would be a fine thing.

They had managed to install a new electric blower for the organ during the year, which had proved a valuable asset. They had during the year raised £144 outside the church collections, which was £25 more than the previous year.

The year 1935 have been trying from a financial point of view owing to so many dismissals at the collieries but they had survived the difficulties and paid their way, owing to the rally of some of the faithful church people. There were many who called themselves church people who forgot their moral obligations to the church, they neither came not yet supported in anyway. They seemed not to realise that the fabric of the church had to be kept going, and it was the duty of all to assist if they could.

He expressed thanks and appreciation of the services rendered throughout the year by the wardens, the secretary (Mr F. Kelsall), the Organist and Choir Master, Church Council, Sunday School Teachers, Mothers Union, Magazine Secretary (Mr Middleton), and district distributors and other organisations of the church. He placed on record his appreciation of his colleague, Mr S. G. Padgham, for the excellent way in which he had performed his duties during the four years he had been in the parish. He had been a loyal, keen and serious worker.