A.great deal of assiduous anit unselfish work is represented in the building which looks on to the Soochow Ror Road. It is named the Uni int where it is met by Yuen
Hall, and was opened on Tsursday even (28th December) when a large contes joined in byzns and prayer, and listened to humber of addresses. Phe building dees credit to all concerned in its orectic in point of appearance and of acco Some indfeation of its capacity wa given during the speeches. The Rev. C. E. Datwent, M.A. pastor of Union Church, was in the chair, and with him on the Rev. J. 0. Ferguson, M.A., Rev. E.
platform were the Rev. J. R. Hykes, D.D.
Williams, M.A. Rev. Timothy Richar, Rev. G. H. Bondéeld, Rev. Joseph Edkins, D.D., and Messrs. W. H. Poate (Chairny of the Building Committee), J. Buchana (Secrotury of the, Building Committe), bert Law, and W. Whitfield.
The Rev. 0. E, Darwent, in his opening remarks, said he felt he had no business, save a purely official one, in the chair on that great occasion in the history of their church, He could not claim it either by the length, Ixboriousness, assiduity, or oven the ability of his services. There were men in the hall who had watched the building of the hall brick by brick and timber by timber, who had wrestled with a very awkward piece of ground, with the resuit that they saw such a very fine and useful building. It would be invidious to mention names; besides, they knew them all, They had had a Sunday, School for a number of yours, but gradually it had became im possible, with such space ax could be commanded, to carry on the work as they would like to have done. Some classes hail been held in private houses, others in the church, and soon, It was a great tribute to their superintendents and teachers that they had worked so successfully under such conditions. They all looked forward to their Sunday School—now that it was adequately housed—being even more useful The hall. was not only for the Sunday than previously to the general community.
School, though that was the first reason of its erection. There were other oryanisations in connection with the church which could be accommodated. Tt had even been found difficult to start some forms of church activity owing to luck of space. As to the old lecture-room, it was only habitable with comfort during two mouths of the year. The wonder was that they had got on so well as they had in the past. How-over they trusted now to be able to carry on all organisations proper to the work of the Christin church, 'The building was available for anybody who was in any' way working for the Glory of God and for the Finll would be of grent service to the com. ood of mankind. They believed that the
munity, There were not many public buildings in Shanghai, and this one would be open for all reputable purposes—at, of course, fan adequate figure.
Mr. W. H. Poate was called on to give some history of the building. He said that "when the present Union Church was opened, in 1886, the Sunday School moved to it from what was then the Temperance Hall. As that time there was ample room for the School, but that state of things did not continue very long. The Sunday School report of 1891 contained a s atement that they thought the time had come for the erection ofa new building, better adapted for their purposes than the church. Aresolution was accordingly brought forward at the next annual meeting and trustees were asked to see what could be done. Tei was found, howerer, that at that time there wore several very weighty rea sons to prevent any action being taken. The debt on the church, for instance, amounted to Tls. 4,000, and the committee were reluctantly forced' to decide that, the ject must stand aside fora time. The I step tak when the Sunday sche nee in the Astor Hall s Progress, which, Tis. went fond." After that they w without very much 782 (spp! they went on unit 1395, 1 which the church annual me-ti reduced to committee to form tw consider the matter. Authority was: 1 to the trustees, moreover, to raise the som of Tls. 10,000 by debentures, so as to assist the building fund, The Building C mittee first met in March, 1896, and appointed a subcommittee to obtain plans and estimates that year the Iulies of the church held a bazaar at the Astor Hall, with very great success. So that the fund benefited to the extent of $5,000 altogether. Tls. 4,000 was realized by the Bazwr, The year closed without any definite plan ing hen adopted, for after considering a monber of plans the sub-committee had r-commended anes me to 1898. before further any 88 was made, who: the Building Committee reported that they hoped to com-ions about the middle of the in March, a contract Tis, 23.350. yarly in May, with the result befor: them." OF course the amount of the contract did not represent the total cost f the building.—There was still gas, water, " ating, heating, and other things to be re architect's commissions. which would bring it up to Tls. 29,000. t that large sam had been' the problem before them. The total of the Building Fund was about Tls. 12,000. 