thought and energies, until he has reversed a tendency, which, if it should continue, would destroy his work. The other side of the statistical exhibit shows us the active and actual work done in the year. One of the chief things wanted by the Report, in its present form, is a return of the number of registered Communicants of the Parish, who have actually made their Communions during the year. It is a natural expectation that a Priest, sent to be in charge of a field for one year, or two or six or ten years, should know the names of his 100 or 600 Communicants, and whether they have, within the year, received of the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. To know this must be the chief aim of the Priest, in Parish-visiting, when he visits his Communicants. It is incomprehensible that a Priest should fail to talk personally, and, at least, annually, with any Communicant, rightly registered on his list, and omit to mention the Bread of Life. If he is a true Pastor, he will follow the example of the Good Shepherd, Who Knows His Sheep, and Calls them all by their Names. And the first thing he will set himself to know, of every individual Communicant, is whether he, or she, is hearing the Good Shepherd's voice, when He calls His Own to feed them, saying, "Take, Eat-This Do in remembrance of Me." The actual Communicants of the Diocese, so far as we can arrive at their number, in face of the incomplete report presented by many of the Clergy, is as follows. We calculate on a 60 % basis, for those Parishes which reported Communicants of record but no Communicants of fact. 1908-3,339 1909-3,420 1910-3,915. This item occasions some trouble to the Clergy. The very fact that, year after year, the difficulty remains is, in itself, some evidence of a need of study in this direction. And the improved showing in the reports is evidence that attention is being directed, with good results, to this vital matter. The active organizations of the Parishes should be increased, spread, and intensified. There is here an undeveloped resource in our Parishes, and we recommend our Clergy and laity to put some attention to this matter, so that they may, within a brief period, be able to secure the results, which are common as the fruit of the work of our most prominent Organizations. By reports returned we observe, that there have been at least 12 meetings a year of the Organizations named in these Parishes. On motion, the Convention adjourned, to partake of a Banquet in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the Consecration of Bishop Niles, as Bishop of New Hampshire, on St. Matthew's day 1870. The Banquet was bountifully served in the Parish House, by the ladies of St. Paul's Parish, and was partaken of by two hundred, or more, members of the Convention, and delegates from all over the Diocese to the Annual Meeting of the Woman's Auxiliary. On the conclusion of the Banquet, the guests, and others, reassembled in the hall of the Parish House to listen to addresses, in commemoration of the Bishop's anniversary. The Bishop sat in his chair on the platform, and the Coadjutor Bishop presided. The Rev. Mr. Emery read a selection from a number of warm letters of love and congratulations, with memories of the past, from former Clergy of the Diocese. Maps, which are reproduced here in the Journal, were hung upon the walls of the hall, showing the number of stations where the Church was established forty years. ago, when the Bishop first came to the Diocese, and the number at the present time. Large printed placards were distributed, for each Parish and Mission, giving statistics of the work of the Church, and of the Woman's Auxiliary, at different periods of the Bishop's Episcopate. These placards read as follows: Diocesan Orphans' Home, founded 1866. Bishop's House, built in 1893. "The Lord hath been mindful of us and He shall bless us." NEW HAMPSHIRE BRANCH OF THE WOMAN'S AUXILIARY TO THE BOARD OF MISSIONS The Ideal for New Hampshire; Every Baptized Woman a Member of the Woman's Auxiliary. Organized September, 1879 Began Coöperative work 1880. 1880 9 Branches. Value of boxes and money gifts, 508.27 1890-17 Branches. Value of boxes and money gifts, 1,434.26 1900-21 Branches. Value of boxes and money gifts, 1,541.27 1910-39 Branches. Value of boxes and money gifts, 2,729.26 Value of boxes and money gifts in first decade, 9,470.22 14,487.91 Value of boxes and money gifts in third decade, 23,007.60 Total value of 30 years' work, $46,965.73 New Hampshire now has 39 Branches of the Woman's Auxiliary. 13 Junior Branches. 3 Babies' Branches. "Show Thy Servants Their Work, and Their Children Thy Glory." |