It was a night that was wonderful. The efforts of so many who contributed, musicians, servers, flower arrangers, cleaners and kitchen helpers created a special event that welcomed the many visitors who filled our Church. I was proud to be part of it.

The past is filled with the memories of those who gave so much. Fr. Percy Wise who built this Church. Thomas Lyon the architect who gave the plans. Priscilla Bickford who paid for the building of the Church. Clergy and their families who have provided leadership. Good people who have fixed a thousand odds and ends that continue to end up being odd. Innumerable souls who have cooked their way into the courts of heaven. Children who have taught us that laughter is God’s gift. All who have knelt under this roof to find God’s will for this place.

We face a future that will continue to challenge us. How do we teach the faith to those who will come after us? St George’s is not a normal parish Church. We attract those who find here a holy place with holy worship that means making an effort to travel that extra distance, to contribute that little more, so that St George’s can continue.

We will continue as long as we can be a holy place that shows God to a world that still yearns for its maker. We will continue as long as we give that extra commitment that allows St George’s to flourish. 
Your priest,
 

Fr. Scott—Parish Priest

In this centenary year we should all be aware of how fortunate St. George’s has been because of “a lively faith in God’s mercies through Christ”, as the catechism tells us.

The evidence is all around us and that vibrant faith—the core and essence of our lives—still carries us forward as it has borne all those faithful souls who have expressed their devotion and love to our blessed Lord during the hundred years that have gone.

Materially, too, we have enjoyed constant benefactions, gifts too many to enumerate, but beginning with the church building in 1903, free of debt and able to be consecrated at once and culminating most recently in the generous and timely Coulthard bequest.  It is faith that has prompted all the giving of so much and, please God, we shall continue to hold fast to that faith and bring others to share it and carry it into the future.

Now my purpose in writing is not to preach but, I hope, to present against the background of what has already been said, some facts about where we stand financially and what we might consider about our future actions.

At the present time, we are travelling fairly well because our parish income receives two transfusions [in August and February] from the Coulthard Trust.  In the past twelve months our income from investments has been approximately $42,000, two-thirds of which has been paid to the parish [about $28,000], and one-third re-invested in accordance with the charter of the Trust.

One point I must make, however, is that no income from investments is ever guaranteed and we cannot assume that we may rely upon yearly increases nor indeed upon a continuation at the present level.

Now, I want to speak about the envelope scheme to which so many of us, but not all, belong.   Do you know that St. George’s had such a system of regular giving operating in 1902?  Yes! - Before the present church was in use.  Miss Emily Harding has given me two extracts—presumably from St. George’s Messenger in  1902 and 1903, exhorting all parishioners to give regularly on a weekly basis and to “remember the threefold duty of Christians, as enjoined in the Sermon on the Mount, is to pray, to fast and to give alms.”

I want to urge all parishioners who are not yet envelope holders to join this most disciplined and helpful form of giving.  What you give is entirely up to you and no-one in the parish will know what it is because of a system of confidentiality which is rigorously applied.  For information or a set of envelopes, please speak to Fr. Scott or to me, who will give you further help.

Now some may wonder why we are in need of greater financial help, since we already receive money from the Coulthard Trust, current envelope holders, open collections and individual generous donations.  Here is the reason:

Presently the expenditure that the parish MUST meet for Priest’s stipend and allowances, electricity, gas, water and council rates is very close to $50,000 per year.  Expenditure that the parish cannot avoid by reasons of prudence are Synodal assessment $11,000 and Insurance $2,500.  The above figures take no account of repairs, maintenance, stationery and sanctuary supplies, etc.  In the future we may expect increases in most, if not all, costs and thus our monetary needs will grow.

Please think about these matters, and do whatever you can to help preserve St. George's and all it means to you and the thousands who have kept the faith, worshipping God and “throughout all the changes and chances of this fleeting world, have reposed upon His eternal changelessness”.

Bill McDonald

Another item in regular use which pre-dates the present Church, is the small wooden altar lectern.  It could have been made and/or given to the Church in Lent 1899, for “Lent 99” is carved on the reverse. [A previous rector was heard to comment that perhaps it was time we gave it back].

The altar from the old St. George’s also found its way into the new Church.  It was ceremoniously carried across Goodwood Road on the day of the consecration of the present Church, and placed in the Lady Chapel.  It was replaced by the present altar later in 1903.  “Jubilate Deo” published 1953, notes that the altar from the old Church had been given to help furnish the chapel of St. Francis House*, and that upon later refurbishment of the chapel was to be given back to St. George’s.  The whereabouts of the altar is now unknown. 
Emily Harding.

*St. Francis House, a home for boys at Semaphore, closed many years ago.
 

      Emily Harding.