13 authority was given the trustees to raise an additional Tls. 5,000 by debentn: es, as they found that the sum originally provided was not sufficient. Uf the tal authorised (Tls. 15,000) about Tls. 12,000 had be Thus they had Tls. 24.000 with which to meet Tls. 29,000. Ti: committee had always reckoned that, fur every tael raise by way of debentures another would be provided by the ce on, and they would see that so id been fairly maintained. fore the trustees would provi a mote by debentures, in addi ti h they needed an equal amount in sub: options and donations. They would k how the interest these debentures ws. to be met. They hoped that the rent of their property and the receipts from that tial! would not only meet this demand, but would leave something to form fund, which would graludiy the debentures. So that in time, without strain on the congregation, they hoped the buildings would be tres (applause). He must remind then that the buildings could nor be kept going free of cost. Therefore the societies connestel with the church must expect to pay a fair proportion of the expenses. He mentioned thig because several people had expressed surprise to him that they should think of charging any society connected with the church for the use of the hall. As to the seating, the sub-committee calculated that, allowing exch ailult the very liberal space of 2it., at least 400 could be seated, and, with a little squeezing even 500 could be accommodated. As for the manse, which was not yet on view, it contained ample quarters, and he hoped that Mr, Darwent might be long spared to make use of it (applause). Opening out of the hall in which they sat were six diss rooms, and hey would easily sev how convenient' they would be for Sunday School purposes Back of the Hall were two class rooms anda roun 20 feet by 25 feet. Upstairs was a lecture mom capable of holding: 13) persons, which would also be very useful. There' was, in addition, another good-sized rom, The committee, in looking back on their work, saw many little things which might have been improved, but taken as a whole they thought the building very well suited to the purposes for which ie hud been designed. They hoped that the work of the Sunday School would thus be more easy and more effective and that the school would continue to grow in prosperity and do even more good in the e'stiovulated and encouraged; and that lace, that the work of the church might
the building would be a contre for all kinds of good work, for the benefit of the whole community. "In proportion as these objects were attained would the committee feel that their inbour had been rewarded (applause).
Mr. J. Buchanan spoke of his first arrival in Shanghai, and of his search for a Presiyterian Church, Finally he had found building with an outward religious pearance, he said, which had turned out to be the Mortuary Chapel (laughter), Nowadays no one could miss seeing the Union Church. As to the new hall ho considered it in every way suited to their requirements, and it was central in position. Mr. Buchanan also nade casual reference to their financial position, The Rev. E. T. Williams sid they had great reason to congratulate themsel the completion of so beautiful an addi to the Union Church buikdings—nn addition which provided so many rooms and conveniences long required. Liv enumerated its advantages, and went on to speak of religious buildings in general, and their necessity for modern men. Finally he said that Shanghai there were a great many social, intellectual, and spiritual needs to which the Union Church ought to minister. The building of that hull seemed to him to mean that they intended to do this—to make the Union Church more of a centre of attraction te the foreign population of the settlements. He congratulated the Church on its completion, accordingly, and trusted that it would long stand, not only to be a delight to the eye, bur a source of blessing to the thousands who would, in the years to come, gather within those walls.
Mr. Robert Law said he was there to speak on behalf of the Sunday Schoul, and to return thanks for what had been done for them. They had expected much, but their expectations had been exceeded. The question was: Has the work of the Sunday School for the Church justified the return which had boon made? He thought it had, The Sanday School was begun in 1876 in the Shantung Road Chapel, when the teachers numbered 5 and the scholars 30, Now they had 35 teachers and a roll-call of about 500. La 1884 they moved to the Temperance Hall, which was a revelation as w how many more scholars they could obtain by living in the centre of the town. S that now, under. sastly improved conditions they were hoping for even larger numbers, They distributed Christian literature among the scholars; they gave good hooks as prizes; they had established a library which had brought into many homes books which were suitable for children and could hardly he found ordinarily in Shanghai; they had started a Charity Fund; they had endeavoured to encourage helpfulness on the part of the scholars towards benevolent works and objects. He was not aware that there was apy family having children and belonging to the Church
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.